rmagnetta

ok first off im new to this site, and ive tried searching maybe i wasnt doing it right idk. but ive been searching here and google for about 3 days now and im still confused.

i bought a 97 civic with a reconstructed title with a supposedly lower mileage d16y7 swapped into it. however engine turns over sounds great. but i was having trouble with the distributor when you touched the plug the car would just shut off and also when it ran if u held it at around 3k rpm the cel would blink. so i bought a used distributor at a local reputable junk yard installed it and started up fine no problems. if you shake the wires it dosent die out or shut off. but i noticed that one of the wires were unused,

the white wire on the male connector #5 on most diagrams online was connected to a blank spot in the femal connector. and the black wire on the female connector was in the #8 slot.

i couldnt get the black wire out of #8 of the female plug so i just switched the white wire #5 in the male plug to #8 and now im getting the blinking cel again if u hold it at any rpm.

also the male plug on the distributor has a blue wire with a green stripe in the #2 slot. but all of the other wires match up to all the diagrams.

i know this is lengthy and i apologize for such. but could the cel blinking when i hook up the cyp ground be cause by the timing being off? or should i look else where or just switch the wire back and forget about it?

also the inspection is out and i have transfered the plate yet so i cant run it to advance to have my buddies run the obd2 scanner. and i used the service plug and all im getting is code 1 o2 sensor.

rmagnetta

havent transefered the plate yet*

rmagnetta

update I checked timing and I thought it was 2 teeth off so I moved the belt. it ran a lot better and I had no cels and had more low end power. but I found out it was rightvtge first time so I put it back to where it was and the blinking cel and again has little to no power.

any opinions would be very helpful.

B_Swapped93

So you had it fixed/set then you moved it back and now the cel along with slugishness has come back ? what is "rightvtge" did you mean right voltage.

rmagnetta

supposed to be "right the first time. sorry lol. no i had the blinking cel and sluggishness before i changed the timing a little. but it ran better and had no cels way out of time. which was about 2 teeth off (instead of setting at the tdc mark on the crank pulley i set it to one of the 3 marks on the crank pulley.

rmagnetta

if it helps to add that it kinda sounds like a subaru, and has hesitation when you hit the gas pedal.

B_Swapped93

have you confirmed that you'r bottom end is accuratly at TDC ? as it shouldn't run wore when you say you set the head and bottom at TDC. what were the codes i see you're 97 so obd2(unless jumper to obd1 ?) set it where it was better then pull and post the codes. sounding like a subaru im sure that's the fact that you'r timing is off as you'r idle is probably messed up also ?

rmagnetta

yeah the cam and the crank are both set to tdc. i even put the dipstick in the spark plug #1 hole to make sure. and the needle on the block lines up with the line on the crank pulley, the cam gear was more tricky cause i cant seem to find out where the two lines are supposed to line up to. i know theyre supposed to line up with the head surface but they dont when the UP mark is at 12o clock

ive a friend whos good with hondas and he said both were supposed to be set at tdc and the 3 lines close to each other on the crank pulley are just for ignition timing.

he also is confused with the blinking cel tho.

iill try to pull the codes manually with the service connector tomorrow but the only one i was getting was for the primary o2 sensor.

it is a d16y7 with an p2e ecu, im assuming its all obd2

B_Swapped93

ya all obd2. can you take a pic of the cam gear and how it currently sits with the bottom at TDC? mine has "UP" looks like this and has a little line at the top for TDC up is more a reference

rmagnetta

that looks like the same one ive got. ill take some pics for you tomorrow and ill post them right after. probably wont be untill around 1pm est tomorrow.

i appreciate all of your help, this has been really starting to aggravate me lol. i bought this car for 1200$ to replace my 90 civic si and it runs good and idles steady but just hesitates and has no power, matter infact the only thing that stopped it from starting up when i bought it was the ground on the thermostat housing was barely on lol

rmagnetta

heres the pics i just took, like i said i couldnt see how the side marks on the cam gear were supposed to line up with the head surface but i eye balled it as much as i could.

B_Swapped93

Worry about the top one(tdc line) over the sides was the head re-surfaced ? I don't know if that affects SHOC's as much as DOHC engines. but mine was milled .015 and it doesn't line up 100%(side marks) and i weant buy lining up the two top lines. also take into account that the engine does sit on a slight forward angle. maybe this will give you a bit of an idea of what im talking abou https://honda-tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3134366t

https://honda-tech.com/forums/acura-integra-6/side-timing-marks-wont-fully-line-up-b18c1-3132084/

rmagnetta

from what i understand the motor is a low mile one from a junkyard. it even has the jukyard chalk across the valve cover bolts. so i dont think there is any sort of machining or even aftermerket internals. from looking at the pic and you reminding me that the engine sits at an an angle do you think i should try skipping another tooth counter clockwise? like i said whoever swapped this motor in here forgot to tighten the thermostat ground and thats the only reason it wouldnt start up.

as for the two marks on the sides of the cam gear, the head surface is actually above the marks. could it be a differet head? but all sohc d series line up the same right?

B_Swapped93

i would give that a try see what happens. the head is the right don't worry about that. the whole thing with mine was "if it isn't broke don't fix it" car runs fine has no boging issues. what happens when you set it two teeth back ? flashing cell

rmagnetta

it ran better and the gas pedal had less hesitation, and no cels, but also when i turned the dizzy when it was like that it had no effect.

the way it is now is where im getting the flashing cel, which i think its close to being in time, maybe a tooth off or half a tooth. but i think its a new timing belt so im doubting its half a tooth off. ill go out and try to move it 1 tooth each way and see what happens.

B_Swapped93

i'd put it back to where it was at it's best despite the tdc marks mine isn't fully lined up no cels either

rmagnetta

i might just have too, it dosent make sense tho. i turned the cam gear 1 tooth counter clockwise and all hell broke loose. bunch of pinging. and hissing (i think it was just the fuel pressure regulator) so i put everything back the way it was and it starts up and runs like it was.

im gunna try to move it one tooth clockwise. when it was running better i had it 2 teeth clockwise. so hopefully ill find a happy medium. but like i said it ran better and i had no cels but it still had no low end power. ( i know its only a d16y7 and they dont have any power to begin with but i should beable to make it out of the drive without having to slip the clutch alot to get it moving and ect.

rmagnetta

alrighty a small update, i read online and someone was talking about using a straight edge to line the 2 side marks up on the cam gear. and i did all of that. so its in time via the haynes manual. same problems tho so nothing new. with the distributor turned almost all the way toward the front of the car. ive got the idle to around 1200rpm (which i know is high but thats another thing im trying to fix).

few more things that may help, when you cold start the rpms wont change even if it gets warm and at idle temp untill you shut it off and restart it. (which is probly something to do with the iacv im guessing which ive already tore apart and cleaned)

just curious but could this possibly be a clogged cat converter? im getting pressure out of the exhaust, only reason i ask is because of the blinking cel

rmagnetta

ok since i got the car in time im getting a code 74 for the misfire cylinder 4,

also fuel filter is good, i cleaned out the fuel rail, and fuel injectors, and i put new plugs in it when i bought it, along with a newer distributor from the junkyard. but i check the resistance for spark plug wire number 4 and with the multimeter on 3.7k ohms.

im pretty tight on cash so i dont want to go out n buy a whole new set of plug wires if its not necessary