CEL = check engine light.

You should check for engine codes with a scanner, if available.

Recheck your firing order on the distributor cap, it is 1-3-4-2. Did you remove the distributor when doing the work?

 

ah, no i only removed the wires, and labeled them when i did, but now every time i try to crank it the battery dies, ive checked it and the battery is good, could thia possibly be a distributor problem?

 

How did you check the battery is good? Test it under load?

A bad battery can measure OK with a simple voltmeter.

 

No i took it to the local oreillys, starting to wonder if its a distributor problem, what else could kill a good battery (barely a year old) when i try to crank it? ive checked every connection that we were evem close too and everything seems fine, yet the battery always dies after i try cranking it.

 

I'm in exactly the same spot on my 96 accord. Replaced HG and got all belts on. Have not checked for spark yet, because it's 2am now, but I would be very interested to hear what you come up with, kyoro. I had my distributor backwards at first, I think? It sounded like it turned over once and battery died. Flipped distributor around and replaced injector resistor because I noticed the wires had been cut. (Apparently those wires can be spliced in any order, as long as all red/black go to other red/black and the yellow/black goes to the other yellow/black?). So now it turns and turns but won't fire up. When I use starter fluid it sounds like it's knocking, and also a pressurized hiss, which I discovered was from the injector rail not being bolted down so all four injectors got spit out from the pressure. I bought this car for scrap value just to see how capable I was at fixing a car. I knew HG was blown when I bought it, but now I'm stuck and I think it's either spark or timing. Will either confirm or rule out spark issue tomorrow and check back on this thread then. I couldn't figure out how to lock the balancer pulley when I took T belt off, but I tried not to disturb it. Could that be my problem?

 

Does it "die" after the first try? Like it turns over once and then the dash goes dark and all lights go off? You may have your distributor backwards. It will only go in the right way or the opposite of the right way. I had the same issue and when I rotated the distributor 180 degrees it didn't do that anymore. Still haven't gotten it started, but it at least turns over like it's supposed to.

Edit: I don't mean rotate the whole distributor, just the rotor button inside

 

The lights will come on, i go to crank it , ill hear a click and the whole thing will die, only issue is i never touched the distributor, except for removing the spark plugs, which i labeled before removing, i dont think taking a torch to that balamcer bolt would have caused this?

 

I doubt it. Sounds like a timing issue, but I'm honestly not that experienced with this kind of job. My balancer bolt took all 200 of my lbs jumping up and down on the breaker bar to get it loose. And I mean REALLY jumping hard. That thing is a PITA. I'd like to find out how to rework the timing from scratch. I can get the cam pulley at TDC, and the crank pulley should have stayed in the same place after I took the bolt out, but that balancer pulley towards the back of the engine is what worries me.

 

Well at first before the battery started dying the starter would turn but no firing, the pulley belts (alternator, ps pump, etc) were turning smoothely, if the timing was off wouldnt it still try to fire?

 

If it's not that far off then yes, it would try. I checked my distributor, it was definitely backwards again, turned it 180 degrees and it cranked right up! Now it idles WAY too high, there is power steering fluid pouring out of the reservoir when it runs, and it's overheating, lol. Got a long way to go with this one, but I'm making progress. All I can say is keep checking things and rechecking them to make sure it's all in order. Are all your ground wires right? Because that's important and might be related to your problem.