h22ej8

Well i searched a multitude of posts/threads looking for the answer, to no avail.

This new search engine sucks.

Setup basics:
h23a1 block (stamped p13)
h23 crank/rods
h22 type s pistons
h22 water pump
-
jdm h22 head
crower stage 3 cams
skunk 2 adjustable cam gears

i picked up the h22 timing belt before i knew i was going h23vtec (original plan was just swap type s pistons into my original h22 bottom end), so i went ahead and used it. Now im having a problem of getting the timing set correctly. No matter how i do it i ALWAYS end up half a tooth off on one of the cams. Right now the intake cam is half a tooth advanced and i cannot for the life of me get it to even out.

What I've gathered from some reading, and a few friends.
Timing belt may have to match water pump (ie: h22 timing belt = h22 water pump, h23 timing belt = h23 water pump)
Timing belt may need to be h23 (possibility that the crank gear is different?)

I've also noticed that on the cam gears, the 'dimples' for timing alignment are not even with each other (from side to side on ONE gear), but even still the teeth dont quite match up right either.

Basically, the question is;
What timing belt should i be running with a h23/vtec (hybrid) setup?

Also, is this something that would be safe to adjust through the cam gear adjustment? Obviously it's not the most ideal of situations, but would it be a possibility?

nikko_SOHC

crank gear needs to be h22. water pump h22 and cam gears h22. and h22 belt.

h22ej8

Thanks.

I had originally tried fitting the crank gear off of my h22 onto the 23 crank, and for some reason it'll only go on about half way and wont slide all the way down to where it needs to be. My old crank had a little notch built up at the back (end closest to the block) of the key-way for the crank that had to be filed down a touch to get the gear off my old crank. Tried that with the 23 crank and still no dice, so i went with the 23 gear.

Any ideas on this?

nikko_SOHC

im building almost the exact same motor right now and ive researched it and called around to numerous shops and ive been told the same thing.

check out this link. i got all my info here. (for my parts list anyways)

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-prelude-4/how-h23vtec-h23-vtec-h23-vtec-search-friendly-510617/

nikko_SOHC

im sorry i havent got that far on my build yet to try and put the gear on no ideas yet man. ill take a look tommorow at work at my block and gear situation

h22ej8

Thanks for the link, think i found my problem!

96+ has a crank angle sensor, i compared the gears side by side (since i still cant get the h22 gear to go on), and they're identical but its the only thing i can think of at this point.

I have the h22 water pump, h22 cam gears, h22 timing belt. Everything's h22 but still half a degree off for some unknown reason. Working on it now, i'll post up if i figure it out.

jlude90

did it come off an OBDII car?

you need an OBDI H22 crank gear

h22ej8

Apologies if this post makes no sense, and all of my info is *** backwards. Going on 24 hours with no sleep after a 14 hour work day.

The block/crank is indeed obd2

After some investigating, i am using the obd1 h22 front main etc. I've had the proper crank gear on since the beginning; I got to looking at it and I noticed the obd1 front main has a little notch at the bottom where the obd2 crank gear will not spin past it (obd2 crank gear has an attached backing plate, where as obd1 has a separate backing plate, if i'm thinking straight and do not have them mixed up).

As i was spinning the motor manually with a ratchet i noticed it wasnt building/releasing compression (usually you can hear it a little as you move it by hand), so i started looking at the positioning of the cams on the valves at TDC and noticed that when exhaust valve's for cyl #4 are open (accurate for TDC), intake valves for cylinder 3 are open (not so accurate. When exhaust on cyl 4 is open, intake on cyl 1 should be open at TDC)

I know the key is in properly and the cam gear is on the cam in the correct position on the exhaust cam for a fact. So i went to remove the bolt on the intake cam gear just to check and make sure everything is ok there, and it will NOT loosen up at all. I started with 3/8 ratchet with no dice, so i bumped up to a 1/2 ratchet with still nothing. Finally got frustrated with it and tried a 3/8 impact and it still will NOT budge. Im afraid to impact it to hell and back because i dont want to mess up the cam, and i cant afford to mess up the cam.

So it's got me thinking (since i bought this head used, with everything already in it) that maybe the previous owner of the head lost the key for the intake cam and instead of doing it right, somehow impacted the hell out of the bolt to get the cam gear to stay? It doesnt seem like it would work to me, but i really have no other idea at this point. What should i do to get the bolt out? hopefully the cam is still OK

jlude90

can you get a screwdriver into the hole in the cam on the top?

h22ej8

I got the bolt to come loose, key was mangled and tore up pretty bad however it was still pretty close to alignment. Put a new key in it, reset all of the timing components to TDC and i'm still off half a tooth.

The motor will spin freely (by hand) without an P2V/V2V contact with it set this way, so i called up my tuner and he said just go ahead and get it all set up and just adjust whichever cam is off to TDC through the adjustable gear, and then he'll take it from there once it hits the dyno. So i think i'm just going to go that route with it all.