Ok so a little history on the car it's my daily driver, I've just replaced the engine block myself it was my first time pulling an engine. short story is you roll the dice when you reuse head studs. Now everything's back together and running I've set the mechanical timing dead on I have no timing cover for now though my question is, how can i set my ignition timing without a cover or timing gun just to get me by till this weekend? the car runs okay but between idle 750 and 1400 rpm's I've got to give it at least a half pedal so the car does not buck under load. I've heard there's a way to jump the service thing with a paper clip? just not quite sure of the procedure for that also where abouts is your guys distributors located direction wise? mine is set almost all the way to the firewall side of the engine.. any help is much appreciated!

 

You can not set ignition timing without the cover and a timing light. Just not possible.

You can take a crap shoot and set the dizzy centered and hope it's pretty close but it's still a crap shoot.

And the FSM doesn't say anything about replacing the head bolts so it's less of a crap shoot than you think. I suspect the aluminum threads in the block do more of the stretching than the bolts themselves. But really not sure.

FSM says to replace the suspension bolts every time, but not the head bolts.

 

What happened to your timing cover? Why isn't it on there? You really shouldn't run without it, because if something falls in and breaks the belt, likely valve damage yadda yadda.
Probe in cylinder 1 and set the piston to TDC. Make some kind of mark or note of where the single notch on the pulley is.
To set timing, pull the plug with two wires out of the green cover (on most cars, that cover is long gone already), and put a jumper in the plug so the two wires are shorted together. When you start the engine, the CEL should come on steady to tell you the plug is jumpered. Use a timing light to get the center notch of the group of 3 where the single one was at TDC. Distributor should end up approximately centered. If you have to turn it all the way to one end, timing belt may be on wrong.

 

I thought the head bolts were torque-to-yield and should be replaced every time?

 

Most car MFG's they are, but if you study your FSM, nowhere does Honda state replace the head bolts.

There has been a great many discussions on this in the forums.

I've reused my head bolts on two occasions now (2 different motors) and have had zero issues.

I too thought they should always be replaced but then someone pointed out that Honda doesn't say to do so and yet they do say to replace suspension bolts every time.

On the D15B7, in the TSB for the leak head gasket, they do recommend different bolts. But that is the only time I've seen Honda say to replace the bolts.

 

The cover has been long gone since I've purchased the car 3 years ago I'll admit I put off buying another because it ran just fine, Thank you for the guide's I'll try centering it tomorrow morning and following your steps! & let you know th result tomorrow morning i can get to the junkyard to pick up a cover as well

 

I believe you are right but when i measured the bolts with a tape the center bolt was a 1/4 '' stretched long and i re used it without a torque wrench the fist time & snapped it, it was really user error i went way to tight with a long extension. lesson learned use a torque wrench lol thanks for the tips everyone

 

In previous discussions, it has been mentioned to measure them for stretch though.

If you found a bolt longer than the others (1/4" stretched) you should definitely replace with another bolt.

And yes, you still have to use a torque wrench and do the proper sequence and torque stages/steps.

 

I am currently having this same issue with my 97 Honda Civic hatchback i don’t have the timing cover but I can see all marks on the crank pulley and the cam shaft gear I’m just confused on how to get to TDC for the crank pulley Ik how to adjust my camshaft gear to up and side markers parallel.

My engine bay(modded)

 

Is it just me or does anyone else see the irony in trying to set ignition timing WITHOUT the proper components necessary to do so ? WHY try to figure out a way to do this wrong... just put a darn timing cover on the engine !!!

 

Agreed, as well as please don't bump old threads. Start your own and reference this thread if necessary.