I just rebuilt the cylinder head on my 2002 Accord after the timing belt had previously snapped off. While I was at it, I replaced the timing belt, balancer belt, water pump, and pulleys with all OEM parts. I'm 99% sure I got the timing right as I followed Alldata directions and the car also ran great after I put everything back together. I drove it on the highway for about 50 miles and then suddenly the car just died on me, still cranks, but won't start. I've checked and I have good spark, good fuel, should have good timing, so I'm not sure what else could be causing my car not to start when it just ran fine for awhile? My only guess is the CPS sensor but that's fairly expensive so wanted to get some other opinions before digging back in and replacing that. Also no CE codes from a basic OBD2 scanner, but my friend will hopefully come tomorrow to scan it with an HDS scanner. Any help is much appreciated =D

 

Well if you are absolutely sure about the fuel, fire and timing. You should look into cylinder compression. Even then it would still try to fire if you have fuel and fire! Could your timing be out 180*?

Usually when the CKP, TDC or CYP sensors fail there is no spark or fuel signals delivered from the ECU. They will also throw a DTCode. If the check engine light is not on the HDS is not going to dig up any phantom codes. That being said, you should be able to monitor all of the sensors conditions/readings with the HDS. Could be the Engine coolant temp sensor as well. If it is unplugged or has loose connections it can cause a no start issue as the ECU is seeing a false engine temperature.

 

When I did the timing, I set crank to TDC markings with Cyl 1 & 4 up, then put the head on with the cam gear matched up properly too, I believe this should be correct? And if timing was 180* off, would the car run well for awhile?

Also, to check fuel, I removed the fuel line going to the fuel rail and turned the key to ON position, fuel squirted out for roughly 2-3 sec as is normal. For spark, I tested a plug against the valve cover for spark while cranking, good spark.

 

No, If it were 180 out it would not start at all.

Ok so you know that you have fuel to the rail. Now you have to ensure that you are getting fuel into the cylinders.

Can you tell if the injectors are firing while the engine is turning over?

Are your spark plugs dry or ae they wet and smell of fuel? If the engine is getting fuel to the combustion chamber and not firing. The sparks plugs should now be soaked with fuel.

If the injectors are not firing it could be due to a TDC sensor error or a loose connection somewhere in the injector circuit.

 

Good point, spark plugs are all dry, so I guess may not be getting fuel into the cylinder, I find it very odd that I'm not getting any CE codes though. Just curious, other than bad TDC sensor, do you know what else might cause the injectors to not fire? Also, if TDC sensor is bad, shouldn't I not be getting a spark?

Just looked up the part and it seems the TDC sensor and CPS (CKP) sensor comes as a package in a harness setup, I guess that's why the CPS sensor is so expensive lol, technically buying 2 sensors. But if either of these sensors have failed, I feel like the ECU should have a CE code?

 

Just for giggles, check to be sure you have the main ground (G101) for the PCM attached and is clean and tight. Many times it will get overlooked and cause some of the issues you are describing.

 

Yup, I actually ran into this problem once before but when it happened, it wouldn't crank at all. I connected my OBD2 scanner to ground the PCM just to be sure but still nothing =\

 

So I just went to do a compression test and oddly enough, I have 0 compression across all 4 cylinders. I would initially think bent valves because of timing belt jump, but I took the valve cover off and checked the timing and the belt is fine and timing is spot on, didn't jump at all. My next guess would be blown head gasket but what are the odds it blew across all the cylinders? Seems highly unlikely as well. I've also considered the possibility my compression tester is faulty since it's just a basic ebay compression tester so I'll be having my friend bring his snap-on compression tester over to re-test just to double check. I'm just wondering if in fact I lost compression across all cylinder, what could have possibly caused this? I was driving on the hwy at about 70 mph when it happened. I've manually turned the crank and watched the cam move the valves and everything seems fine.