Timing belt car won't start after?

2013 ACURA TL
130,000 MILES • 3.5L • AUTOMATIC
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JESSICA0619
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I've tried everything and my car won't start after changing the water pump and timing belt.
Everything is lined up at TDC and I switched the crankshaft sensor. I checked the fuses. I'm not sure if you can check relays with multimeter or not so didn't check them. But my car will try to start then chugs and dies. After that if I try it a 2nd time it will turn over but fire at all. The crankshaft bolt can be turned manually without any problems. Changed the spark plugs as well. I'm lost at what to do
Jun 17, 2026 at 7:58 AM
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JESSICA0619
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I recently replaced my timing belt and water pump and now the car will not start even though it is all lined up right it will try and start and then it chugs and it dies. When you try and manually rotate the crankshaft you are able to do that easily. But I cannot find the crankshaft sensor anywhere I've looked everywhere for it it's not by the cover for the pulley like most things are telling me it is. It's not throwing any codes or anything either. I cannot figure out why this thing won't start.
Jun 17, 2026 at 1:23 PM (Merged)
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STRAILER
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So the crankshaft sensor is under a shield by the oil pan where the exhaust pipe goes under the oil pan. Here is the location in the diagrams below. Also, I included a video that can help you see what is going on as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXLJbuAZ4CE&pp=0gcJCT4LAYcqIYzv

Check out the images (below). Please let me know what happens.
Jun 17, 2026 at 1:23 PM (Merged)
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AL514
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Hello, was the crank sensor your issue? If not, youre 100% sure on the timing marks being exactly lined up? Service info looks like there might be multiple marks on one of the cams and two marks on the harmonic balancer, with two small covers to check each cam being lined up and the first mark on the balancer. Would you like the diagrams of the marks via service info? You can do a cylinder leakage test as well, which would tell you if one of the valves was partially open when in should be fully closed. If one cam is one or two teeth off, it doesnt always set a code if its just outside the code setting criteria for cam timing.
Always retrace your steps too when you do a repair and something goes wrong. Verify all the grounds are tight and where they should be located, grounds can be left off or put in the incorrect location on larger jobs like this.
Jun 18, 2026 at 2:31 AM
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AL514
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These are some diagrams showing the cam and crank marks.
Jun 18, 2026 at 2:38 AM
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JESSICA0619
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The one on the bottom technically shows 4 marks so which one should it line up with
Jun 18, 2026 at 5:58 AM
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JESSICA0619
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I ended up getting the car to actually start by cranking it and pressing and holding the gas pedal all the way down it ran really rough though and then died and also there was some smoke coming from under the hood that smelled like Sulphur but the battery or starter don't seem damaged. How can I get it to stay running?
Jun 18, 2026 at 2:49 PM
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AL514
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it sounds like your valve timing is off, if it ran before you changed the timing belt and it doesnt run now, then the belt is most likely off by a tooth or two. The engine can start and run a little because its able to build up a little bit of compression, but not enough to keep it running. I wouldnt keep cranking the car over like that trying to force it to run. If the timing belt is off time, the timing marks need to be lined up correctly. From what you are saying, I would go back and look at the timing marks again.
Jun 18, 2026 at 7:21 PM
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JESSICA0619
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They all line up but I'm confused where the camshaft one should be lined up at. Your pics show two marks and mine has 4.
Jun 18, 2026 at 7:36 PM
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JESSICA0619
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Also do the covers need to all be installed for it to start? Or can I leave the covers off while I'm working at getting it lined up right?
Jun 18, 2026 at 7:38 PM
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JESSICA0619
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Also code for misfire on 1, 2, 3 and 4 came on
Jun 18, 2026 at 7:39 PM
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AL514
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There should be two small plastic tabs you can take out to see the camshaft timing marks, you shouldnt need to remove any covers, notice in the diagram of that camshaft being lined up with the number 1 mark, service info states to look for the white mark on the crankshaft harmonic balancer. You will probably end up with cylinder misfire codes on every cylinder eventually.
The other side camshaft is also supposed to have a removable sight location to check the cam timing being lined up. Here are a couple other pages from service info on checking timing. I would take the spark plugs out so its easier to rotate the engine to check the marks.
Jun 19, 2026 at 1:10 AM
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JESSICA0619
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Did a compression test and cylinder 1 and 5 came back nothing. Did a wet test and it didn't change anything. So now what? I'm confused what we did wrong here.
Jun 22, 2026 at 7:05 PM
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JESSICA0619
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It even sounded different when doing them on these two cylinders.
Jun 22, 2026 at 7:28 PM
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AL514
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sounds like there might be a couple bent valves if you have no compression on any cylinders. If this is an interference engine and the timing was really off, then the pistons can come into contact with the valves.
Do you have a bore scope(camera) so you could look down the spark plug hole and see if a valve is hanging open? I will usually verify a bad valve with my bore scope camera after testing has revealed a problem. You can also do a cylinder leak down test as well, with suspect cylinders at TDC, it would tell you if its either the intake or exhaust valve's are not closing fully.
So if you have an intake valve not closing, and putting compressed air into the cylinder you will hear the air escaping into the intake manifold or out the exhaust if an exhaust valve is bent and staying open. I dont think a wet compression test with oil is going to show any results unless there is piston damage.
Jun 22, 2026 at 7:55 PM
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AL514
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Do your timing marks line up? And are the timing covers off again at this point?
Jun 22, 2026 at 7:56 PM
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AL514
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Both the 13' Acura Tl 3.5liter and 3.7 are interference engines, so it is possible for the pistons to hit the valves on this engine. I see that most when a timing belt breaks, the last vehicle bent all the valves in all 4 cylinders. The valves were so bent into each other I had to bend some a bit straight to remove them.
Jun 22, 2026 at 8:00 PM
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JESSICA0619
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Yes the marks line up and even after trying to start it they were lined up. You could manually turn the engine with no problem. So I was shocked to find this out. So this means I need a new motor (that'd be cheapest way right)?
Jun 23, 2026 at 12:10 AM
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JESSICA0619
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What do u look for with camera? I have one but not sure what to look for
Jun 23, 2026 at 12:12 AM
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AL514
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well before throwing an engine at it, it needs to be completely diagnosed so you know what youre going to see even before you pull the cylinder head. A cylinder leakage test, (being sure the piston for that cylinder is at TDC on the compression stroke) will tell you what to look for with the camera.
With the camera, same thing, except when you put the camera down the spark plug hole you need to turn the camera to look at a 90* angle, thats looking sideways towards the valves at the top of the cylinder bore. At TDC on the compression stroke all the valves should be closed, when they impact with the piston the valve stem gets bent and the valve head will not seat completely flat. If they are bent you will see it. Especially with no compression, now this is concentrating on your two cylinders with no compression to see what happened there. Not the original issue.
Dont mistake an open valve for a bent one though, its best to look into some other cylinders to see what closed valves looks like. You can put the camera down to the edge of the spark plug hole and slowly rotate the engine by hand while watching the camera. Thats what I do now, its quick, dont need to put a screwdriver down the spark plug hole anymore.
You can look for piston damage while inspecting the valves, Im sure I have a picture somewhere of a bent valve, let me look.
Jun 23, 2026 at 2:09 AM
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AL514
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The first picture you can see the valves are not straight to begin with, but they should be closed right now. Pic 2 shows the intake valves bent in different directions. Then you can see where the valves impacted with the top of the pistons. This engine was cranked over by a garage when towed in, so this probably added to the mess. This engine actually had the tensioner for the timing belt explode, so not a full timing belt break, but the engine free wheeled for a bit before shutting down. I could hear there was no compression at all. Id be interested in any pictures you get in-cylinder.
Jun 23, 2026 at 2:25 AM
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