I have a carbed 84 w/ a 22r. How do you tell if the engine is on the compression or exhaust stroke without pulling the rocker arm cover off? When putting the head back on the distributor was put on wrong the first time so the car won't idle. I know on my mr2 you look in the oil fill hole and look at the cam lobes.

thanks,
Jakub

 

I imagine you can pull the plug and see if the piston is up top... Scroll down a bit, to "can't start my engine" thread by ScubaSteve, he just had to do the same thing, and I think it was explained in there.

 

Try putting your finger over the spark plug hole and turn the engine. If you keep the hole sealed with your finger, you should be able to feel the compression against it on the compressions stroke.