swapped head, now wont start, please help

D15, D16, D17 and Mini-Me swaps
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swapped head, now wont start, please help

By richej528
- Wed Mar 21, 2012 3:05 pm #299133 I finished putting in my head last night, but now the car only makes a whinning noise when I crank it. I'm wondering if I am forgetting something. It seems that I have plugged everything in. Here are the specs of my car:

95 civic automatic. It has a D15 with a milled head, crower cam, aem cam gear set at 0, b18 valve springs, and retainers. I had it at tdc when I took off the head, and when installed again. Not sure what's wrong, it has a strong gas odor, and also I can't find the cap that goes on the fuel rail.

Help would really be appreciated.

Thank you
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By teal_dx
- Wed Mar 21, 2012 5:19 pm #299156 Some things to check first:
Spark
Fuel (sounds like you have)
Compression

To look for spark, pull the wire out and see if it arcs on the valve cover while cranking the motor. (easier to see at night)

You smell fuel, so that's probably not the problem.

Compression could be mechanical (not ignition) timing off or bent valves. Use a compression tester to check compression. If you don't have one handy, you can crank the motor by hand with a wrench at the crank pulley and there should be resistance at each cyl on the compression cycle. But a compression tester will give you an accurate reading.

By richej528
- Thu Mar 22, 2012 3:12 pm #299355 Thanks, I'm going to check it tonight, I was watching a video on you tube with a prelude with low compression, and that's exactly what my civic does. How would I correct my timing if that's off?
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By Apexracing
- Fri Mar 23, 2012 5:32 pm #299529 just a thought, did you use a new oem head gasket and new oem bolts or arp head studs? Also did you torque every thing down according to the service manual? Not try to offend just making sure you left nothing out.
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By suspendedHatch
- Sat Mar 24, 2012 5:35 am #299603 "Cap that goes on the fuel rail"?! You smell gas... I hope you're talking about the plastic cover for the pulsation dampener and not the entire dampener itself.

Did you mix/match your previous and current fuel rail, dampener, and bolt? There are two different styles and the parts all have to be matching.

The gas smell is troubling. Is there fuel leaking around your injector seals?

This whining noise... does it sound like the engine is spinning easily with no resistance?
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By undeadone069
- Sat Mar 24, 2012 2:34 pm #299627 i had this problem once. my firing order was 50 out because my dizzy was 50 out. wich shouldnt have been possible but the teath coming off of it was bent and i could put it in either way. since i have bought a new dizzy but its somethin to look at.

By richej528
- Tue Mar 27, 2012 3:43 am #299948 It's just the plastic cap at the end of the fuel rail, the one that just snaps off. Im starting to take the head off again to make sure I didnt miss anything, and make sure my timing is right. I'll let you guys know. I'm gonna have a friend help me just incase I miss something.

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By richej528
- Tue Mar 27, 2012 3:51 am #299950 I'll took a look at my dizzy too.

By richej528
- Wed Mar 28, 2012 3:09 pm #300143 I took it apart yesterday again. I made sure it was at tdc, and put it back together. When it was all together I loosened the rocker assembly, and set the cam to the correct notches, and tightened all down again. Now its starts up, and idles ok. I think I have to adjust the timing. I didnt realise that my cam gear is set to -1. I'll keep you guys posted, or whats the best way to have the timing set?

By richej528
- Thu Mar 29, 2012 8:10 am #300268 Since I don't have a timing gun, can I do it by loosening the cam gear bolts, and turning the crank pulley, until it gets to where it idle s fine? Like first starting at 0, and then if not going to 1?
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