I have a 94 del Sol with a JDM B16a swap. I had my timing belt replaced by a "guy" instead of my normal mechanic, and am now experiencing no start. When I turn the key, I can hear it trying to turn over. But where it would normally start, it now just does nothing. Also, this happened right before I heard a "popping " noise while driving. It kept popping (a very fast pop), and when I was idling it died. I know I should have went to my usual mechanic from the get go, and I guess this is my punishment!

Here's what I've done so far:
Battery check
Master relay
Fuel pressure
Spark
Distributor
Plugs
Fuses

I took off the valve cover and did verify all my valves are moving. That's when I noticed my timing belt. Now everything I've looked up in regards to timing belts ALWAYS show the "Up" arrows lined up. As you can see, mine are not.

So a few questions. Can my no start be because of a timing issue? Is it possible it skipped a tooth? And while I'm assuming it's best practice to align the "Up" arrows, is it possible that it would work as long as they are reciprocal? (Albeit upside down)

Any help is appreciated, thank you.

 

Some additional pictures..

 

Rotate your crank pulley to TDC, then see where the cams sit, if the timing is off loosen the tensioner, pull off the belt and line it all up before attempting to start it again. It may not be your only problem but timing that far off is not good. The crank pulley and both cams need to be TDC, or at least all correlating.

That popping may very well have been your timing being off and improperly detonating... That would make sense as to why it would match engine speed. It just as easily could have been an improperly tensioned belt slapping against the shielding. Its very hard to tell with just an onomonopia to go off of.

i would also look for random connectors that may have come unattached, or just weren't hooked up at all by a lazy mechanic...

 

It looks like one cam is 180* off? I just woke up so don't take it as the gospel truth, but it looks like they are out of time. The PR3 should match where the other PR3 is, and same with the "UP" parts.

 

hahaha nope, I've been awake and that's the first thing I saw. One of your cams is 180* out dawg fix dat ish

 

Thank you for the replies guys..

So a follow up on that.. Can you have them rotated 180* and actually have them work?? What I mean is, say you have one cam TDC with "UP", and the other cam TDC with "PR3". Despite them not having the same lettering, if they are both TDC would that work?

I am definitely planning on changing them to "UP".. but I'm curious as to if this would have worked. I assume yes? The car did run for a while.

 

No you can not. In fact, you might want to rotate your crank by hand very carefully to see if you get any piston valve contact. You might have messed something up by having things 180* out.

 

The car did run for a few weeks before I had the issue of no start. Is it possible that they were both "UP", and came out of alignment? (that badly)

 

The belt is worn. Prolly has missing teeth.

Take the belt off reinstall new belt do compression test

 

Thanks for all the replies guys. I'm going to get her towed to my mechanic this week. Hopefully we'll have a running car soon.

 

holy ****!!! I don't beleive that could have ever ran that way. What likely happened based on your description is that it was hooked up properly and something caused the belt to jump teeth. Either the tensioner is bad or the belt wasn't tensioned correctly. Hopefully you didn't slap your valves against your pistons.

 

Was it running smoothly when you picked it up? It didn't jump a tooth it jumped like 10... No matter what you deserve your money back. Timing belt jobs arent cheap especially when you have to do it twice in a row, and pay for labor.

 

Thanks for the laugh slowpokesi. I'll be taking it to my normal mechanic this time. I don't think I'll ever go with a "bargain " guy again.

 

Would you go with a bargain prostitue!? Didn't think so

 

Hey guys, just wanted to throw out an update. I got the car towed to my normal mechanic.. they had it running that day. The guy who did my belt did NOT install the tensioner. So the belt was pretty much flapping around until it jumped teeth. I was told by a few mechanics there just how lucky I was that this didn't kill my engine.

The guy I took it to was obviously a moron. I know I won't get my money back, but I'm still planning on calling him to discuss his handiwork. No more bargain prostitutes for me! Thanks for the help.

 

Thank you for actually posting the solution to your thread. Im glad everything worked out.