EDIT: Car runs now, misprint in the repair manual threw me off, I knew it had to be something simple. Mod or Admin may lock or delete.

I recently changed the head gasket on my 95 Civic DX Hatchback with the stock D15B7 engine. The repair went fine no surprises, but now the engine won't start after the repair and it ran fine aside from the coolant problem due to the HG before I fixed it. The car never over heated before changing the head gasket.

I've read through the FAQs and my manual very carefully yet I am still a little baffled.

I have checked for spark and I have it.
I have checked for fuel and I have it.
I have checked for compression and I have it.

I can hear the fuel pump running so it's not the main relay.
I checked spark all the way down to the plugs so I'm sure it's firing in the cylinders.
The intake and exhaust manifold gaskets are brand new so it's not a vacuum leak from there.
All vacuum lines and wiring is plugged in and has been triple checked.
The one and only ground wire I disconnected was reconnected properly (the one from the radiator support to the valve cover).
The battery has 12.6 volt sitting.
The car cranks just fine.
The CEL does not stay on however it will light for a few seconds for a bulb check so I know it would work if I had a code.
The car has full oil and coolant.
The wires are in the correct order according to my HAYNES manual and I even tried switching them around just to be sure.
I have not discovered any blown fuses or melted wires.
The car is in neutral and the clutch is depressed while cranking.

I'm thinking there is something "Honda" specific I'm not doing since I've done 12 HGs before this on various makes and models and never run into a no start problem after the repair. I will be getting more specific compression numbers tomorrow but I've had enough of this car for today to want to go back out to the garage. Any thoughts on something I missed?

Note: Also the intake manifold was unbolted from the head and left in the car, nothing was disconnected from it other than the 7 nuts that hold it to the head.

 

Have you double checked your distributor to ensure it wasn't installed 180 deg out of phase? Is your timing set correctly?

 

Distributor never came off the head so I don't see how that would be possible. I'm considering putting the car at base ignition timing and trying that via the connector in the passenger foot kick pannel. The timing belt is correct I rotated the engine by hand several times and it had no problem spinning and the marks came back to the exact same spot every time.

 

Try some engine starter spray.

 

That doesn't seem like a perminant fix but I guess it may help it fire up for a few seconds.

 

Up for ideas, I get off work shortly and will be trying to diagnose the problem yet again.

 

Do you have fuel pressure?

 

Yes.

Car just fired up, distributor diagram in my book is printed in correctly I guess, after playing with the order the wires plug into the distributor it runs. No idea why the book has a misprint, but I figured it was something simple. Car runs horribly only because I have the battery disconnected for a month so the ECU needs to re-learn everything. No matter though, just need to drive it around.

What did I learn from this: Don't trust repair manuals.

Mod or Admin may lock or delete this topic.

 

Thread locked as requested by OP.