Was getting ready to leave for a trip yesterday and decided it best to do a quick tune up before I leave.

Replaced the rotor cap and button and changed the spark plugs and the oil of course..

Get in the and the car won't start. So I pull one of the plugs out only to find out I'm not getting any spark. Therefore I run down and pick up an entirely brand new distributor set, rotor cap and all. Install it and now the plugs are getting spark.

Try to start and the car still won't turn over all the way. I've tested to make sure it's getting fuel and spark. Did a compression test only to find that none of the cylinder are getting any compressing.

Which baffles me considering I had just pulled it in the garage.

Pulled all of the plugs back out put a small amount of oil down there. Still will not start.

Quadrouple checked the firing order and still no go.

I'm in desperate need here was supposed to leave town already and now I can't.

The car cranks but will not turn over all the way.

 

Also checked the main relay and that's good.

 

either the engine isn't turning over or your engine seriously got lit up. almost never see 4 dead cylinders. if you actually connected the gauge right AND disconnected your new distributor so you don't fry the coil. all 4 are very unlikely to be dead which of course means you're not spinning or if you are you have some seriously bent valves or holes in the pistons.

 

your coil went bad.

 

how's the coil bad it's a brand new distributor out of the box and is giving spark?

 

Even sprayed starter fluid in the throttle body and it sitll would't run.

 

Low battery possible?

 

did u flip the distributor 180? i bet thats the problem. very easy to do.

 

1,2,3,4 replies and everyone seems to have overlooked that zero compression problem

 

That was my first thought as well still no luck.

 

I hooked up jumper cables after the work was finished to be sure.

 

Yes after all the testing the only thing left that I can figure out is why I'm getting no compression, I'm completely baffled and so has 2 other mechanics.

 

check your timing belt. and stop cranking till you do

 

Maybe you have no compression because you have cranked the hell out of it and the injectors have washed down the cylinder walls and there is no oil to seal the rings, pull the plugs, put a cap of oil in each cylinder, put a towel over the engine, crank it without the plugs installed to help the oil seal the rings from above, reinstall plugs and see if compression is back and maybe it will start, hope your plugs are not all black.

 

Done, timing belt is in perfect condition no missing teeth.

 

Thought so too, I know my first post was very long incase you didn't get a chance to read the whole thing. Here's what I said though:

Pulled all of the plugs back out put a small amount of oil down there. Still will not start.

 

Oh and the plugs are BRAND new NGK platinums.

 

You can try this....But instead of pulling plugs i would pull the grounding cap plug(on the drivers shock tower) to not let the injectors fire.

 

I had already pulled the plugs and did it that way...Still no luck.

 

There's a nasty gremlin running around wreacking having in my ITR and I want it out NOW! lol. I know someone can figure this out.

 

Not to sound insulting as I have not idea what is going on but are you sure the motor is actually turning over fully when you crack it? Like after you removed all the spark plugs can you physically see the timing belt/cam gears revolving?

 

No it's not insulting at all but yes the cam gears are moving

 

If you turn the motor by hand, with the plugs in, does it spin freely? If it's building compression that way, then your gauge is bad, or it's not sealing in the plug hole.

Once you confirm compression (no point if the engine really has 0 psi of compression in every cylinder, which I find incredibly hard to believe), then confirm fuel, spark and timing.

I know you said you've done some of this already, but do it again.

Based on what you've already said (assuming you get the same results testing it again)You pretty much have confirmed spark, and starter fluid would replace fuel briefly, so make sure your timing is correct, firing order (go for 5 times checking.. ), make sure you are getting spark at the plugs, not the end of the plug wires (not sure how you tested before), check for codes, make sure dist. isn't 180 off, etc. Check timing belt timing as well (cam gears line up and match crank at cyl 1 TDC).

Any mods on the car that we should know about?

 

Okay let me know a few of these ides out of the way so I can narrow down what exactly I need to do. Fuel and spark have been confirmed, pulled out spark plug touched it to a ground while cranking the engine. Actually distributor will only go in one way, I know everyone says it can go 180 but it can't, not in this car, master mechanic at honda even confirmed this.

 

So what I need to do, AGAIN is check the firing order, but would this even matter with 0 compression? Does someone know the correct firing order? Maybe the diagram I pulled was incorrect for an R.

Check for codes where, the CEL? Because that's not flashing.

As far as top dead center, I'm not mechanically inclined enough to do that by myself. But again hwo would it get messed up from me pulling it in the drive way and changing the distributor since the distributor only fit is one direction.

And even to be sure that the honda mechanic was right I flipped it 180 it won't sit flush to bolt it back up so I know for a fact it's not possible to install it 180.