1.6l 200sx cranks no start

[shiftin_sideways]

i have a '95 200sx with a 1.6l engine the engine cranks but does not start. it has spark and has fuel. it is completely stock. I have no idea what else to check.

[WithHonor037]

Compression and airflow. Make note of any odd ticks or knocks the motor makes. Could be valve timing if it was rebuilt. Also how new is the fuel? If the fuel is stale that could be your problem right there.

[shiftin_sideways]

compression and air flow is fine. fuel is 2 days old. nothing has been rebuilt. its a completely stock motor.

[WithHonor037]

Spark plug gaps correct and right heat range? Is the fuel definately making it all the way into the cylinder?

[shiftin_sideways]

spark plugs are nissan oem numbers matching plugs gapped to manufacturer specifications. i pull the plugs and they are soaked in fuel.

[WithHonor037]

If the plugs are soaked then your fouling them out. Youre air/fuel mixture sounds like its off. Could be the ecu.

[shiftin_sideways]

I am pretty sure the plugs are fouled from constantly turning the ignition completely off and on repeatedly when attempting to start. I rechecked compression just to make sure I did it properly and found that cylinders 1 and 2 are really low. put some oil in the cylinders and the numbers improved dramatically. I then leaked tested the engine and found some noise coming from the dipstick tube and between cylinders 1 and 2, but leakage was minimal about 10%. I'm thinking the headgasket could be bad, but wouldn't coolant leak into the cylinder if the head gasket was bad? Also I'm going to try to find a better compression tester(the one from Autozone is horrible), I don't trust it. Really trying to diagnose as much as possible before spending any money.

[WithHonor037]

Double check your numbers cuz a 10% leak down is probably acceptable enough the engine should run. If two cylinders are low then I would say a head gasket is a strong possibility. And no coolant doesnt neccisarily have to leak into the cylinder although it sometimes does.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Make sure your wires are hooked up in the correct firing order... the only other thing I could think of would be timing. Try holding the gas pedal to the floor while cranking to suck in more air, preventing the plugs from fouling.
You could also pull the fuel pump fuse and crank it to see if it is indeed dumping too much fuel in. If this is the case, it will kick over and run for a second before dying.
The cylinders probably measured such low compression because the walls were washed out with fuel, causing a poor seal. Smell your oil. If it smells like gas, change it.