So i replaced my distributor after my car died and it still wont start. It gets spark and plugs smell like gas so i tried to check timing. I lined up tdc on the crank pulley and noticed my rotor was pointing opposite the #1 terminal so i figured the dizzy was 180 off. I took it out and lined up the notch on the cam with the lines on the distributor shaft but now it wont go in wtf!?

I tried switching the rotor to the opposite direction but it didnt change anything. It just cranks but never fires up. Any ideas?

 

Your dizzy only goes one way. That is to prevent it from being 180 degrees out of phase. You have a 4-stroke motor. TDC means that the piston is at the top of its stroke. It doesn't mean that the rotor should point to cylinder 1. If you rotate the crank another full rev, the rotor should match up. Your cam spins half the speed of the crank.

A motor needs 3 things to work. Spark, fuel, compression. Since you say you have spark and fuel, do you have compression?

You say your car died. Why did you replace the distributor? Does the CEL come on when you start the car?

 

The car died when the rotor screw fell out. Just bogged down real bad and i turned it off. When i was trying to get it back on i ended up breaking a wire off the ignitor so i got a whole new distributor to just get it all over with. My old dizzy had a pretty nasty looking coil too.

The CEL comes on for 2 seconds and i can hear the fuel pump hum and the relay clicks. I havent done a compression test but what are the odds a blown head gasket would keep all of my cylinders from firing? Thanks

 

I doubt the head gasket blew at the same time. Even if it did, the car probably will run.

How did you check for spark? What color is the spark?

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/%2A%2A%2A-basics-no-start-diagnosis-101-%2A%2A%2A-1992733/
This is a good place to start troubleshooting.

 

I went through that guide before posting. Good spark and everything which led me to timing but everything seems right.

 

bump

 

Is it turnning over at all?

 

coughs maybe once when i first try starting it, then just keeps cranking

 

Was your battery relocated?

 

you say you had a mechanical problem with the distributor then you changed out the distributor.. guessing it ran fine before... so you know ... its probably best to keep working in the area of the distributor

 

Everything is bone stock, i do need a new battery but i want to get it running first ive been starting it with another car. and i already replaced the distributor it seems to be timed right and im getting spark im stumped

 

Thats your problem if you can jump start it then just get a new battery and run new battery wire, thats what i had to do. mine will do the same thing when you turn the key and the dash lights come on are they dim or bright? if there dim replace battery and cables. it should fix it, also you can see if your ground wire is loose that would do it aswell

 

i mean the only way it cranks is with a jump it still doesnt turn over no matter what i do

 

you should recheck the timing marks,
when the crank is set at #1 TDC,set the cam gear, and check that the #1 valve is TDC.
then if you take off the dizzy cap, it SHOULD be pointing toward the firewall at #1.