97 Integra VTi-R no start, has spark and fuel

[50TOR]

Hello fellow honda enthusiast,

im in need of some help, I am completely stumped and cant figure this out.

two weeks ago i decided i am going to do some maintanence on the car, give it a freshen up as it had oil leaks and needed an oil change. I drove the car into my carport, put it on stands. The car was running very very strong and had no problem at all.

I then changed the following

rocker cover gasket
spark plug tube seals
and all the little seals for the nuts on the rocker cover
camshaft plug (near the vtec solenoid)
vtec solenoid seal
dizzy o ring
sump gasket
and gave an oil change

since putting it back together, I cant get it to start, it cranks and cranks but doesnt catch. this is a short video i have done https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LKF...be&app=desktop

so what i have checked is for
- spark - i have got this confirmed it by putting a plug at the end of the lead and turning the motor, even changed the coil just in case and the dizzy is in right..
- fuel - i have fuel you can smell it on the plug, checked fuel pressure as i have that, and also checked fuel injector pulse and i have that aswell, fuel pump primes aswell.
- immobiliser - i had the old one taken out as i thought it might be that and it wasnt that aswell, taken out by a professional
- electrical plugs - i only removed dizzy plug, vtec solenoid plug, and o2 sensor plug on the down pipe when i had to change the sump. all are plugged in.

can you guys please help me, i have no idea, some people are saying it could be compression or the cam timing could be wrong but i dont know how this happens if i only changed seals didnt touch the cam belt nor the head. I have never ever had a car that i just done seals on not to start.

[freakygeek]

We'll start by things you can rule out -

a) Electrical - the engine will start without O2 sensor connected, Will also start with no VTEC solenoid plugged in, will throw a code though. So these are not your problem.

b) If you have spark and fuel then it is unlikely it is immobiliser related as that would normally disable either or both.

c) If the fuel pump primes and you have constant good fuel pressure then it is not likely to be the main relay problem that commonly affects all Hondas of this vintage... Also the engine would usually at least fire once and then stall again with this issue.

IMO, It is most likely to be related to the distributor removal as that is where the CKP sensor is. No crank position reading will cause a no-start problem.

[tinkerbell]

Charge

the

battery

for

12

hours

then

try

it

[freakygeek]

Charge

the

battery

for

12

hours

then

try

it

Yep, that'd be another thing lol. That battery sounded pretty tired... although I assumed he didn't take the video until it had been cranking over for quite a while lol

[tinkerbell]

yeah, but it still not going to start like THAT.

always always always charge the battery while making engine modifications.

always.

nothing that OP touched could have stopped the engine from starting except the distributors position - {{but since he marked the position with a texta so he could line it up again, it should not be an issue - right OP?}}

but now that it's been flooded, it's going to be that little bit extra difficult to start... so OP needs to dry the spark plugs out before trying to start it again...

[50TOR]

Well I tried everything and no start....i dont know how or what has happened but somehow I decided to put my car in top dead centre and noticed my timing is out, I have no idea on how or why as I didn't touch anything to do with the timing belt or cams...its now going to go on a tilt tray and go to hannies performance and let them get it started doesn't sound like I have bent a valve or anything cross fingers but if I have well looks like it will be an expensive fix. Thanks guys for your input much appreciated....

[freakygeek]

Well I tried everything and no start....i dont know how or what has happened but somehow I decided to put my car in top dead centre and noticed my timing is out, I have no idea on how or why as I didn't touch anything to do with the timing belt or cams...its now going to go on a tilt tray and go to hannies performance and let them get it started doesn't sound like I have bent a valve or anything cross fingers but if I have well looks like it will be an expensive fix. Thanks guys for your input much appreciated....

It did sound like it was lacking compression a bit in the video :/

[50TOR]

It did sound like it was lacking compression a bit in the video :/

Yea well my car is magical knows how to skip teeth on jack stands haha...oh well glad it's not a daily...

[ThanhNewgen]

Is it possible you turned your distributor rotor 180degress around and reinstalled it?

[tinkerbell]

Is it possible you turned your distributor rotor 180degress around and reinstalled it?

if he did - he would have broken the key... it only goes in one way.

[50TOR]

Yea only goes one way...I triple checked that... my timing is off when put tdc

[50TOR]

[50TOR]

Thanks heaps for everyone that posted on the forum...ended up being my car skilped.four teeth however hannys performance figured out how, when I changed my cam plug seal since I went to billet style works engineering one.it required me to.remove the oil rail, when doing that it relieved pressure off the valve springs which caused my cam to.spin...all back together now thanks to hannys and replaced all my seals and new timing belt and off.it goes again

[freakygeek]

Thanks heaps for everyone that posted on the forum...ended up being my car skilped.four teeth however hannys performance figured out how, when I changed my cam plug seal since I went to billet style works engineering one.it required me to.remove the oil rail, when doing that it relieved pressure off the valve springs which caused my cam to.spin...all back together now thanks to hannys and replaced all my seals and new timing belt and off.it goes again

Lucky!

Oil Rail? If the timing belt is installed and the belt is tensioned (the tensioner is held in place by a bolt, not oil pressure) then there is no way it can slip teeth.

If the belt is not installed, then the camshafts should be locked off in the 'up' position for Cyl1 TDC with two pin punches or allen keys etc so they can't move