I just changed out my head gasket, water pump, and timing belt, and now my car isnt starting, and it appears that im not getting any spark. the initial installation of the head gasket was backwords, so about a gallon of oil blessed my floor when it started the car. however, after i tore everything down, and put it all back together with the headgasket facing the correct direction, the car won't start. I checked my grounds, the valve cover, tranny, and the thermostat housing- they're good. I also changed my spark plug, cap, rotor, wires, coil, and battery. All the car will do is crank; it doesnt even sputter even act like its going to start. Ive heard that the main realay may be to blame, but Ive also heard that you wont hear the fuel pump prime when the relay is toast; but i hear the fuel pump prime. everytime i pop my plugs out after trying to start it, they're covered in fuel... I need some help guys- Any ideas?

 

tripple check to make sure everything is plugged back in, ground out a plug to see if you have spark, double check your timing marks making sure they are perfect.

 

how do you gorund out a plug to check for spark?

 

check and makre sure you didnt remove any grounds.

take a plug out of the motor, put the spark plug wire back on the plug and with a pair of pliers ( with a rubber grip ,lol ) hold it near the frame of the body

 

i also am in the same situation...just finished my gsr swap... started.. ran fine.. drove it to the muffler shop..car died becasue of a bad alternator....jumped it and drove it home... after i replaced the alternator i am gettin no spark..checked all the grounds as well and even swapped out my friends dizzy.. all fuses are fine too..stumped as well
could it be the main relay??? TTT

 

just run to the junkyard grab a couple of main relays (pocket them to expedite your adventure) then just throw them in your car and see if it works. i did this so far I've only brought home 1 bad main relay.

I test them on my running crx though.. hopefully that helps. I would check your fuses under the hood, perhaps dizzy got water in it and shorted?

well hopefully that helps.
Shane

 

bump

 

help??

 

did you check for spark like we said

 

ya theres no spark

 

ttt

 

main thing that kills an alternator is a bad battery. try replacing your battery as well. if a alt is trying to charge a bad battery long enough it will eventually kill itself over

 

havnt gotten a chance to check for spark- hopefully tomorrow... i hear a click when i turn my key to the on position- doesnt that mean that my main relay is still good?

 

any news??

 

just an update- it appears that my timing is off... I think the spring for my belt tensioner is not strong enough to pull the timing belt taught. Everytime i set the timing, and then start the car it doesnt start (hence why this thread was started). So I go and check the timing, and its off by a tooth. I set it all up again, and crank her. still nothing, so i check the timing- its at least 10 notches off. so im getting a new idler pulley spring, and ill let u guys know how it works.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by naptownrex &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">just an update- it appears that my timing is off... I think the spring for my belt tensioner is not strong enough to pull the timing belt taught. Everytime i set the timing, and then start the car it doesnt start (hence why this thread was started). So I go and check the timing, and its off by a tooth. I set it all up again, and crank her. still nothing, so i check the timing- its at least 10 notches off. so im getting a new idler pulley spring, and ill let u guys know how it works.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Your tightening the bolt right?

 

yeah, im tightening the bolt- 33ft lbs i think (ive heard 40, but my chiltons says 33)

 

Ok guys, I figured out what was wrong. The distributer was upside down (or at least the rotor was). I tested for spark and it was not the problem. So then I took off the dizzy, and turned the rotor 180 degrees, and it fired right up. Now however, it appears that my head gasket (which is brand new btw) has blown again, and I'm burning coolant like its my job. Additionally, my car is overheating. well, it never really stopped overheating i suppose- the whole reason for doing all the work in the first place was that it was ovverheating. God damn the curse of the y49. (you other yellow SI owners know what im talking about)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by naptownrex &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> Now however, it appears that my head gasket (which is brand new btw) has blown again, and I'm burning coolant like its my job. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Did you check the head and deck surfaces with a straight edge?

 

no, as a matter of fact, I didn't. However, because I had placed the headgakset on backwards the first time, it had already been torqued down before I installed it properly. So its kind of like I reused it- in the sense that it has been torqued down twice. Would this cause it to leak? Also, i dont seem to be getting any pressure in my cooling system (when i pinch either of the coolant hoses, there doesnt seem to be any pressure)- would a blown headgasket cause this?