Ok so I have a 93 del sol S. just swapped from a b7 to a z6. got the engine wiring harness with the z6, and picked up a P28 from some guy on craigslist. We've got spark, its cranking alright, and compression is good on all four cylinders. I have no idea, whats wrong, we may not be getting fuel, I dunno if a bad ECU could cause that? The timing is, if not dead on, really frickin close, so I doubt thats the problem. I dunno, my dad and I are just running out of ideas. The battery is charging up right now cuz we drained it from cranking it so much, so I figured I'd come see if you guys have any ideas.

 

Does the fuel pump prime, does the CEL remain ON, and do the fuel injectors have power when the key is turned to ON(II)?

What color is the spark at the plugs?

If the fuel pump doesn't prime, then check whether fuse 31 (hood), 18 (dash), or 24 (dash) is blown.

 

fuel pump does come on, CEL turns off like normal. I dunno about the injectors, how do I check to see if they have power? and the spark plugs are brand new

 

Disconnect the fuel injector connector. You should measure battery voltage on the Yel/Blk wire to ground when the key is turned to ON(II).

The spark should be bright white bluish rather than weak orange at the tip of the plug. What did you see?

 

In a situation like this, you always have to double check the mechanical timing. A tooth off can mean all the difference in the world:

 

it was a nice white spark, so thats fine, and my dads going to see if he can fix his cheapo voltmeter, so I'll try to check those when the battery is done charging. if theres not power getting there could it be the ECU? or just wiring?

unfortunately, I do not have any of the plastic timing covers, so I set it by lining the horizontal marks up on the cam gear to the head, and the keyway on the crank to the mark on the oil pump for the crank. would one tooth off really make it not ignite at all?

 

I think this must be your problem. Find some appropriate timing belt covers and install them. When you do, my guess is that the mechanical timing is OFF.

 

unfortunately there is not a timing belt cover within probably 70 or 80 miles of here.....no junkyards here have any 92+ civics for the most part, and when they do none of them are vtec. I'm not gonna lie, there is absolutely no way for me to get the covers without either paying $100+ to get them from honda, or making a three hour drive (each way) and pay a ferry both ways to possibly find something in a junkyard in seattle/tacoma area.

but really, honda couldn't have been stupid enough to make it so that you HAVE to have the covers, my method should work from what i've heard.....i hope.

 

I understand the bind that you are in. What method have you used to time the engine without the covers?

I am reluctant to suggest that you try repositioning the belt 1-2 teeth in either direction to see whether the engine will start because I am concerned that this "playing around" might cause engine damage.

Maybe someone on HT will sell you the covers?

 

I had a problem with my jeep wrangler where it would just turn over like that and turn over cause it just died on me one day and it ended up being a relay but my brother had similar problem with his jeep and it ended up his ECU was bad.

We put my ECU into his jeep & it fired right up every time. Wonder if maybe you got a bad ECU from that guy.

 

I lined up the horizontal marks on the cam with the cylinder head, and then lined up the keyway on the crank gear with the pointer on the oil pump. So you can set the crank gear without the cover, and thats actually what my chiltons manual said to do, its just the cam timing that could be iffy, since everything says to line it up with the pointer on the cover.

playing around with the timing would be alright I think as long as I spin it around once by hand to make sure its not hitting anything?

and I have to get this thing going by sunday at the very latest, because I have to be back at college then. so even if someone had them, it wouldn't really help.

 

Based on the diagram, you might want to try turning the cam gear counterclockwise one tooth from the marks being level with the head.

 

yeah, going to try that as soon as the battery is charged up. one other thing, i decided to check those fuses you mentioned for the hell of it, but I cant seem to find 24 under the dash? it only goes up to 23, unless i'm looking in the wrong place, underneath on the left side of the steering column.

 

 

oh ok, it just wasn't labled on the box. all the fuses are good, so I guess we'll see what happens with the timing once the battery is good.

btw on a side note, are you getting these diagrams from a Hanes manual? i have a chiltons manual, but it blows, doesn't help really at all.

 

I PM'd you.

 

mmm this is just great....maybe the timing is good, because my dad decided to check to see if we were getting spark again and we are no longer getting spark....greaaaat....looking into it now. though its worth mentioning, we tried setting up my MSD ignition to begin with, but couldn't get it working, so we went back to the stock and got spark there, but something must have happened between then and now so....meh. maybe we messed up some wires in the distributor

 

Is the fuel pump still priming as normal?

Check whether you have battery voltage on the Blk/Yel wire attached to the coil and igniter unit in the distributor when the key is turned to ON(II). If you have voltage, then do resistance tests on the coil and have the igniter tested at an auto parts store.

Is the crucial ground wire on the thermostat housing tight and clean?

 

pump is still priming, going to check what you just mentioned in a min, and i did check the injectors, they are getting power

and that ground wire is actually loose! so i'm gonna go tighten that up now, what would that affect?

 

You definitely need that ground for spark. Clean it thoroughly with steel wool and then fastened it tightly.

 

ok so spark is good now, and i'm definitly getting fuel (confirmed by the big flame that shot out when we tested the spark at the spark plug hole lol). So I guess its just timing. Were gonna talk to my cousin who is a mechanic who has some specialty timing book or something that might have some tricks up its sleeve to set the timing so, we'll see.

 

Is it possible that the engine is now flooded? Does the engine oil smell strongly of gasoline?

 

it is possible, with all the cranking we've been doing today. you think the flame would have burned off all the stuff in that cylinder though?

regarding the timing, a thought just came into mind, though I doubt this is correct, I'll ask anyways though. when they make the timing marks, do those account for the belt tightening up? it seems like everything I read says just to line up the marks, but when you turn the crank, it turns by itself a little bit before it tightens up and starts to turn the cam. I've been trying to make it so that after its tight, its lined up with that mark, but what if the belt tightening is accounted for when they make those marks? I dunno much about timing, but its just a thought i had.

 

This is why, after first installing the belt, you double check that the timing is still perfect after turning the crank a few revolutions counterclockwise. Then you check again after installing the crank pulley and tensioning the belt. You basically need to verify proper timing at every key step of reassembly because the cost of having the timing OFF is so high.

 

These diagrams may also be helpful: