Car-- 1993 Del Sol with a engine swap. Engine - 1999 B20Z2 that came out of a CRV.
Engine was running fine. Distributor was removed, when trying to reinstall it I noticed the shaft had turned (unknown amount). Lined it back up, would not go into engine. Rotated shaft 180 degrees, shaft went into engine ok. Engine will start and idle, but has no power and will not move car. Tried to adjust distributor with adjustment screws... no luck. Any suggestions?

 

Did you set your timing?

 

No.... I'm not even sure how on this car. It's actually my son's car, I have experience on V8's, these Honda's are new to me. He's searching for tips now...

 

If its obd1 let the car warm up to operating temp. Turn off the car and jump the 2 wire plug by the ecu. Unplug the aicv. Turn car back on. Set timing light to 0 and line up your 16degree mark on the crank pulley.

 

Ok.... thanks.... that all makes sense to me except one part, what is "obd1"? Sorry for the dumb question.

 

Maybe the ignition timing is off now. You can try jumping the service connector with a paper clip. Just search how to check ignition timing. You'll see how

 

Even fully retarded distributor will at least move the car.

Why was the distributor removed? If for nothing drivability concerned and no "work" was done to the engine them I bet you have the distributor 180° out. Doesn't matter how many times the distributor spun. As long as its lined up properly with the camshaft and ignition timing is set correctly it should run as it did.

 

the distributor cannot be installed (easily) 180 out. it actually is keyed to only fit one way.
that said, you can force them in 180 out but it wont fit right and can break the distributor and cam.

how does the car act when you actually try to drive it? bucking, sputtering, or just flat out **** poor power


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Distributor was not forced back in.... only fits one way.

You can rev the engine up (out of gear) and it runs smooth, let the clutch out and the RPM drop, car bucks and backfires.

 

How about this. Why were you working on the engine?

 

I was not working on the engine.... my son was tracing a oil leak and thought it might be head gasket but in an area behind the distributor... he removed the distributor to check the gasket (which was ok).

Why it was removed is irrelevant at this point as long as you understand the engine was running fine before. It was replaced (with out forcing it in) and now something is wrong.
I've found a mechanic that will re-tune it but it's going to cost $$ to get it there--- car has been lowered, etc...

 

does it have a check engine light now? its possible a distributor wire was damaged in the process. not a sparkplug wire, I'm talking about the actual harness wires leading to the distributor

 

Sounds like the tps is unplugges

 

Latest update: Car is now timed--- when you first start the engine and it is in the "higher idle" mode (warming up the engine). As soon as it drops idle down to the "normal" RPM it falls out of timing-- (retards)... needs to be advanced but distributor is at maximum position. We attempted to drive in this mode, the car can be driven, sort of, as to a shop with flashers on.... very low power to start, builds up, around 40 mph you get an occasional "buck" or backfire.

 

When you timed it, you jumped the service connector right? I'm somewhat doubtful that's the main issue here but it just takes a little time and no spending.

You need to make sure when timing your car, that it is completely warmed up to cancel out as much variables as you can.

All you're doing is setting the base timing of your car. If not done correctly, then the timing may be good at idle but when the rpms range go up or down it will throw off the timing because the ecu isn't correctly set to adjust to it.

And still no CEL's?

 

Found either the problem or another problem. One of the cam shafts has jumped a tooth in the belt. Trying to re-align it now.

 

that was exactly what I was just going to ask, because that's the only way the timing can still be too retarded with the distributor fully advanced. and it would explain all the issues. the main problem beyond that though is WHY it jumped a tooth.

 

I'm not sure why it jumped although the belt did not look that tight. We're inspecting the tensioner to make sure it's ok and most likely will put a new belt on it.

Thanks for the help and suggestions.

 

Ultimately it appears the tensioner worked itself loose causing the belt to work loose and jump time. Looks like the whole distributor removal and replacement was just extremely weird timing.

Car has now been "back to normal" for several days, all looks well.

 

good good. consider yourself EXTREMELY lucky that it didn't smash valves into pistons, because ~90% of the time a belt skips, that's what happens and it destroys the entire engine.

just to be absolutely sure though, I'd suggest doing a compression test