I have a 1996 Honda Accord DX 4 cylinders 2.2 liters. The timing belt snapped on its f22 engine so long story short I decided to engine swap it with a 2.3 liters F23 engine from a 1998 - 2002 accords. The problem is that the car won’t start, I’ve been trying to figure out what’s the problem for 2 weeks now but I haven’t found nothing. The guys at jdm told me to check all of my sensors and grounds, but in this heat it’s been hard to find anything. So I decided to take it to a mechanic so he can take a look at it, and now he’s telling me that the car will never run because they are two very different engines. Btw the engine that I had was a f22 non vtec and the engine that I bought was a f23 vtec. Everyone has been telling me that the engine will run fine all I need to do is plug up all the sensors and I will have to use the f22 intake and exhaust and dizzy. The only thing is I won’t be able to use vtec. So that’s why I bought the engine. Now I’m confused and I don’t know what to do. Every time I try to turn on the car it seems like it wants to turn on, the speedometer arrow is moving up and down a little, but the car won’t start. Plzz help. I also used the 96 wiring harness cuz i didnt have a 98 wiring harness, so i wont be able to use the 98's dizzy and vtec. Everything else plugged up fine, I think. There should be a video of what the engine sounds like when I turn the key.

 

Moved this to the general tech help for more views.

The F23 and F22 engines are similar, so you should be able to get this to work. You should consider a 96/97 EX PCM to utilize the vtec.

Lets start simple. Have you checked for spark on the spark plugs?

 

Yea there is spark going to the spark plugs. I also put in fresh new fuel and drained out the old fuel. I know there’s fuel going in the system because when I first started the car fuel was squirting out of this fuel line that is connected to the intake air and fuel was coming out.

 

It is possible to install the distributor 180 degrees out of time. I did it on my 95 accord after warning members on here hundreds of times.

You could hand crank the engine to TDC by pulling the #1 spark plug. Put your hand over the spark plug tube, crank the engine by hand, when you feel pressure, align the pointer on the timing belt cover with the mark/notch on the crank pulley. Pull the distributor cap, and check that the rotor is pointing to your #1 spark plug wire.

Also, check that you have the spark plugs installed in the correct firing order. 1,3,4,2. Start at #1, and looking at the distributor from the passenger side of the car, the order is clockwise 1, 3, 4, then 2.

 

I’m pretty sure I have the firing order correct. If we’re looking at the dizzy directly starting from the top it’s 3, 4 and then at the bottom it is 1, 2, I’m pretty sure that’s what you’re describing, I’ll try putting the engine to tdc. And I also have another question, the f22 dizzy has an external coil, so am I still supposed to use that.

 

Yes, you will use the external coil. Your cap will be the bottom picture. I've made the 180 mistake by not carefully looking for the contact on the rotor. It is an easy check.


Cap

 

Ok, imma have to check that tomorrow cuz it’s dark outside. If my dizzy was out of time, can will that damage anything?

 

You shouldn't have any damage.

There may be excess fuel in the cylinder and the engine will run rich at the beginning, but nothing major. If you are concerned, you could pull the spark plugs to let the fuel evaporate.

 

Alright thanks, I’ll try all of this tomorrow. This is my first time engine swapping and doing these kinds of things so it might take me some time. I’ll contact you as soon as possible if anything occurs.

 

You said fuel coming out of the vacuum hose from the FPR to the intake manifold? That shouldn't happen, so it means your FPR has a broken diaphragm & engine is probably flooded. Get a new FPR & let the fuel evaporate from the cylinders.

A long time ago I had a similar problem flooding a car. Spark plugs looked very nice but all the excess fuel had caused them to short internally. If it doesn't start nicely, consider new spark plugs.