OK, so I know this isn't TL related, but it's a problem I'm having with my 98 Accord. I posted on some Accord sites but I'm not having any luck, so I figured someone on here might know, so I figured it was worth a try.

OK, so I've been having a hell of a time with my girls 98 4cyl Accord. Her water pump went out a few weeks ago, so I had the car towed to my house where we proceeded to do the water pump. Did the water pump and replaced the thermostat, the belt that is under the timing cover (not the main timing belt, but whatever the little one is), the alternator belt and the power steering belt. I figured they all looked pretty worn so I'd replace them, except for the belt under the timing cover, that one was actually broken (again, not the actual timing belt).

While I was at it I also decided to do the sparkplugs as they were pretty beat. So we get all the work done and go to start the car and it barely cranks over. Once we get it started the car sounds like it's running great. Better than before in fact. Since it hadn't started in a few weeks we let it sit for a while and watched for any leaks we may have. Everything seems good till I got in the car and gave it a tiny bit of gas. As soon as i left off the gas the car died. So I started it back up and the car was running kind of rough. You could feel the misfire, especially if you gave it gas.

The CEL came on so I borrowed a buddies reader and found I was throwing codes for misfires in cylinders 3 and 4. After doing some googling, I found that sometimes new wires and cap and roter will sometimes fix this problem. So I go out and try all of that, but nothing changes.

I know the timing could have jumped even though we clamped everything in place and were careful not to move anything, but it just doesn't sound like the timing is off. My DA jumped timing once and I KNEW it jumped, it would barely run. This isn't like that.

I really don't know what the problem is. I should say that while the car was sitting I cleaned the engine with a de-greaser and hosed it down. I was careful to cover everything important, including the dizzy and alternator, but idk, maybe some water could have gotten into something it shouldnt have.

Does anyone have any ideas to a fix? (sorry for the wall of text, but I wanted to make sure I was exact on the problem)

 

i would say timing. Get a simple timing belt and check. I believe the other belt is for the tensioner (or at least for the older accords i believe thats what it was for).

 

Theres no way to check timing other than with a timing gun is there? Because I don't have one.

 

Not really unless you start from scratch and align all the cams and pulley and then re-install belt. A timing gun is only like $40 at any local auto parts store, or craigslist. You don't really need anything super fancy, unless you want to know exactly how far you are off.

 

if you didnt release the real timing belt or connection between the crank and camshafts- the engine timing doesnt change

the adjustable part of the Ignition timing- at the distributor- is done with timing light
but is so rare to be needed on a car with electronic ign,,not points ignition... as to be low on the list of suspects,,,
unless you loosened the hold down nut and rotated the distributor body--did that happen?

I would suspect moisture got inside the distributor cap and arcing has occured
pull it off and look for crack from terminal
#1 thing that goes wrong after washing engine with that type ignition
Make sure there is a gasket between the cap and distributor body

use spark plug boot protectant on the top of plug--inside edges of boot before install to protect them from outside moisture

 

I think he meant he replaced the wires, cap & rotor after the wash job- is that correct Roknboker? Any chance you could have crossed a cpl. of the wires?

 

Im sure he had to have taken off the belt to get to the waterpump itself. Im not saying his timing is off from just the distributor, but if it starts and with symptoms he has, timing could be off by a few teeth or so (seen it happen). Timing gun for security, especially with cars with distributors, and when doing a job that could possibly mess up timing.

Did you mark all the timing points and made sure they were correct? Not sure about the accord, but im pretty certain on the b series motor, you cant interchange waterpumps between non-vetc and vtec motors (or something like that). Correct water pump?

 

No the dizzy never moved. We didnt need to loosen it at all.

Not a chance. I learned my lesson long ago to change the wires one at a time just in case you mix them up. And I even double checked JUST to make sure. And yes, you are correct. I replaced cap, rotor and wires after the wash job. I'm really leaning towards the dizzy being messed up during the wash.

It should be the correct water pump, I mean I looked up the part number myself but that doesnt mean the correct pump was in the box I suppose.

We had to obviously take the timing belt off the lower part of the car, but we didn't mess with anything else on the top end since we clamped the belt down. I really don't think it's the timing belt, but it could be

I've been too busy lately to check it out anymore. Gonna work on it Thursday again since I'll have some time. Going to check compression to make sure nothing warped or the head gasket isn't failing.

Thanks for all the help guys.