I just replaced the head gasket in my 89 Prelude and, while I had everything apart, I changed-out belts, hoses, filters, etc. After we got everything put back together, the car wouldn't start. It wanted to start, but the firing was erratic, so maybe it is a matter of the timing? After a couple tries, it started and ran very rough for a short while (around 10-15 secs) and then died out. It didn't fire again after this. We pulled one of the plugs to be certain that we were getting a spark and found some black greasy build-up on the new plug, but we were getting a spark. We followed the Hayes manual exactly while adjusting the timing and rocker arm gaps. Has anyone had similar problems or can someone suggest some troubleshooting steps?
Thanks

 

Pretty difficult to say....

A common cause for this would be firing order. Recheck the plug wires to make sure that they are installed on the correct cylinders.

I don't see how timing would affect this since, in theory, you should not diosturbed the crank/cam relationship in any way. Unless you did.

fs

 

Just making sure you have checked the basic's

1. Air
2. Fuel
3. spark *check*


If you have all three, check your firing order and then See if the haynes has instructions on how to static time the engine .

 

I really appreciate the advice. The problem ended up being attributed to the timing. There are actually two white lines on the flywheel – one above the red ignition timing mark and another one about 20 degrees or so off from that. I set it to the wrong mark. It runs great now.

Although, now I believe that I need to change my thermostat. I meant to change this when I was rebuilding and replacing everything else, but forgot. This morning while driving, the temperature started to climb too high and then it just dropped suddenly to where it should be. This happened before I blew a head gasket – maybe this was part of the reason that it blew? Well, I hope that this is the problem (easy fix) – I will change it out tonight and see how it goes. If anyone has had similar occurrences and has been able to fix it, please let me know. Thanks.