I burnt a valve years ago, my buddy replaced them. the car ran fine for awhile and then I had the same problem again. the head was bad. I left itt with my friend to fix, that was a year and a half ago. I decided to tackle the job myself. I replaced the head, I did the bolt sequence and torque specs. reinstalled all the components ie. exhaust mani, intake mani, random hoses etc. turned the crank shaft to tdc on the compression stroke. turned the cam to tdc, put on the timing belt. made sure the distributor was in the correct position. lashed the intake valves at a tight .008 and the exhaust at .010. removed the old gas. the car turns over but will not start. ive got spark and plugs that are wet with good gas. anyone have any ideas? im completely puzzled. thanks.

 

Compression test cylinders.

Is this how you set TDC1?

 

yes, on the compression stroke on cylinder #1. I will do a compression test when I get home from work and let you know what I come up with.

 

Mine was hell to start after I replaced the distributor. Had to pump the gas pedal a few times

 

ok, I did a compression test. here's what I came up with... on cylinders 1 & 4 I'm getting 80 lbs psi. on cylinders 2 & 3 I'm getting 55 lbs psi. what did I do wrong and how do I fix it?

 

Do the compression test at WOT and unplug the fuel injectors.

 

what does WOT stand for?

 

WOT= Wide Open Throttle.

Push the gas pedal down all the way when you are cranking so that the most air possible is building up in each cylinder.

 

ahhh, got it. I wondered after I did the test if I should have done that. I will get on that after work.

 

Also unplug the fuel injectors.

 

Can't one pull the EFI (fuel relay) fuse from the under hood fuse block?

I typically unhook the distributor plug(s) too. Not sure if that step is really needed.

 

Absolutely

 

ok, with injectors disconnected and pedal to the floor i'm now getting... cylinder 1 is at 40 lbs psi, cylinder 2 is at 60 lbs psi, cylinder 3 is at 55 lbs psi, and cylinder 4 is at 80 lbs psi. whats next?

 

Squirt a small amount of oil into each cyl then redo compression test and report .

 

You didn't mention it in your post, but did you use a brand new headgasket when you put the head back on it?

 

yes. any and all gaskets and seals are new.

 

Post pics of the cam and crank set at TDC1. The pics should verify correct mechanical timing. See diagram.

 

Incorrect cam timing can cause wierd compression results too, so check that. Seems like a huge deviation between cylinders but those numbers seem super low for any honda.

 

sorry for the delay ron. heres those pics. in the first 2 I'm trying to show the marks are lined up with the head surface.

 

Crank pulley looks good, but can't verify the cam pulley by the pics. The rear side of the cam pulley also has the two timing marks, so it is best to use them due to their close proximity to the head surface.

 

Cam looks like it's off by a tooth, but it's hard to tell in the pucture

 

sorry, its really hard getting a good pic of the cam marks due to a limit in space. I didn't know there were marks on the back side of the cam, ill take a look when I get home.

 

You get an unambiguous answer by using the rear cam pulley marks. Use them to set the cam at TDC1, and then look down at the crank pulley to see if it is also at TDC1. Never turn the crank pulley clockwise at any time during the procedure.

 

i don't know if you can see in these pics, but the mark on the cam closest to the front of the car is slightly below the cylinder head surface, and the one closest to the firewall is slightly above. am i a tooth off? and how do i fix it if thats the case?

 

How is the crank pulley positioned? Both must be perfect for TDC1.

Cam looks okay to me, but do the converse test to verify. Set the cam perfectly at TDC1 and then post a pic of the crank alignment.

By the way, you need to replace that old timing belt. It looks heavily worn, like it skipped some teeth in the past.