So heres how it went. Pulled my F20b out on friday, it was running but the piston rings in cylinder #3 were fried so it was only running on 3 cylinders, but other than that it ran fine.

Saturday I went and got a H22, i leak down tested it and it came back perfect. Sunday I replaced the timing belt and swapped it in.

Sunday I try to start it and it wont. It trys to but it just doesnt catch. It'll fire once or so but doesnt keep going.

The wiring, injectors, ECU, and distributor are all the same as were on the f20b and working fine 2 days ago.

I have checked for spark and it is getting it, I have checked the timing belt and it is right, I have pulled the fuel rail and put the injectors in cups and they are firing.

I swapped the distributor cap and also swapped the ECU and nothing makes a difference.

I unplugged the IACV and it still wouldnt start.

I have quadruple checked my fire order.

It has fuel, spark, and compression, why wont it start? It has now killed 3 batteries today.

 

i know you said you checked timing.

but a few years back when i put a cam in my geo metro i set the cam timing somehow with the exhaust ports open, so it was not gaining compression. it would turn over but wouldnt start.

double check your cam timing and that the exhaust side is not open.

 

Is the firing order the same on the H22 as the F20 engine?

 

Yes it is.

I got it started but it definitely sounded like the timing was off. I took the pulley and cover back off and it looks like its right.

When the notch on the crankshaft is matched up with the notch on the block the #1 piston is at TDC and the crankshafts are pointing up.

 

So when you crank it without the distributor attached it sounds fine, but as soon as it starts it sounds awful. I have trip checked the timing belt, checked to make sure the injectors were in the right order, and of course checked to make sure the firing order was right.

 

Do the marks on the cam teeth line up to their mark on the cylinder head? I am not sure how the marks on the DOHC line up to verify.

You should clear the ECU of codes by disconnecting the battery, put everything back in and try to start it. Then check for engine/transmission codes.

 

on DOHC engines the cam marks line up with each other, and yes they do line up. I will try resetting the ECU but I think something is actually wrong.

Most of the time it doesn't even want to start.

 

You may want to check to see if you switched the fuel pump supply and return lines properly to the fuel rail.

Also, did you get all the grounds reattached in the engine bay?

 

All of those are hooked up correctly.

Had my friend come over and check my work. He agreed that the timing belt was dead on, and the firing order is right.

Its so weird, if you disconnect the distributor it turns over perfectly. But when you connect it it turns over real rough and starts and stops like the plugs are firing as the piston is coming up and its pushing it back down.

I am going to swap the distributor to another one even though I know this distributor worked fine with the F20B.

 

the dizzy on the f20 may not be compatible. sensors may be canceling out