After I rebuilt the top half of my 2.2 f22b2, my engine won't start. I changed the head gasket, valve stem seals, and pretty much every seal and gasket you could think of, took the head to a machine shop and got it machined and all that. I had been working on this for a few months so it has been sitting in the driveway that long. The engine cranks and cranks but will not start but sounds like it really wants to. I can smell fuel and there is a popping noise that happens when it wants to start, the noise sounds like I can hear it the loudest from the air filter and coming from the intake. I also changed the timing and balancer belts and hardware that goes with it. Is it possible my timing is off? This is very disappointing and frustrating.

 

Just a few simple ideas, just so we don't take anything for granted.

Firing order of sparkplug wires?

What about installing the distributor 180-degrees off? The blade & the slot of the camshaft are off-center, but I guess it's possible to get it wrong?

Bundle of grounding wires near your thermostat loose or left disconnected?

Reversed a couple of wiring plugs? Not sure which are the common ones to reverse, maybe TPS & ECT?

 

I installed the wires from shortest to longest from where they were, I couldn't find a diagram so I had to try to remember where they were, just shortest to #4 and longest wire to #1 but I'm not sure if I got it right. What about that distributor being 180 degrees off? How would I know if I did that? And I'm almost certain I got all connectors right because I think there's only one place each can go in.

 

Ok, I just spun the distributor end 180 degrees and the car actually started this time with no poping noise. It started but died in a second. I think it may be flooded because of how much I've been cranking it and pushing the gas pedal down before that. I'm going to wait a day and try to start it again.

 

Agree that the dis. was off 180. If needed pull the plugs and let the cylinder air out overnight and try again for flooding issue.

 

You were right about the distributor being off 180 degrees, thank you very much.

 

Nice to hear about a simple fix! Thanks for letting us know how it turned out. There's lots of threads where we never find out how it ended.

 

Yes, it's possible to do this. I've done it on at least 2 occasions. The asymmetry of the key is not enough (at least for me).

However, depending on how tight you tightened the bolts retaining the distirbutor to the head, you can damage the distributor internals. I managed to do this, but was able to remove and straighten the bent internal frame. Symptoms were codes from internal CYP, CKP, TDC sensors.

Hopefully all is well!

good luck