So I'm new on this forum and I'm in need of serious help. Here goes.

I'm familiar with cars and do a few big projects here and there. And my friend who has a 98 audi a8 asks me to change a few things one including timing belt. So i think to myself no biggie and take it on. Only to find out audits don't believe in timing marks. great.
I make my own alight the crank with the harmonic balancer marks and make two on the cams.
Put everything back together, make sure there's no contact by spinning the crank a few revolutions and go to start it and it doesn't want to go. The nose is still off so I wanted to know if there is anything that must be plugged in order for it to start.
And only after I change the belt I realize the car has been sitting for a year and I didn't start it before. Even better.

I've tried turning the crank 360 while keeping the cams stationary and starting it again. Nothing. It cranks but no fire. There's fuel I can smell it from the exhaust.

I've pulled the cam position sensor/cover to make sure that they are in the same place as the holders that are sold on ebay/dealer and they are. I don't want to dish out 200 bucks just for this.

Pretty much my question is; is there a method I can use to rule out that it's not a timing issue and look for a possible start issue. Cuz it'll kill me if I'm here messing with timing when it's like a faulty ecu or crank position sensor.

 

I towed the car to my house because of dead battery and expired registration and just started working on it. I know it ran great prior to the year it stood.

 

I'm pretty sure my cams are aligned perfect. The only one that concerns me is the crank. Like I'm at the point of frustration where I might just consider my losses buy a new engine and never touch an audi again. Even though I really like the d3s. Otherwise I'm a Mercedes fan..... And just out of curiosity how the hell did the belt win over the chain.... Ok sure 4 cyls it saves money but v8s???? They're already unreliable as is.... Wtf!!!