been having a lot of problems with my car, that have all come back to timing. I've adjusted and adjusted, and the problems just seem to get worse once, then better the next, then worse again. I'm wondering if i'm not turning the cam right. just using a soft tap with a screwdriver and hammer on the gear.

 

HELL NO!
you have to turn the crank if you want to move the cam.
remove the valve cover and put the engine at TDC.

 

Ok. So i just need to turn the crank till the "UP" on the cam gear is lined up? So what have i probably messed up by tapping the gear?

 

since you tap the gear quite ofter i am assuming, you could of messed up timing more that it already was/is. best thing to do, it make out engine to TDC and see if the timing is off. if it is, fix it and make sure the timing belt it on nice and tight.

 

well yeah, timing is off.. that's what i'm doing is fixing it. i'm wondering if by tapping the gear i'm doing any damage to the head. i was turning the cam gear til UP was up, and turning the crank to TDC and putting the belt back on.

I'm trying to figure out if by turning the cam that way I wasn't actually turning it like it needs to be turned. Like if when i tap it, it isn't actually turning the cam like it should

 

depends on what side you at turning it. towards you or towards the car. but either way i would check the timing. i would NOT use the "up" thing on the cams.
i check TDC this way
remove valve cover
remove #1 spark plug (cylinder RIGHT next to the timing belt)
put in a LONG screw driver or something long that will fit in the hole
turn the crank counter clockwise until the #1 piston is at its highest point.
when the #1 piston is on its highest point, make sure the INTAKE valve is down. intake stroke
then once the #1 piston is at its highest point and the intake valve is up, then you have TDC on your engine

EDIT: sorry about that

 

gotcha. I know to always turn ccw btw. granted i don't really know why, but i do. But i see what you're saying now. I'll take a look at it. Thanks

 

no problem man. btw what ccw?
counter clock wise?

 

yeah

 

alrighty. well yea. just do what i suggest and see what happens. then post up how it went.

you can also do a D.I.Y if you like

 

Alright. So i'm not really sure what i'm looking at exactly. This is at TDC

 

TDC1 is determined by looking at the positions of the cam and crank gears. Here's how they should be positioned when the timing belt is correctly installed (see diagram below). You only turn the crank ccw to maintain proper timing belt tension.

By the way, your engine has a lot of sludge, which is generally caused from not doing oil changes regularly.

 

The motor is at TDC1. What we're looking at is to determine if the valves are where they're supposed to be when the cylinder is tdc. But as far as what valves should be where, I have no idea.

 

You would not be able easily to recognize TDC1 by looking at the camshaft and rocker arms. Are the cam gear and crank gear synchronized at TDC1 as shown in the diagram? If so, you're go to go. Make sure you now properly tension the belt.

 

Yeah they are. And I got the belt tensioned properly. However, as soon as I did that, I got a bad knock. Is there a write-up on valve adjustment on H-T? Can't seem to find one

 

Where is the knock coming from? The head, block, or elsewhere?

 

Not sure yet. What could be wrong with the head to make a loud knock? Not a ticking, but a definite knock. Before I did the timing the knock wasn't this bad.

 

The timing belt tensioner only works correctly if the crank sprocket is turned counterclockwise. Sometime when you have the lower timing cover off and do not care about the timing and getting the car back together, try nudging the crank sprocket clockwise. The loss in timing belt tension will be real obvious. Then turn it CCW. Tension returns.

You might want to seriously consider a Helm manual. It will help with a lot of your questions. Autozone.com's free online guides for the Civic are not quite the Helm manual but are pretty good, too.

 

Thanks. I have a Haynes, but it doesn't really explain some thing into great detail

 

https://honda-tech.com/forums/showth...0#post37911300

picture at the bottom shows TDC mark on crank pulley. Yeah, with the way your internals look, oil starvation or not changing oil regularly will cause a lot of problems. You can find a civic manual at pdftown.com, i have it, its nice, if i could email a 100+ meg file i would, otherwise, go to Helms. FSMs are the best thing ever, they really do answer pretty much any question. If your sure its not a tick, as a tick would be valve adjustment, but if its a knock it could be worn cylinder rings, does it use oil or does the knock go away when it warms up? Otherwise it would be rod bearings, if worn will cause a knock.

valve lash
http://www.denlorstools.com/home/dt1...honda_car.html
http://www.georgebelton.com/6g.civic...ance/index.php

userX what engine is that?

 

It's a mini-me. My y8 threw/broke a rod. I rebuilt this y7 block and reused the y8 head.

So I guess the head isn't my problem here. I suppose I'll pull the head off and see what I messed up while building the block.