Okay did a head gasket install last month in a parking lot and replaced the timing belt, water pump, checked the thermostat, and replaced the oil and coolant. Engine sounds fine but throttle response is not there anymore and when i drive it sometimes doesn't accelerate at all as if it is stuck in the mud and it will not go above 55mph. The car also idles slightly lower than usual (around 6K usually 9k) I searched and found these possible casues:

Throttle Calble - it is tight and fully open at W.O.T
No engine codes
Timing belt checks out
Spark Plugs are good
Fuel Filer - good shape
Cat clogged - have a 2.5in test pipe
Compression - Looks good on all cylinders
And the engine is grounded properly

Could it need a Valve Adjustment?

Any other ideas to what it could be?
And can a sensor go bad without the throwing a code?

Thanks

 

Check to make sure that the timing belt is not a tooth off. (White mark for TDC.) That is a common mistake that results in your symptoms. Have you checked the timing with a light?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dogginator &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Check to make sure that the timing belt is not a tooth off. (White mark for TDC.) That is a common mistake that results in your symptoms. Have you checked the timing with a light?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree. Sounds like it is off a tooth.

 

could a single tooth really cause these problems?

even the problem of the car not being able to get past 55mph?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18C-Hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">could a single tooth really cause these problems?

even the problem of the car not being able to get past 55mph?</TD></TR></TABLE>

It can also cause your motor to heat up at idle too.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18C-Hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">could a single tooth really cause these problems?

even the problem of the car not being able to get past 55mph?</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's what makes it somewhat difficult to diagnose, because the car will run. It just runs like crap.

 

Ok so i have to get a gun and check the timing; i am going to use good ole c-speed how-to http://www.c-speedracing.com/h...g.php and was wondering if i have to set it to 0deg BTC. Also are there any tips for getting it this done easily with one person because i think it will be hard to adjust the dist. and hold the light at the same time.

Thanks,

Also with the valve adjustment i really need one and was wondering if this could be the cause of my sluggish response? What are the symptoms of needing a valve adjustment besides the worst of smashing my valves?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18C-Hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ok so i have to get a gun and check the timing; i am going to use good ole c-speed how-to http://www.c-speedracing.com/h...g.php and was wondering if i have to set it to 0deg BTC. Also are there any tips for getting it this done easily with one person because i think it will be hard to adjust the dist. and hold the light at the same time.

Thanks,

Also with the valve adjustment i really need one and was wondering if this could be the cause of my sluggish response? What are the symptoms of needing a valve adjustment besides the worst of smashing my valves?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

You can adjust the timing iteratively. Just use the light and the adjust the distributor a little. Leave the bolts a little loose so that you can move the distributor by hand.

If the valves are too tight, you lose compression and low end power. If they are too loose, they are noisey.

 

If the timing is off a tooth will the car just feel slow? I think I might be off a tooth and I have similar things going on. Low Idle, no power, espically deep in the throttle, I have gone to 60mph but have not pused it beyond that. I can go to 5k rpm no problem, but there is just no power to move. At a light I have to rev the hell out of the engine then pull the clutch just to get going.

 

that is the exact problems i have; have to basically dump the clutch to leave a light. i'll let you know how it goes

thanks for all the help

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18C-Hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">that is the exact problems i have; have to basically dump the clutch to leave a light. i'll let you know how it goes

thanks for all the help</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yup, sounds like U and I are having the same issue. I will check mine out today. It nust of skipped a tooth when I was trying to start it. Pics to follow!

 

Alright; bought a timing light from autozone and bulb was broken so had to return it and get another from pep boys and it worked great.

This is the problem i have now; I had the engine idling around 750 rpm and plugged the service connector and adjusted the timing but i advanced it as much as i could and it can't move anymore and is no where near 16 degrees. See the pic to see where I have it now.



The car runs much much better and seems to have the power back but what do i do about it not being 16degrees??? I have yet to take it above 35mph and the response is almost back to where it was. So what is the next step to do?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks

 

O Crap!!!! I never looked at my car this weekend, but now I am really worried. When I set my car up I had the white mark lined up with the pointer on the block. Really I should have the middle mark lined up with the block. So I am off at least 1 tooth.

I bet you are the same. If you pull your valve cover and set the cams to TDC I bet the marks on your crank will be way off also.

 

I realized what i did wrong. When i installed the belt i only made sure the up arrows on cams were up and the crank was lined up; i didn't check the 'tick marks' on the cams they have to be aligned exactly even if the up arrows look a tad askew (mine was due to being in a unlevel parking lot on jack stands).


Here is a link to a really good install. I will be re-installing the timing belt and adjusting the ignition timing tomorrow and hopfully this will fix the problem otherwise i have no idea

http://www.team-integra.net/se...=1044

 

You could also make sure the cams are dead aligned by using the drift pin holes, drop a pin or something in them to hold the straight, then set the pulley.

 

those the holes near the #2 cylinder right

 

nope, on the cam cap right next to the pulley, you drop a pin (I used a 5mm allen key) in at TDC and it will hold the cam in place. Just double check the tick marks line up. I would guess they do, but it is worth checking.

 

I got it up and running; sure enough i missed a tooth when i installed the timing belt. Took off the belt and installed it correctly and adjusted the timing with the light and had to replace the spark plugs they really got fowled due to wrong timing.

Anyhow car runs great now; thanks for all the help and Racermech hope you get you car running soon, good luck

Thanks again,

Mike

 

I was not only off a tooth, but I was also off on my crank pulley. Basically when the puley was at TDC both of the cams where off one tooh, when I pulled the cams back to TDC the exhaust hash mark was correct, but the intake was off. So I had two issues.

I got everything back lined up, got really good tension (could of been an issue last time). Just took it out for a test drive and it works great. Power is back, I can down/up shift and get plenty of power, took it to 6k and had no issues.

Thanks to everyone that helped, and thanks to the OP for starting this!!!!

 

Oh

 

how bout an in depth d series timing belt...these are my exact symptoms...please help!!!