[Chip]

ok so I’ve got the motor apart and I’m re-aligning everything. I have the rear balance shaft where it needs to be, replaced the front balance shaft seal (didn’t do this last time), lined everything up, verified TDC compression on 1 and see that my distributor is pointing to 4.
I will now put the distributor key back on the way it was before, as you suggested (thanks for clearing that up, btw).
Is there anything else I should do before putting it all back together?

here is a video of my current status:

[Chip]

I just paid for the etcg video on this job and noticed that when I assembled everything, I aligned the rear balance shaft 180-degrees off…could this be my problem?

[Chip]

When I was putting things back together, I took a peek at the no.1 cyl with a telescopic camera and saw it was all the way up. Then I played with the no.1 rocker arms and there was some play in them. At that, I assumed it was at tdc compression. Did I miss something? Is there another way to double check?

[Chip]

Ok so I took everything apart again to make sure it was all done correctly. I verified TDC for the crank by making sure the crank pulley’s mark lined up with the stationary mark on the block as well as lining up the white line on the flywheel with the point through the peephole.

After I did this, I looked at the cam pulley and it was also pointing up as it should. However, when I looked at the rotor, it was pointing to 4 instead of 1. Then I remembered a while back, I was fooling around with the distributor on the workbench and disassembled the “key” on it. I determined I must have reinstalled the key backwards, so I took it back off and reversed it. Now, everything is where it should be.

I put it all back together and….crank no start. grrr!

One thing I noticed though: The spark is still an orange color instead of white/blue. here are some things that I guess might be contributing:
the (Honda OEM) coil I used was a TC18A and my car calls for a TC19A – they both look identical, but I’m wondering if this might be causing an issue (?)
Also, the Honda OEM rotor was also from a slightly different F22A1 series – it’s the type that requires a fastener and not just a “push-on” application.
The igniter is an aftermarket igniter from O’Reilly.

After all that, I decided to take another look to see if the computer is throwing any codes. I shorted the blue connector by the ECU and turned the key to “on”. The D4 light came on for a few moments then turned off, then began flashing consistently with no pauses – I stopped counting after it exceeded 100 flashes. I can’t find any information online as to what this means – can anyone help?

Another thing I noticed while checking for codes: When I turned the key to “on”, I heard the fuel pump engage. To test it’s consistency, I turned the key off and back on again several times. After about the 3rd or 4th time, I did not hear the pump. Could this be a faulty main relay, or did the pump not turn on because it had plenty of built-up pressure?

Thank you all very much for your help thus far, and for any suggestions you have going forward!

[Chip]

Oh I don’t take it that way – I’m sure you’re right, I just want to make sure there’s not another way to do it, especially since it seemed like you indicated you weren’t sure about the F22A1 motor (maybe it’s different?)

So – valve cover off, I rotate the motor – what should I be looking for to make sure it’s in-time?

Let’s say it’s out of time and maybe during the reassembly I just simply rotated the cam to get it in-line with the “up” up – could I have it out of time because of that? What is the appropriate procedure to get a motor’s sprockets where they need to be, after it appears they’ve skipped teeth?

[Chip]

I had the rocker assembly off a little while ago and forgot to leave the bolts in – had a heck of a time trying to get it back on the head – I’d like to avoid disassembling it again, if at all possible…

[Chip]

Remove the rocker shafts? What do you mean?

[Chip]

Compression gauge may have been faulty, and I’ll check it again with another gauge, but here are the (deplorable) numbers:
Cyl 1: dry: 62, wet: 70
Cyl 2: 68, 85
Cyl 3: 70, 90
Cyl 4: 70, 80

[Chip]

Yeah, I made absolutely sure each sprocket was aligned where it needed to be, before I put it all back together.

Earlier, I had the injectors out and cleaned each one – each one squirted a stream,but none actually “sprayed” – I’m not sure what that means, if anything, but figured it’s worth mentioning.

[Chip]

After all that work, you better believe I made sure everything was where it needed to be – even used a scope camera in the no.1 cyl to make sure it was at the top.
I have a feeling i must have missed something in the electrical/fuel inspections…

[Chip]

Timing belt change complete, new seals, motor still won’t start. Each plug is receiving spark.
Im not sure what else to try at this point. :/

[Chip]

Update:

I was able to reinstall the rocker arm assembly by beginning the threads of each bolt prior to dropping the assembly into place.

However, I had one question/concern: On the far left side, there should be a wave washer between the end-cap (distributor side) and the first rocker arm, and it is missing.

I REALLY don’t want to take the rocker assembly back off but should I get a new wave washer & put it in there, or will it work fine without it?

[Chip]

Luckily, I was able to double-check the piston position with my snake camera before proceeding; the no.1 piston was at its crest.

Also at this point, my rocker arm assembly is not attached so rotating shouldn’t be an issue.

[Chip]

There was a question asking if I’d set it to tdc but it looks like it’s been edited or removed; on the flywheel, there were 2 sets of marks – 1 set had 3 hash marks and the other had just one.
If setting the motor at the one stand-alone hash mark means it’s at tdc, then yes I set it at tdc before beginning the job. Please tell me if I used the wrong hash marks and if so, what I should do to remedy! :/

[Chip]

Is there a detailed assembly diagram for the rocker arm assembly somewhere?

[Author]

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