I have a CX engine in my 4 door civic. I was told the motor cranked, but wouldnt start before i got the car.

Well i get the car, and it wont even crank. The starter stalls out and clicks because the flywheel will not turn. So i look into it. there is absolutely NO oil in the motor. OK, i go to fill it up, and the oil plug is stripped and leaking. I replaced the oil pan and gasket. and filled it up with oil. I then just turned the crank pulley to get some oil flowing around the engine.

When i try to start the car... it will crank a few times, then the starter will stall out and click agian and agian because the flywheel isnt turning. I smell a lot of fuel, so i took the spark plugs out to clear the access fuel, check over the plugs, they're practically new, then try to clear out the cylindars and the thing cranks just fine.

When i put the plugs back in, it will only crank a few times, then do the stalling out bullshit. I've tried replacing the starter. Same thing happends

Why would the motor crank when the spark plugs arent in, and wont when they are? and what can i do to fix this?

 

Clicking is a sign of not enough juice in the battery. A locked engine with a good battery, for example, the starter clicks once and sits there locked up and unable to turn until it burns itself out.

An engine requires three things to run: fuel, spark, compression. Verify those things first. Give it a once over to make sure the people who went before you didn't screw anything up; mechanical timing, verify firing order, etc. You aren't diagnosing anything so much as playing clean up.

Make sure you have a good connection with all power and grounds to the starter. Verify you have spark. With anything that's sat for a while and might have stale gas, once I know I have spark and she doesn't immediately I disconnect the injector clips to keep from flooding the engine with fuel, which kills off compression and kills spark plugs. A short spray of ether (starting fluid) will run an engine for a few seconds, and is very flammable - the engine WILL start as long as everything is correct.

Given the history of no oil in the engine, it doesn't sound promising, but if it turns over you should be able to make it fire a lick or two and you can figure out how much, if any damage, there is.