95DX95

Ive got a D15B7 in my civic, and about a year ago, I drove to my friends house, everything went fine, parked the car, where it sat for about 2 1/2 hours. I went to leave and did a small "j turn" (stupid, i know) and was not revving it over 5k and was going well under 10 mph in reverse, cut the wheel, and put it in 1st, and it stalled out before i could even start moving forward, it was an uneventful stall, no horrible noises, no smoke, nothing crazy. So i turn it over and over and over and it wont start... Pull the plug wires and i did notice lots of oil in all but the #4 piston, and ive recently replaced the tube seals, but when i bought them i realized they didnt seem to be the best quality, but it threw them on, and drove it for 6 months without checking until it wouldnt start, so it could have been doing this for a while. Anyway, i tow it home with my turd regal and some rope, and spend the next month and a half trying to figure out the problem. Its got fuel, and because i never heard pistons hit valves, i figured the timing belt couldnt have skipped. Belt also looks good, no missing or worn teeth, writing still visible, looks like new. So i check the spark and it did seem to look a little weak, so i replaced EVERY ignition component, to realize it didnt change. I did all the troubleshooting my service manual told me, and it didnt fix the problem. So i give up, get it towed to the dealer, only to get a call the next day saying it "almost locked up" and the timing is way off. Need a new engine.

What is "almost locked up"? Ive never heard of that, and the motor turns over all day, even with a weak battery, making no strange noises, besides being off time. All fluids look great, and the rad cap never blew. In the notes, they wrote "overheated so bad the lower timing belt cover melted". Heres the thing, im pretty sure (not positive) that the timing belt cover was already like that, the engine had to have been replaced, it looks very clean and drove like new, and my car has 328,000 miles. So the other day i had an epiphany that the dealership was just lazy and my car actually skipped time. Im praying thats all because ive been carless ever since and i have way too many projects in the back yard.

The belt looks good, if i can quickly and as easily as possible get the timing back with the old belt, if it starts and idles, im going to replace the belt and drive it, if it doesnt start, i guess ill just sell it as a clean body to someone. It has been sitting for like a year, and i put no fuel stabilizer in it, should it be good enough to see if the motor runs? Or could it not start because of bad fuel and i sell the car thinking something else is wrong... Want to get rid of every variable i guess. I really hope this works.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

"Easiest way to correct timing WITHOUT replacing belt" If the belt skipped time? None.

"It has been sitting for like a year, and i put no fuel stabilizer in it".
This was dumb.

You don't seem to know too much about cars so being suspicious about the dealership is understandable. However, since you seem to not too much about cars you don't seem to have any reaon to doubt them eiter.

FAQs. Locate and perform the tests indicated for a no start condition. Do a compression test. Learn how to check timing. Do none of these things and you might as well leave the car on the side of the road.

ozh_hawaiian

checking mechanical timing is easy, first you should set the head to TDC, do this by aligning the to horizontal marks on the cam gear with the plane of the head (turn the cam gear with a ratchet)... the word "UP" wont be pointing completely straight up it will be at a slight angle. once that is done, loosen the timing belt tensioner bolt, and push on the belt to put slack in it, and tighten the tensioner while you are holding the slack in the belt... now you should be able to slide the belt off the cam gear... now you gotta set the block to TDC, do this by getting a ratchet and turning the crank pulley bolt counter clockwise(i think) until you see the white line on the crank pulley line up in between the notches on the lower timing cover. to put back together is reverse.... only special thing is you have to put tension back on the belt once it is on the cam gear, and i think you do that by loosening the tensioner bolt, then turning the crank pulley 3 full turns, then tighten the tensioner

NVturbo

Putting the car in reverse....and then into 1st gear? Were you trying to purposely mess up the car? I have no suggestions or tolerance for ignorant people.

95DX95

Do you know what a j turn is? Ive already stated that it was stupid. Google it. Ive done it before, and ive never ground gears in my car or double clutched or anything ignorant and blatantly abusive. I did NOT go straight to first, but when the nose of the car is was facing the direction i wanted, i went from reverse to first, and WOULD have driven away. My car was $1000, it wasnt anything extreme, I like having a little fun in my car every once and a while. I dont see the point of garage queens, or JUST driving your car solely to get A to B, but its not important.

Im pretty knowledgeable on cars, more than anyone i know, but ive never messed with timing belts, and i know the crank has 2 revolutions for every one on the cam, so I wasnt sure if the teeth lining up was only when you know that its at TDC, or if you could be off a revolution, if you understand what im trying to say. Basically like the teeth are just for fine tuning.

As for the gas, i know, but i planned on just selling it, its sat around untouched MUCH longer than i anticipated. Is there just a good chance that the gas is bad? Or its for sure bad. The tank still has vacuum, hasnt been touched, im sure id hear it if i unscrewed the gas cap. I dont really have a problem draining the tank and putting some new gas and injector cleaner in it.

But im still new to hondas and working on 4 bangers, used to domestic RWD's. But ive done a lot of suspension work on the civic, electrical, but didnt need to touch the motor besides regular maintenence since ive owned it.

My original question was just what would be an easier way than one would normally do it, just to get it in time, like maybe just slipping it off the cam gear and moving the cam and putting it back on, because this is only temporary. I already know it has no compression because the timing is way off, so one of the valves is slightly open during the compression stroke.

Thanks for the advice guys.

BryanM.

iTrader: (1)

I've reset the timing without tearing everything apart. Loosen the tensioner and there is
enough slack (D & B series) to set it right.

The ONLY smart thing to do is replace a belt that has skipped - it should not be trusted.

Also, just because the timing is "only a tooth off" doesn't mean that only one tooth has
skipped, in fact MANY teeth have skipped. I think some people forget that sometimes.

95DX95

Yeah good point. Thanks for the help dude, this is literally JUST to see if it will even run, im not tearing into the engine. So if it starts, im going to replace the belt before i even touch the gas pedal. Pray for me, haha. What would be the easiest way to drain the gas??? Im just probably going to disconnect the fuel line at the engine bay and let the fuel pump do the work.

BryanM.

iTrader: (1)

Drain the tank?

There is a 17mm drain bolt on the left side (driver's side) of the fuel tank.
That would be the fastest way.

95DX95

Wow, ive never heard of a car having a drain bolt on the gas tank! Awesome! Thanks man. I love all the little things honda does to make working on these so easy!

NotAJDMFanBoy

Not all gas tanks have the drain. You should check yours to make sure. Otherwise, siphon it. The fuel filter and injectors are likely gunked up with degraded fuel, so you may have to replace them.

And just because you didn't hear a piston hit a valve doesn't mean anything. These engines run pretty high RPMs, so it'd only take a split second for something to happen.

95DX95

Hmmm. Well i half *** got it in time, and when its sputtering! So close to starting! I have a weak battery, so im not sure if its affecting this, and its been sitting for less time than i though. Probably 8 months. Still a while. Couldnt i just run a heavy dose of injector cleaner? Or no... I was messing with a lot of other stuff when i originally tried to get it running, so i hope no other problems are causing it not to start...

95DX95

Also, it appears the timing was off by about 90 degrees... guaranteed valve damage? The fact that its sputtering would lead me to believe it has compression.

95DX95

It started! Runs great! Old gas, loose timing belt. Alt is frozen up and makes a hell of a squeal though. #hondapower

Thanks for the help guys! Doing the timing belt tomorrow and ill be back to being a contributing member of HT! So happy.

95DX95

Well it sounds good, but its blowing out white smoke :/ Could that just be from sitting? Im positive it didnt overheat, so i dont know what it is... The alt is frozen and the belt burned up and snapped, so i hooked it up to another car and let it idle. White smoke, its hard to tell if its water, its pretty cold here.

95DX95

Well now i let it run and the "smoke" went away. Exhaust looks fine, But there is a little idle surge and a pretty distinct "knock" around every 10 seconds... Kind of weird, doesnt sound good, its a crisp sound. Thing is, it doesnt make the noise with the motor, it almost sounds random, i rev it up a little bit, seems alright, but the noise doesnt go with the rpms, it doesn't make the noise in rhythm with the idle, just like every once in a while a loud tick comes from the motor... Any ideas? I really hope the engine is fine. Not sure if i should order the timing belt now. Should i take off the head?

BryanM.

iTrader: (1)

Water vapor is a product of the combustion of hydrocarbons. A little white smoke is normal
up north in the winter but a CLOUD of white smoke isn't.


EDIT: At well over 300k that motor doesn't owe anyone a penny. If I were in your shoes
I would look for another long block. If I needed the car in the meantime, I would probably
get a new belt for it - if that makes sense.