Hi, as the title states I have a 96' Honda Civic manual sedan.I bought it not running and rust-free for a good price, the previous owner claimed it died while he was driving it and he couldn't restart it and gave up on it. When I turn the key it turns over but doesn't start. At first I thought I had seen this issue before, car needs a new distributor, installed a brand new one with cap rotor and ignition module, still same problem. Re-checked for spark and injector pulse with new distrib - none present. I checked every ground and every applicable fuse on the vehicle, all are now clean and tight, battery terminals cleaned and tight, battery was put on a charger and tested good. I have tested for fuel pressure and have it, fuel pump primes as well. I have tested main relay(with a test light) and it functions normally. When I turn key on, CEL comes on for 2 or 3 seconds and then goes off(good main relay). I opened up the ECU case and looked at both the top and bottom of its board, everythings clean, no leaks, no burns, no smells in there. I checked timing belt, it looks to be nearly new, and hasn't snapped or fallen off. The car has new NGK plugs gapped properly, new fuel filter, and new distributor, cap, rotor, ignition module. I am just about fully stumped on this one guys. My only assumptions going forward from here are maybe bad crank position sensor or bad ECU? Any tips from the pros would be greatly appreciated, I have some money to spend on it, but I refuse to throw cash at the problem since that never works... Where do I go moving forward from here to restore spark and injector pulse?

 

Does the camshaft actually rotate when you crank? Timing belts usually fail by having several teeth strip off where it engages the crank gear. It looks intact if you just look at it sitting still.

All essential timing comes from the distributor. Unlike most cars where a bad crank sensor prevents it from running at all, on these the crank sensor is just there to double-check.