I am voting for taking a compression test and checking the condition of the spark plugs. The engine vibration is most likely an engine miss (a dead cylinder). Your symptoms fit a blown head gasket, engine vibration, overheating and hard starting. If the spark plugs are coolant fouled it will not start. A compression test will tell if the head gasket is blown, if it isn’t you are down to either no spark or the plugs are fouled.

 

i replaced the spark plugs with new ones theose e3 diamond fire spark plugs. so i know those are good. how do i do a compression test, and what tools do i need? that would definaltly make alot of sence so whenever i get off work i will try to get to that...

 

1. Get the battery tested at an auto parts store.
2. Charge the battery, so you can troubleshoot. Check that all ends of both battery cables are clean and attached tightly.


3. IMPORTANT - Determine if the problem is due to lack of spark or lack of fuel.


For spark: If you have a timing light, try to start the car with the timing light hooked up to each cylinder wire. See if there is enough spark to flash the timing light.

Since you replace the spark plug wires, make sure you installed them in the correct order on the distributor cap? The order on the distributor cap going clockwise is 1, 3, 4, 2. Did you replace the distributor rotor too?

 

Go ahead and check for spark before the compression test. On the test do a search on here as recently someone posted a very detailed procedure if you still need it. Were the old plugs fouled with gas or coolant?

 

He has replaced just about everything.(maintenance wise)

I'll list the items he has replaced.

radiator
thermostat
spark plugs with e3
bosch plug wires
distributor
distributor cap
serpetine belt
alternator previousally replaced by owner about 2500 miles ago
intake filter replaced with k&n (and is clean and oiled)

Starter was rebuilt by me (and yes it works it turns over better than urs)

Cleaned the TB and checked it for "sticking"

Now then what he needs to do is verify weather or not it is a fuel problem or a spark problem. He knows how to also (fuel - spray some carb cleaner down the intake it bypasses the fuel pump the lines filter fpr rail and injectors. if it starts and and runs for a min then u know its the fuel system. then he can work his way down starting with the injectors maybe clean them and test them with a volt meter...... i can go on and on. i have told him all this and more.

and if you know how to do proper compression test you would know that u have to get the engine to operating temp then shut off and then begin ur test. although he could do one just to see if hes blown a valve or a bad piston ring or god forbid a connecting rod. i agree with that but its still not a proper test. and since it ran before he replaced the parts mentioned on the list above i think he should get it running again at least started before he tries a compression test.

what i think maybe a big issue is that his timing is way off and i mean way off. timing belt may have snapped. fixable yes easily done in a weekend at an apartment complex parking spaces NO. This is where a lot of his problems reside. if he had a nice little garage or something im sure he wouldn't have even gotten on this forum to ask a damn thing. he would have taken it apart and rebuilt it from the ground up (believe me i know him he would do it) and he would replace everything you can practically making it a new engine and not having to worry about any problems. but he doesn't have the time to diagnose or the resources so to say.

He is basically asking you guys to be psychic which ur not and tell him whats wrong. but what you could do is give him a list of things it could be and then put next to each possibility a percent of it being the likely suspect.

 

~90% of the time, a not start is due to lack of spark. The other 10% from fuel problem. Less than 1% of the time, lack of compression, ECU, etc. Other than that, I can't predict what is wrong until some diagnostics are done on the car. Please don't be shy and post what you find.

Is his car and EX, LX, DX? Was the distributor a new one or junkyard part? Did the distributor come with an ignition control module? Did the dist. come with a coil? How quickly is he losing oil? Is this a massive leak and where is it coming from?

To verify spark or fuel problem, here are my suggestions.

For spark, get a timing light. It is the quickest way to verify a good spark.

For fuel: The best way to verify fuel pump is working properly is to attach a fuel pressure gauge on the rail. Next best is to loosen the relief valve on top of the fuel rail and turn the key to the II position. Only do this on a cold engine! Fuel should spray out of there. Easiest check is to charge the battery, turn the key to the II position, and listen for the fuel pump to prime. As for the injectors, pick up a 12V LED test light at radio shack. Unplug one of the injector electrical connection. Hook up the test light to both leads. Try to start the car. The test light should be off, then start flashing when your starter turns the engine.

As for timing/timing belt: To rule out a broken timing belt, remove distributor cap, turn the crankshaft, and the rotor will turn if the TB is intact. For proper timing, remove valve cover, turn the crank until the flywheel lines up to its TDC mark (there is a cover that you can remove to look). Reverify that the camshaft turns while doing this. If it does, see if the two marks on the camshaft sprocket line up with the top of the cylinder head.

 

the distributor was brand new and bought online.

its an lx if i remember correctly
automatic (most gears are gone) but that dosnt really matter
not sure about the ignition control module i know he has not purchased one ( but as far as it being purchased with the dist. i dont know i wasnt there for the purchase or installation of the dist.

The oil leak. oh what a ****ing mess that is. as you know the exhaust runs under the oil pan. the oil pan gasket and the drainplug are both leaking so bad that u really cant tell if its leaking else where. the drainplug is an easy fix. but the oil pan.....damn
Exhaust bolts and nuts are stripped. cant get the exhaust down to remove the oil pan. it really needs to be pressure washed so that the UV DYE method can be used to determine where ALL the places its leaking from. its way to messy to visually see. to be honest when u look at it it looks like its leaking from every place it could possibly leak from.

Its about a quart a week loss when it was running by previous owner.

by the way this car was bought from one friend to another. the previous owner to fortyfootelf was legally blind and it made it more difficult for him to care for the vehicle. now its in shambles and fortyfootelf is trying to fix it up.

The engine has always sounded like it was misfiring and way out of timing. occasional startup smoke probably just blowby from piston rings which is normal for being so old.

 

A cold compression test might be a good idea, by how you describe the condition of the car. It won't give you an accurate read on the max compression, but you would be able to determine if one cylinder is dead relative to the other ones.

You should try to find oil leaking from its highest point. Common leaks are from the valve cover gasket, oil pressure sending unit, oil filter, drain plug, distributor o-ring, oil pan gasket.

What you want to check is if oil is getting on the timing belt. There are shaft seals that can leak oil back there. There is a balance shaft retainer to prevent one from popping off. An oil soaked timing belt will shorten its life and a broken TB = cylinder head repair.

 

Yeah thats pretty common knowledge well for me he may not know that. but thank you for the pointers of the common areas that may leak. i really hate the fact that its a Belt and not a chain like the ecotec but i guess they had some reason to put a belt on.

Lets pray to god it isnt a timing belt problem cause cranking over the engine could end up with a valve stem bent and really chewed up pistons. im also hoping that he hasnt thrown a bearing on the crank. cause that would be disastorous and would explain the knocking and "misfire feeling"

I will be honest i dont know much about hondas, so i am going to ask you can you do a balance shaft delete on this block? if so would you have to get adjustable cam shaft sprockets to up the timing a bit? cause if he has to replace the belt then he may as well do what i did to my block.

 

and ill let him use my compression tester this weekend. and he cant do any spending for like 2-4 weeks he just got a pitbull and is sucking alot of his income. he was going to buy a new exhaust and headers so we can just cut the old one off to fix the oil leak.

but it really looks like he may have to replace pretty much every rubber seal even the valve cover bolts are oil soaked on the outside just little puddles sittin on top the bolts. so its a disaster i look at that car and want to pull my hair out it needs and engine wash bad.....i mean BADDD!!!!!!!! and the sad part is we have used like 8 cans of degreaser(engine brite foaming)