I just bought a 91 honda civic w/ a 1.5 liter sohc 4 cyl. I put tags on it and the first day to work it shut off going down the interstate. when I tried to restart it it spun overw/ no compression. instantly I new my timing belt broke. well after I got it home, pulled the timing cover, the belt and pullies were all in tact. so I spun the cam gear and noticed that only the front rockers were working. so after pulling the cage I found my cam shaft broken in two. so i the called the local honda salvage yard in my area and bought a used head for $150. I didn't get it worked or any thing for the fact that the lower half of the engine has 150,000 miles and didn't want to put the new reorked head on top of that. I have a mechanic background but in the diesel field, and know nothing about 4 cyl. what so ever. so after installing this head, from this very repitable salvage yard that only deals in honda parts i couldnt get it running. it still spun over with a fast no compression revolution. so i then poured oil in the plug holes and it would then chug like it had compression but still no start. when the oil burnt out right back to fast no compression. I ran a compression test then and every thing checked great 115 psi. on all four cyl. the timing i set w/ the crank at 12 o'clock position on the hash and then assured that the #1 cyl. was at top dead center w/ a straw in the plug hole. i then set the cam gear with up facing up and the hashes lined straight across the head like said book tells me to.and like i said this didn't solve the problem. so i then found out that the distibuter shaft was worn and wobbling so i replaced it and i also read that it has something in it that tell the injector to spray fuel corectly. so i was sure i found the problem n, but i didn't. finally the start crapped out on me and i replaced that. after all that I finally cranked it long enough and got it to start. phew right. nope. it just runs like it has no power, 1500 rpms is about all I can get out of it and if you put it in drive it cant even move itself. if I hold it to the floor and turn the distibuter one way or the other it runs even worse. so this is were I am at now and am in dire need of my next move advise. to me i still feel as though it is in the timing but i don't know. if any one has any experiance with this problem what so ever please let me know. thanks.

Handyman2007

I will assume that when you replaced the head you installed a new camshaft also? Lifters? Sounds like you missed something there.

CHBO207

no the head came complete the cam had never been takin out. the rocker cage had never been removed out of it. and thats what i wanted i didn't want to put any new componets w/ the old ones. the only thing that had been taken off the head i boought was the valve cover in order to remove the head from its original engine. its a SHOC so none of the head componets had to removed.

CHBO207

this question has been here for a while. I'm just wondering can no one help me out? if not can someone please suggest a direction for me. so I can. thank you so very much.

Handyman2007

Did you retime it properly when you reassembled it> You have to realign the crankshaft also. All of the timing marks have to be aligned. Also, when you had the head off, did you inspect the tops of the pistons for cracks, etc???

CHBO207

yes I did line the mark on the crank as well straight up to the 12 o'clock position. yes I also inspected the piston and every thing looked great. I have now broke down and taken the car to a shop owned by a friend of mine. so hopefully I'll find something out soon...????