Hi y'all,

Just found the forum and I love the community. I apologize for the lengthy first post, but I wanted to be thorough. I'm completely baffled at this point.

Here's the info on the car: We're the original owners and the car has always run fine without any problems with the exception of an alternator which was replaced at about 60K.

Recently it hit 100K miles and I had some time on my hands so I took it apart to change the timing belt, alternator & ps belt, and the water pump. After finishing everything up and double checking my timing, I buttoned it back up, poured new coolant in and reattached the negative terminal on the battery. Tried starting the car and it would not start. It would crank and crank, but refused to fire. I could see the cam moving when I remove the oil cap so I know the engine's turning.

It started just fine before I took it apart, but I doubt it has to do with my timing belt install. Even if timing was off, the car should still start. It might run rough with bad timing, but it should still start right? All the same, I cranked the engine by hand a couple of times to double check the timing and sure enough the crank and cams all match up at TDC. I even took off the distributor cap to check and the rotor points at cylinder 1 at TDC as well. Here's the troubleshooting that I've done so far:

-Checked grounds and connections.
-Tried another battery that I know for sure is working.
-Turned the key to II; I can hear the fuel pump whirring and the CEL turns off afterward followed by a CLICK sound, so I assume my main relay is ok.
-Pulled back the throttle plate and sprayed starting fluid into the throttle body then tried to start it. Still wouldn't start so I assume it's spark related.
-Changed plugs, no difference.
-Changed wires, no difference, (I switched back to the old wires as they fit better).
-Checked for spark using a spark tester (I don't have access to a timing gun at this moment) and I saw yellow/orange sparks. I read on here that if you have fuel and could see spark that the spark could still be weak.
-Changed cap, rotor, ICM, and coil and it still doesn't start, but it sounds better now (i.e. it fires for a second then it shuts down).
-Scanned the car with an OBDII reader, but no codes.
-Miscellaneous stuff I checked: crank position sensor and TDC sensor which seem to be ok according to the resistance figures listed in the Haynes manual.

If I keep the key in the ON position and keep stepping on the gas, it starts up very roughly but shuts down if I let go of the gas.

I'm all out of ideas at this point. Could it be the ignition switch? The distributor? Please help.

 

Firing order (plug wires)?

Did you check all the cam-timing marks before removing the old belt? (So you understood the proper position of the marks)

Yellow/orange spark seems to me like a weak spark. Shouldn't it be blue/white?

Did you disconnect the battery at the start of the job to prevent shorting/frying stuff like the coil or ignitor?

 

Yes, I've double checked the plug order.

I did check the timing marks before removing the original belt as well.

Battery was disconnected before starting the timing belt job.

 

Confirm that you have 12V on the bat wire (blk/yel on 4-cyl) to the distributor. I suspect you do since you're getting weak spark.

Suggest checking spark w/ an inductive timing light on spark plug leads. No flash means no spark. Sometimes a weak spark will jump in open air at 1 atm pressure but won't jump in cylinder at 10+ atm pressure.

If you can confirm no spark, you know it's likely a distributor problem; coil or ignitor.

good luck

 

Thanks for the suggestions thus far. I will check for voltage to the distributor and try to get a hold of a timing gun and report back.

 

Your problem sounds perplexing. I just helped a friend replace the timing belt on his 2000 Accord V6, and we had no problems (other than lots of trouble removing the crankshaft bolt). I would be very interested to know how you resolve this problem, though.

Any chance you could have installed the cap or rotor backwards? Is it even possible to do this?

 

Just wanted to update for anyone who might do a search and have the same problem as me.

Turns out it wasn't spark or fuel at all. I have no compression in two cylinders. More work...

 

I just removed the bolt on 03 Acura MDX w/ 3.5L V6. It was also very tight. No amount of air impact would help (IR 500 ft-lbs) until I heated bolt for 3-5 mins w/ propane torch. It then came off w/o hesitation. Heating slightly lengthens the bolt and releases the friction of washer to crankshaft pulley and reduces bolt tension enough. Some fret that you may overheat the crankshaft seal. I can't confirm or refute this issue, but I wouldn't hesitate to do the same thing again.

This is same bolt used in the Accords (19mm bolt head) and same length. It is torqued differently. First step is to torque to 47 ft-lbs, and then rotate bolt 60 degrees (one bolt face). I like this procedure much better than torque setting (beyond most torque wrenches capacity). In engineering circles it's called "turn of the nut" bolt tensioning. It should be more reliable than torqueing to get approximate target bolt tension.

good luck

 

You may have implied this in your post, but based on my experience with #1 son's Prelude, sounds like bent valves. You may be able to pull the plugs and look at the piston crowns, but may have to pull the head. Hope it's not the rear.

On the other hand, could you have FODded the valve train? Got a bit of rag or something in the way? A piece of valve cover gasket, a washer, contact lens, poptop, between cam and follower or under the fulcrum point? And thus be holding the valves open? Just trying to be optimistic.