99 base model. No MIL. Tach is working. Battery voltage is fine. Turns over good and has 40k volts spark at each plug wire, plugs and cap are brand new. Fuel pump is heard turning on. After several attempts to start, plenty of fuel can be smelled in the exhaust. The car dosnt putt, bump, half-catch or sound like it has ANY ignition whatsoever, but i know the plugs are getting a good consistent spark.

Took exhaust off and there is no restriction, cat is good. Engine is cold but compression tested 60-120 psi on each cylinder. I dont know what else to check. What am I missing?

I thought about timing, but there isnt any timing mark on the pulley. Factory manual says to use the inner sprocket but I can't get to it easily. The cam gears are indexed to eachother, but i cant see if both the TDC cam gear marks are indexed to the crank sprocket. Is the notch on the fly wheel seen through the inspection hole accurate enough to index the cam gear timing marks off of?

 

WHAAAAAAAAAAT???? compression varried from 60 to 120???

those numbers are really low. What method did you do to test compression accross all 4 cylinders???

I did my h23 warm by pulling one spark plug at a time, put the compression tester in the spark plug hole and cranked car three cranks untill the pressure locked in the gauge. It held at 180 for every cylinder +/- 3 psi maybe (YUM YUM :D)

Id suggest on the low pressured cylinders you add some oil down the spark plug hole to see if that forms a seal around the piston. If compression jumps back up this would indicate your seals on the pistons are wasted (if not someone correct me)

The motor needs 4 things I believe to idle/run consistantly. Spark, fuel, compression, and the proper ignition timing.

 

I know its crazy. I mean i had to test it cold cuse it wont start. 60-120-60-60 is what i came out. #3 must have a lot of carbon. It dosnt burn oil or coolant. and there isnt any oil or coolant mixed in eachother.

I just need to get this thing started. this motor has to last one more month. 60 is low but shouldn't that be enough to at least stumble or putt? The main thing is that it was running a couple days ago - although it was having hot re-start problems.

 

check these too,

-blocked / clogged intake

-check main relay operation, common honda problem

-ground wire/strap to engine, could be broken or highly corroded

-bad cell in battery, enough to crank the engine but not enough to do anything else, i know it sounds weird but iv'e seen it before.

-timing belt, check everything with it

 

like I said, dump a cap full of oil in those low psi cylinders and try to get compression readings. I think your seals are garbage, and your not getting enough compression Check what h23 prelude said too.

 

Thanks for the input H23Prelude. Heres what i already did: Cleaned the intake down to the head a month ago
Main relay checks out ok
Ground strap is good, disconnected and reconnected it
Battery is new, plus i tried jumping it just to see, didnt make a difference.
Oil down the cylinders does make compression come back - checked a month ago on a hot engine.

I had the timing cover off today and turned the engine over twice, the belt looks ok but i couldnt see the sprocket to index the cam gears off of.

I know the rings have been waring for a while and im rebuilding a new engine to swap in. Rings ware over time and this no-start-at-all problem seems like it just got acute quick. The car hasnt been burning oil badly, and it hasnt had any developing cold start problems, accept for all of the sudden.

What else can i check?

 

i know you stated that the exhaust smells like theres fuel there, but sometimes that can be misleading because its just residual oil/fuel in the exhaust.

try spraying some starting fluid in the intake and cranking it over, carb cleaner works too.

try putting your finger on each injector while cranking the engine over, you should feel a "click" thats verifying the injector is operating correctly.

after all this is done, you should check for correct output of the crank sensor, i own a H23 so im not sure if your H22 has a cam sensor but if it does check it in the same way. i doubt this is the problem but im starting to run out of ideas.

-good luck

 

Standard atmosphere is just under 15psi - so 60 psi is 4:1 compression - I'm not sure you'll get anything out of that. An H23 has 10:1 new and the 22 has 8:1. I had an old pickup that dropped to about 100psi and it would barely pull itself.

 

Duanes - psi of compression and compression ratio dont exactly relate like that but your point is still valid, i know the compression is low, but your old pickup that had 100psi of compression on a hot engine probably had a lot less compression when cold, and it still started. Im not even getting a putt-putt out of my car.

H23prelude - I ran out and got some starter spray, ill try that and check those sensor out puts, and pore some oil down the cylinder to try and make some virtual compression tomorrow... if it wasn't getting output from those sensors would it still fire though?

 

Not sure where you got your numbers, but the USDM H23 has a compression ratio of 9.8:1 and the USDM H22 has a compression ratio of 10:1.

 

well if the crank or cam sensors in an engine fail, or give a misreading then the computer will fire the injectors and or spark at completely wrong times.

it could be injecting fuel during the exhaust stroke, or commanding spark ign at incorrect times. usually when this happens the engine will attempt to run and violently back fire. so i doubt its your problem but its worth checking out.

one more thing to check, theres a ground wire that attaches to the thermostat housing, if that is not connected the engine will do exactly as youre describing, crank but no start. be sure that wire has a proper ground connection

 

I got my first car when I was 15 and did all my mechanical work since. I help all my friends and family with their cars. I can’t figure this problem out guys. Heres what I did today in sequence:

Rechecked cold compression: 60-60-110-60
Sprayed 3-5sec blast of starter spray into intake.
Failed to start
Resprayed
Failed to start (could see and smell starter fluid vapor and gas out of tailpipe)

Added oil to all cylinders 90-95-110-90
Double checked spark on each wire (40,000 volts+ each)
Double checked ground
Failed to start
Resprayed
Fail to start

Its not bumping or putting or anything. It seems exactly like the block isn’t grounded but I messed with the strap and I don’t have any corrosion. What could I be missing?

Im ready to try a rabbits foot, wish bone, lucky charms….

 

not enough compression, your rings are shot!!!! I don't think it will ever fire personally untill you do a rebuild. Second opion would be helpfull

 

I am rebuilding a spare motor, this hog just has to last another month. This no starting problem just developed, I've had low compression for a while but never once had a starting issue like this.

I believe i ruled out the compression as the critical issue with the oil test. The factory min is 135psi and with the oil i had around 100. With around 100 psi i should at least stumble or putt, its not doing either.

 

you are correct, even with low compression it will start and run. it wont be a powerful engine but it will run, or atleast try to start.

is there ANYTHING that you have done to the car recently, even if you think its completely un-related please list it, because i'm running out of ideas.

 

this past saturday morning i woke up, started it up and backed it down my driveway. washed, buffed, waxed it. vacuumed it out. went out a few hours later and its wouldnt start and its been dead since.

i just unscrewed all the engine ground straps and died the bolt and taped the hole and sanded everything clean and put it back together and still nothing.

If the valve timing was off so much that it would cause it not to start, wouldn't not have any compression?

Does the engine have to be running to check the spark timing or can i test it when im cranking the engine over too? ive never used a timing light before.

 

Did you happen to wash under the hood? It almost makes me think you have water in your plugs.

 

I was thinking may the cap/rotor.

Also, the 60-60-120-60 is pretty messed up. Either that one cylinder is going to be crazy high when warm, or like others have said you have a seal and/or other problem in there. That's clearly not a +/- 10%.

I'd do a leak down test just to double check everything with compression is fine. Compressions tests give you a little insight but aren't very reliable or help pinpoint an issue (and often times can miss problems). With a leak down you'll be able to see if maybe valve seals are shot/valve sticking, and if so intake/exhaust, rings, etc. At the very least it would eliminate a few possible problems.

 

rjr162 has a good point, do a leak down test and check for any other problems. it will help eliminate other problems