I recently changed my timing belt water pump and tensioner on my 2000 accord 2.3 vtec with 143k miles. When I started the car there was a weir noise and the car shut itself down. I checked it out and found the key way missing 😱. So I redid the entire job resetting the timing to tdc but now there is a dead misfire and check engine light with codes p0300 p0302 p0304 and p1399. I rechecked and verified that timing was correct, there was a 3 degree difference on the crank from tdc. With that said how should I proceed should I:
A. Expect to find bent valves and rebuild/replace headB. Verify piston tdc and head tdc and redo whole jobC. Drive it til it fails and then del with it.
D. Count it as a loss and scrap the car.​​​​

 

Do compression and leak down tests, to check for bent valves. I am going to go out on a limb and say that you most likely touched face in there.

if you have bent valves, search your local scrap/junk yards for a used F23 head. Once you find one buy a gasket kit and swap it out. Weekend job if you have the capabilities and tools.

 

Thanks for the reply. How much more damage would be caused by delaying the head replacement. This is my only car for the moment and next chance to do it is a few weeks away. Also are the head bolts torque to yield like Ford and have to be replaced or can the be reused? I am gonna do the compression test tomorrow, I have to borrow a tester after work, and I will post the results.

 

As far as long term damage, that depends. How is the car running right now?

Can you smell raw fuel in the intake, oil pan or exhaust? You can get away with running an engine with a slight misfire for a while as long as you are not introducing raw fuel outside of the combustion chamber for extended periods. I knew a guy who blew the bottom end out of his engine because one cylinder wasn't firing, over time the cylinder wall washed with fuel and it started passing the rings and got down into the crankcase/oil pan. Then boom, blew all the seals out of the engine.

I ran my Accord with a misfire for 3 weeks before getting it fixed. I just checked to make sure that all 4 cylinders were firing and burning the fuel. My issue, worn/leaking intake valves/seats, was more noticeable at lower RPM and didn't really affect driving over 2000rpm. If I let it idle for a while you could start to smell a rich fuel mixture in the exhaust.

 

Sorry for the delay I finally got around to doing the compression test and here are the results.........
#4 120
#3 170
#2 170
#1 180
So if my guess is right #4 has bent valves and needs to be addressed.