I gotta admit, the timing belt for the EVO IX is a little harder than a honda B-Series or my STi...

Well, the quick and dirty. I had to reinstall the belt twice. First time, it cranked up and ran like normal but it was leaking oil from the timing belt tensioner bolts.....duh!!!

So, once I had it back together again, timing looked perfect on the cams and crank pulley. Balance shafts fell to the right spot according to a couple of youtube videos I've watched.

Ok, after I quadruple checked all the timing marks and tension....tried to crank the engine and it doesn't start. The starter is rotating the crank but not getting the car started.

Could it be the crank or cam position sensor?

 

Did you take the position sensor out? It can be installed backwards so it might be your problem - considering the belt is installed correctly and coils are connected.

 

I'll double check the cabling and how it's mounted.

 

It is not the cabling. The sensor itself can be bolted backwards so it won't read the wheel.

 

I triple checked it...It's mounted properly, the timing circular plate on the crank passes through it fine. I never was able to remove the crank timing plate behind the sprocket, so i left it in. It's not bent and not dirty.

I checked and removed the spark plugs the two farthest from the timing belt have gasoline smell coming from it. Also noticed those two have a crack in the spark plugs. These are new, bout 500 miles on them. I made sure they were torqued and gapped specifically for a IX.

What's the best way to test to see if I'm getting spark to each plug?

 

Spark checker tool. Also, do compression.