I have my brother's 91 1.5l in my garage and I have changed out the timing belt (which broke) and changed the water pump also. When the belt broke, we had it towed to the dealer and they checked it out. They had said that the rods were fine. I finished putting everything back together last night and tried to start it, but no go. It will turn over but naddah. I followed the timing set up on the Chilton - but I wonder if I went to far or if something happened to get the timing off. What do I need to do to see if the timing is off and how do I fix it? Thanks - ps he needs it to go home from school by Tues night...

 

well it could be somthing as simple as the starter could be out... you might want to get a new one and try it. u can always replace it if it doesn't help

 

Have you tried to start the car with a jump? How does the battery and terminals look?

 

The battery looks OK and when I try it, it seems to have a real good crank. As far as the starter - I could be wrong but I think it has a fairly new one on it - although I will check. I wonder if it could be that I'm just a little off with the timing? Do I try and do something with the distributer or what?

 

Are you sure about the timing marks? When number 1 cylinder is at TDC are they correct?

And you wouldn't do anything to the rods, you could break some valves though, although it would probably start, just run REAL bad. I drove a car home that had two bad valves, didn't run good, but it ran. I would just recheck all of the marks and make sure the distributer is pointing where it should be. And all of the electricals are plugged in.

 

I'll do that and check it out...not to be too stupid in asking this, but do I just rotate the belt until the word "up" appears on the top of the gear and the marks are lined up with the head?

 

Set your timing. Just use a timing gun and u should be okay. If that checks out, then u could have a fuel or spark problem.

 

You have to check the crank mark also, your top may be off from the bottom, causing the timing to be way off.

 

When I put the crank gear back on after installation of the belt, I just aligned the key hole with the one behind it. I didn't see any marks on it and working with a Chilton, I either skipped that part or it wasn't in there. Where is the mark and where do I align it...do I need to take the belt back off?

 

No, your mark should be on the lower part of the belt cover there is a little like ridge and a mark on the crakshaft pulley. those should match at the same time as your top pulley. the top pulley should say up and have the little marks matching with the cylinder head it you are off it will sound like it is trying to start but for some reason it just doesnt kick over. it is very easy to be just one tooth off on the cam gear so go and double check that and try to use a timing light works about ten times better trust me i have been in that same situation before. good luck and happy honda rigging.