Hello fellers. This is my first post I do believe.

1990 Accord EX Sedan Auto

TL;DR - Installed many new parts, strong crank and fuel/spark but will not start.

It sat in my barn for many years and I'm trying to get it going again. I'm having a hell of a time.

I drained the old gas from the tank.
I installed: New battery, new starter, new distributor, new spark plugs (Bosch, I have ordered NGKs), new spark plug wires (NGK blue wires), new fuel filter, cleaned injectors and replaced injector o-rings and micro filters, new main relay.

When I turn the key to position 2, pump primes, CEL turns off after 2 seconds. I have verified gas gets to the banjo bolt at the rail. I have verified spark with the new distributor at the plugs. I made a mark on the old distributor and put the new one in the same spot. Replaced the valve cover gasket and spark plug tube seals, just the top ones, not the ones underneath. Valve rocker moves freely. I scoped the inside of the cylinders but didn't see any damage in any of them. I have an articulating borescope camera coming so I can look back up at the valves, maybe one isn't sealed correctly or something???

Car cranks strong but will not fire. I thought maybe I had a plugged or stopped up exhaust system, so I disconnected the downpipe at the exhaust manifold. When I'm starting it, I can smell gas after cranking for about 8-10 seconds.

I did test compression and all 4 cylinders were low, less than 100 each.

Am I looking at a new head gasket?
Will a busted alternator keep the car from starting?
I cleaned the EGR, not stuck, wasn't terribly dirty.
I cleaned the Idle Air Control valve.
Would a faulty fuel pressure regulator keep it from starting?
What about the MAP sensor in the vacuum housing above the fuel filter.

I tried using starting fluid, propane, no fire. Again, cranks strong but no fire. Not sure what else I need to check. On another forum, someone said check timing. Would that be my next move? Set cylinder 1 at TDC and check the rotor is pointing to spark plug 1 correct?

Thanks for any help y'all can offer.

 

I wouldn't jump to a new head gasket unless you had low compression across the board by doing a compression test. The car should start with one dead cylinder if the head gasket was blown.

Checking the distributor rotor pointing at #1 spark plug wire at TDC would be my first check. I installed my distributor 180 degrees off many years ago and knew better. I even checked the rotor contact position before installing. The other item you can check first is the spark plug firing order. Looking at the distributor from the passenger side fender and going clockwise, the spark plug order off the distributor cap will be 1-3-4-2.

Also, check for engine codes.

 

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I will be checking the timing this coming weekend when I get a chance to work on it again. Its my work weekends project. I'll post an update then.

 

try an old trick , pull plugs out and squirt a bit of oil in cylinders reinstall plugs see if it makes a difference
could also have a bad TW sensor

 

Are the Bosch plugs the same height as the factory spark plugs. If they are shorter the plug wire may not be fully seated on the plug.

 

Will squirt a little bit of oil in the cylinders. The plugs are the same size. I removed the old plug wires, not sure if they were the originals or not but when I installed the blue NGKs, I can feel the wire click onto the top of the plug just as they seal against the valve cover. The other wires were not stiff like these NGKs so I had to really push down on them to make sure they were making contact. Will update again once I get the timing checked on this thing. Thanks fellers.

Is the TW sensor the one right under the dizzy? Cuz, this thing had been leaking oil into the dizzy and down below so the oil may have damaged that sensor if that is the TW sensor.

 

Which of these is the TW sensor? Red or Blue? And what is the other sensor? Thanks.


Another question. This car is missing the cooling fan on the driver side of the car. Only the passenger side one is there, which I believe is the A/C fan correct? Is that also causing the no start issue? I'm not sure when it was removed or by whom?

 

The two wire sensor is the TW sensor (coolant temp sensor) circled in red. The single wire sensor to the right is the coolant temp sendindg unit that only sends signalt to the gauge on the instrument cluster.

The missing fan will not cause a no start. The fan is called the a/c fan in name only. Both fans cool the radiator and the a/c condenser. You need both fans to cool the coolant when stopped or moving at slow speeds. My 95 accord started overheating at stops when my relay went out for one of the fans, so both fans are needed especially in warm weather. Definitely replace that fan.

Before blindly replacing sensors, you should check for engine codes on your car. The common diy thread linked at the top of the gen tech help forum has a write-up on how to get CEL codes that should help. Youtube probably has a video on how to do this as well. This will tell you if the ECU detected a sensor problem in your car.

 

Excellent. Will order that fan. Still haven't worked on it. I'll try to get to it this weekend for sure.

 

One more question fellers. This small metal clip on the bottom side of the distributor, is there anything supposed to be there? The other clip has the clip that holds the wiring connections but this one is on the bottom side when the distributor is mounted. Almost looks like a ground clip or something. Just making sure my vehicle isn't missing something that is supposed to be there also. Thanks.