Ok so I literally have been broke down for almost 2 weeks with my car on the side of the road . I bought a 1997 honda accord lx its 4 cylinder F22B2 with automatic transmission I bought it from a dude on offerup he told me the starter was bad so I got it towed from there to a street that I thought was cool to get a starter in it because I recently lost my home so I get it back to realize it needs a starter but hep also cutt the catalytic converter off so I replace the starter and just patched the exhaust straight pipe after that it started but the drive light was flashing 0even when in park running super rough and then died so I hooked up a reader it said it was crankshaft postioning sensor w0hich was a bitch now it just won't start now im being told its the timing but the person working on my car I don't know if he even knows so I'm hoping a expert can please help me thank you

 

Summary in sentences for others to read; OP bought a non-starting '97, based 100% on seller's statements about needing a starter, and then towed car away to another street to work on it there (lacks current home). And once OP got it started, rough, there were multiple problems with it. Now it won't re-start. What to do?

Depending on the area, I might go to the closest house and explain the fixed vehicle, before they call officials about an abandoned vehicle. In my neck of the woods an auto junk yard will come out and pick up an old vehicle and pay $100 once they get the title. I feel for you; I had a '97 up to ~320k miles

 

Since you hooked up a code reader, can you give us the actual code? They start with the letter P and have four numbers, like P1234.

When you say the car won't start, does the starter work where it spins the engine and the engine won't run on its own? Or does nothing happen when you turn the key to start the car?

 

So since I posted this I have had my car moved well i got it started and was able to move it a couple blocks it will start just idles really rough and won't stay going it will die I was told by someone it was the timing do you know the timing marks ? Or how do I use a timing light please let me know thank you so much

 

Also I found out its a 1996 honda accord lol sorry

 

Remove the upper timing-belt cover. In order to do that you'll probably have to remove the valve cover (at least lift it a bit because it traps the top of the timing cover).
To check the camshaft timing, this comes from the middle of the tension-adjustment procedure. You're interested in steps 13 & 14, so don't loosen stuff. Only turn the crankshaft counterclockwise like shown. Turning the crankshaft is easier if you remove the 4 spark plugs.



The other mark on the crankshaft pulley is for spark timing. IIRC that's not adjustable on 1996 onwards.

 

I also have a 96 Accord and in 2019 it was conking out intermittently and after taking it to a local garage they said it was bad distributor.