ok so. i noticed on my '98 GS there was antifreeze on my plugs a few weeks ago and finally confirmed a bad head gasket and got everything together to change it last week. wasn't blown, just barely enough to let antifreeze to get into my block/head, but no oil got into my antifreeze. changed out head gasket last week and as soon as we started it up, check engine light came on and noticed the car idled weird and goes blub blub blub blub when it idles. the car also has a drastic hp/torque cut, and the exhaust is almost quiet compared to what it normally is. we're narrowed it down to the best of our ability to one of four things: the head gasket is thicker than the one that was on their before we changed it, the timing is off, the o2 sensor is bad, or there's a vacuum leak somewhere. we bought an OEM head gasket, we tried to make sure we didn't move the timing belt and marked the top of the belt at 2 completely different teeth to ensure refitting it correctly, the o2 sensor never had any indication it was bad before, and we can't hear any hissing anywhere at all when it starts up. anyone wanna take a crack at it?

 

double check your timing.

 

and i forgot to mention, i'm an *** and can't remember how to set the car into diagnostic mode to fine-tune the timing without an ODB reader O_o

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by I has a Teg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">and i forgot to mention, i'm an *** and can't remember how to set the car into diagnostic mode to fine-tune the timing without an ODB reader O_o</TD></TR></TABLE>

Jump the service connector off with a paper clip or speaker wire.

The connector is located in the passenger side kick panel.

 

was able to jump it with the help of Jimmy(thanks dude), and did enable diagnostic mode. i screwed with the turning of the distributor for a bit and it seemed to help a little bit, i regained some power and it's not as bad as it was with the blub blub idling, but there's still something blatantly wrong with it. should i pull the head off and screw with the timing belt itself?? i cranked the distributor from front all the way to the back with the bolts still in their respective holes but just loose enough to let it turn, and it didn't "fix" it, only helped a little. suggestions?

 

cam timing...

 

Good guess, set #1 to TDC and double check your cams.

 

well i'm pretty sure the timing is back in order after moving the dist. cap, cuz i tested out the power fully instead of shifting at 3 grand while driving and i'm almost 100% certain timing is back in swing. my head unit fell out of my dash twice after it was securely placed in both times beforehand =p i'll def. have to make sure the timing is perfect though, i'd hate to still rock retarded timing lol.

the only thing that's screwy now is there's a tapping going on that rises as the RPMs do, and i still have a CEL, but haven't reset the codes since i fixed the timing. my one buddy thinks the tapping is from when he turned over the head when we had the motor apart and the lifters fell out and we just kind of put them in there randomly, instead of somehow trying to figure out which lifter went where originally. my other buddy thinks it might be a belt, but we took no belts off the motor except for the top half of the timing belt to lift the cams out of the head.


Modified by I has a Teg at 7:30 PM 5/9/2008

 

we understand that you set ignition timing, but did you redo your cam timing?

 

i didn't think the cam timing would be a factor since i'm getting the same amt of power or more than before so i never worried about it... you think just the cam timing would make it tap like it is? not questioning anyone's knowledge here cuz i'm far more of a nub than most people on HT, but i just wanna make sure before i start pokin around places that the tapping might not be coming from lol i'll reset cams when i get a chance and have tools available, i'm not at home right now =p

 

anything like this? this is how mine was when i set the timing a tad off and belt wasn't tensioned right=bad

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kxHvN16Y3Bc

 

you probably need to do a valve adjusment. That should take care of the tapping. Some of the adjustment screws could have wiggled themselves loose when everything got dumped out.

 

wow lmike, if that video does the actual car's sound justice, then it's nowhere near that bad lol but it's just regular tapping, not a monstrous sound like that. and darksyde, i was actually suggested to do a valve adjustment when i randomly encountered a chill spot for hondas and street bikes tonight lol i might actually go for the valve adjustment but haven't done it before. i've done a little research for DIY, i think i'll con my buddy into helpin me out with it lol. i'll post back within the week to give an update after i get it done. thanks for the info thus far

 

I would redo the timing belt when you do the valve adjustment, or atleast check it. It is really easy, and i would not suggest just marking where the belt was when you took it off, and putting it back on.