Cyl #1 (timing belt side) is at TDC in this pic, but the rotor is pointing to the wrong place. it should be bottom left, not top left. when i wire the plug wires acccording to this, the car starts, otherwise it doesnt. how do i fix this. i suspect this is why my car runs like ***

 

Your timing is off!

 

Either your rotor has sheared off the shaft, or you are not TDC with cylinder 1.

 

can you elaborate please? the cam gears are all lined up and the crank pulley is lined up. what should i do

if the rotor has sheared off the shaft, would it still spin with the shaft?
and i am 99% sure i am at tdc with cylinder one because when i wire the spark plugs according to this firing order (top left is cyl 1 and so on) the car starts, but if i wire it any other way, it wont.

what do you guys think I should do?

 

what year model blah blah blah car is it?

did you install it 180 out? its hard to do but you still can do that.

 

its a ls/vtec. a 93 b16 in a 2000 acura el (civic)

did i install it 180 out? are you asking me if i installed it backwards because wouldn't that mean that the rotor would be pointing to the prong/sparkplug wire that fires for cylinder 2?

i think the timing belt slipped. i need to open a new thread about a completely different topic now because i've further diagnosed my problem.

 

if the car runs right then don't worry about it

 

Apparently your mechanical timing is off. Which you need to actually take a look at.

 

hatache1, the car does not run right. it runs like complete ***. hesitates, boggs, fuel sucks, no power etc.

mouab18c1, i beleive my mechanical timing is in fact off. when i get a chance, im going to slip the timing belt off of the crank pulley gear, line the gear up with the marking on the oil pump (since i have no timing belt cover) slip the belt back on, and re tighten the belt. all should be solved right?

 

thumbsdown for not running t-belt covers! I don't get why people remove them? Lazy? Its so easy for debris to get down in there and wreak havok.

 

lol why would you remove the tbelt cover?

 

that's how i bought the car, without the tbelt cover. I have no idea why someone would remove it, i guess so you can observe the condition of it and it is easier to change?

Anyways, guys, I need to know, is it possible that the timing belt may have slipped, but the marks will still line up? Do i have to take it off and re tension it?

Also, should i take my crank pulley off and look and see if the crank gear markings and oil pump markings line up so I know that piston one is really at TDC. ? this is what im going to do.

Get the motor to TDC, check and make sure it lines up with the crank gear and oil pump, losen the belt, remove any slack, and put it back on, tighten it all up. should that fix the problem? the Tbelt has slack on one side and none on the other.

 

Is that with the belt and tensenior still intact? Looks like a load of slack.

Search for a DIY on how to install a timing belt and follow the procedures. There are plenty of the web.

 

yeah thats way to much slack for sure wich in turn wou8ld cause slapping/flexing and could very well have cause it to jump

tnesionor is either lose or possible the wrong belt

 

I'm surprised it runs.

If you have the markings on the cams set to TDC and the rotor points to #3 then your cam gears are off. If this is the case, then to get it back to normality you have to be very careful what you turn. I would take off the cams altogether and bolt them down in the right location. I would also stick a rod or tube down in the #1 spark plug hole and turn the crank over and verify TDC on the crank marking is reality.

And yea the Tbelt tension is definitely foul.

Good luck, I'm interested to hear that the verdict is.

 

cam gears are key wayed if im not mistakent there not adjustable since they are no aftermarket ones so as long as the arrows are up/the dots are legit also/and the tdc mark is on the pointer then you have the dizzy wrong can you be 180 out yes you sure can lol hard to do yes, but managable

 

if its 180 off, would it be pointing the way it is? i thought it would be pointing the opposite way of number 1, pointing at number 2?

is it possible for the timing belt to have stretched or slipped, but all of the timing marks still line up?

somebody please point me in the right direction. What do I look at? the belt, dizzy, or cam gears? the last thing I want to play around with is the cam gears.

what if I just loosen my dist, and rotate as far back as it can go till its as close as plug wire 1... ?

 

Have you made any progress? tried to reply to your PM but your mailbox is full.

I would start with the cam markings, it's easiest.

 

you cannot install a distributor 180 out. the teeth that go into the cam car keyed so that the distributor only goes in one way.

first thing you need to do is to make sure the mechanical/cam timing is correct.(which it sounds like you've done). next step is to set the ignition timing properly using a timing light. report back if the car is still not running properly.

 

Hey, So i brought it to my mechanic, he said the mechanical timing is correct, And other than that, he cannot see anything out of the norm. He said the timing belt was fine. I brought it to a guy who KNOWS his hondas, he said all I have to do is get it tuned, simple. So hopefully the tuner can time it properly, tune it up and I should be good to go. Aparently, wherever the rotor points, is what you should use as cyl #1.

I plugged in a stock p28 and the car runs fine, Hits vtec well, gas is better. The shaking and stuttering was due to a loose strut, So yes, I am making progress, But it will be a few weeks before I can get the Car tuned, Its going to cost me 350 and im trying to balance school, work, and other things right now, going to be a little tough but I want to get it running properly.

 

So you didn't really have it at TDC in your photo then.....?

 

nowhere in any of your other posts did you mention the car was on a chipped ecu. i bet most of us would have suggested that as the problem if we had known. since you were so sure it was a timing issue i didnt even think about the ecu being a problem.

to get the car running right you could try getting the proper basemap, a stock gsr map should work. you dont have to get a full dyno tune.

 

is the distributor rebuilt or has anyone taken it apart?