Post a picture of looking at the head from the front. I want to see the front cam lobes on both cams.

^ I would have said the exhaust, but I agree in principle.

Thank you everyone. Looking at it now, maybe the exhaust cam is a tooth too low.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880188


Top of cylinder 1


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880188


Exhaust side


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880188


Intake side


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1447880188


Top view

Cam lobes are correct. I don't see anything wrong with that.

What about clearance on the crank sensor? Did it get moved? Is it too far away?

any missing grounds? are the plugs wet after cranking?

Hmm.. No, there are no missing grounds. There weren't any before the timing belt was removed. This is why I am so confused. The car ran fine before I adjusted the timing belt, and now that I have pretty much been confirmed that it is not a timing issue, I have no idea what it could be.

Is the crank trigger wheel on backwards? (Sav's original #3)
Should be convex side toward the radiator.

Nope, the crank trigger wheel wasn't removed from before. I honestly have no idea. I wonder if maybe exhaust cam is off a tooth, or maybe I had the crank sensor too close.

My impression is that being off one tooth won't prevent it from starting. It may stumble and idle poorly, or it may have no top end (depending on which way you're off), but it will start.

I agree that the most likely cause is electronics. Do you have a stock ECU, or aftermarket? If aftermarket, many of those have cam/crank pulse debugging tools. If it's a stock ECU, you might be able to hook up an OBD2 scanner and see if it outputs an RPM value while cranking (not sure if the stock ECU does or not). If you get an RPM signal, you know the cam/crank pulses are good.

You say you think you smell gas -- do you actually? If so, then your cam/crank signals are good (ECU won't inject fuel without a sync) and that would suggest it's probably a spark problem.

Stupid question, but you did get the plug wires back on the right cylinders, right? :)

On the "missing ground" topic, the main ECU harness is grounded through a bolt at the front of the intake manifold. The harnesses are somewhat in the way for the timing covers, so it's not unusual to take that bolt out to get more flexibility in the harness, and if you forgot to put it back on, or missed one of the ring terminals that goes under it...

--Ian

OK, now replace your cam angle sensor :party:

Thank goodness I have a spare engine sitting around. I'll salvage a cam sensor from it after I put my engine back together and see if that fixes it. :party:

Ian, thank you for a very intelligent and insightful answer. I love it when people explain things so thoroughly and in a "point A leads to B, which causes C" manner. I will test the spark after everything is buttoned back up. :bowdown:

Subscribed.... Facing same issues.

Cam Angle Sensor didn't work
 

It still will just crank and crank without ever starting.
-timing is correct
-not crank sensor
-not cam angle sensor

Known working sensors or just random ones believed to have worked at some time in the past?

Connectors or ECU?

Stupid stuff like a non-clicked connector can spoil a lot.

The car literally ran absolutely fine before I removed the timing belt because it was too tight. I put the belt back on, and it won't start. I'll check the connectors, but I am pretty sure they are all clicked. The ECU hasn't been touched in a long time. All of the grounds are good too.

Are you on the stock ECU by chance? Curious if a simple log would tell us what the computer sees. Check fuses?

Yep, stock ECU unfortunately. I'll check the fuses in a second.

99% of the time, if you took it apart and put it back together and it doesn't work, it's something you put back wrong. :)

Have you pulled the plugs? Is it injecting fuel? Is it sparking?

--Ian

Output test mode would be so sexy right now

I made a Youtube video showing what the car does when I crank it. I apologize for not being the smoothest talker in the world, and the lack of turbo :D