Rebuilt festiva not starting.

[Dyflon]

My 91 festiva ran well, it just burnt a lot of oil. I have just replaced the rings, and everything along the way (gaskets, seals, valve guides), but now it's not starting. It's got compression gas and spark getting to the cylinder, and everything is reattached. We also double checked that all the timing marks were aligned. It also turns over just fine. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Dyflon]

...

Im going over to the garage to start working on it in like an hour, so any Ideas would rock!

[Tim]

Sounds a lot like an electrical issue.

Double check to make sure everything's connected.

Check the grounds as well, too! You'd be surprised at what havoc one bad ground can cause!

[Dyflon]

...

So, we went over the car again yesterday. The compression is at 80, and im pretty sure thats real low, My friend who is helping me said that is because the rings arent broken in yet because it hasnt started. We checked over all the grounds and they were all connected. Put some new spark plugs in.

We are getting good spark, gas, and at least some compression. shouldnt it at least backfire or run like sh*t or something? It hasnt even fired once. I just dont get it.

Im almost ready to get another motor from the yard for 150$

[miami man]

years ago i rebuilt my 350 Chevy and the moter was so tight that the starter was having problems turning the moter over but after a while it got better. i also had to move the position of the distributor to at least get it to run at first then re timed it.

[dsleepy47]

If you have fuel spark and compression all at the right time it has to fire, that's just physics. Compression should be 140-160 psi, 80 on all 4 cylinders indicates a serious problem somewhere. How are you determining there is fuel in the cylinders? Is the ground strap from the cylinder head to the body installed? Bad grounding can cause the injectors not to work or a weak spark that can't fire under compression.

Deems

[Dyflon]

...

The head ground is connected, the spark plugs are wet with gas, and all are new and produce spark. I am so confused by this, Im having everyone who knows anything look at it. Also one of my friends said compression could be low because the rings havent been broken in yet. Thanks

[Festy46]

Put a timing light on it and crank the engine and see if the ignition timing is correct. I think you have a timing problem, either valve or ignition.

[Dyflon]

...

Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it. I agree with the timing idea, and im gonna tow it to auto zone to check it out. I was wondering if it was possible to get a computer diagnostic on it without it running (91 manual L). Also, my friends got an escort with a 1.9 in it and he said he would give it to me if I wanted it. Im pretty sure it wont work, but I figured I'd ask you guys first.

thanks again!

[wrestler3025]

The 1.9 won't work, but if it had a 1.8 you'd be in business. Have you solved the problem yet? If not, try cleaning the ground connections as well. My 94 mustang gt had a problem with starting after I threw an engine back in, and it was due to some corrosion on the ground terminal.

[14karat]

One old trick when you're not getting good compression... pull the plugs and shoot a little oil into the cylinders.
It'll smoke like crazy when it first starts, but it will get the compression up.
I've seen it happen on cars that sit idle for long periods of time.