78F350

I'm about to buy a 1997 CRV that the dealer just replaced the timing belt on. He says that when he got it (at auction) it wouldn't run and he found the timing belt was broke. He just replaced the belt and it ran fine.
What are the odds that the valves are actually in good shape?
If it runs smooth and has good compression is it okay?

(I have a B16 head that I can put on it as a back-up plan)

Thanks

77777

i would trust a dealer probably a step less than you would trust satan himself. if you can get a good enough price and the car is in good shape otherwise, why not? otherwise i personally wouldnt want anything to do with it. you also have the option to have it inspected by a mechanic i would imagine.

dogbiscuit

if its a really good deal i guess maybe.... but It's hard to trust a auction car lots of times.

I say this having bought a auction car from my family mechanic. a 99 civic ex. it's lasted me 7 years and 100,000 miles. I guess it worked out fairly well. the carfax on it, the paint job and the shitty bondo job however shows it's been wrecked like a mother in previous lives.

78F350

Thanks for the replies. It ran smooth and looks good for a '97 with 236,000 miles. I went ahead and bought it and put about 100 miles on it the first day with no engine/drivetrain issues. I should have done a compression check any way and I'll probably get to it tomorrow just out of curiosity.
For a used car dealer, this guy was really straight forward/open about the issues. He could have not even told me about the belt having broke and a list of minor problems. It seems I got a good car with a verified fresh timing belt.

Now to deal with the minor issues... cracked headlight, driver's door wire harness, and a couple bushings.

olddohc

iTrader: (116)

ttt

78F350

It was 2,000, down from 2,995. It may seem high to some people, but around here its a good price. Most of the similar CRVs I've seen around here are going from $3k to $4k and probably need a timing belt, tie rods, CV boots, etc.
At least we don't get rust around here. Keep up on maintenance and they last forever.

olddohc

iTrader: (116)

ttt

dogbiscuit

you can respray those wiper blade arms and the window moldings with some plastidip. I just did mine and the results were good

sleepyaccord96

i would like to see these results and a diy

i am in the process of removing like 19 coats of plasti dip of some super nice HM3's but i would like to see it on the trim and arms.

dogbiscuit

here it is on my wiper blades and window moldings.

I got better coverage on the arms as they were nearly bare when i put them on. I didn't take the moldings off as the first one i tried broke a clip. so i did my best to scrape all the old cracking rubber off with a razor blade and taped up the surrounding areas with painters tape and sheets of computer paper and just sprayed them while on the car. If i could have taken them off i'd have definitely done a better job of getting the old stuff off. I just used the rattle can plastidip u can get at lowes or home depot
Before



After

sleepyaccord96

nice. looks good..

4-door Chevelle

At what mileage should you replace the timing belt?

dogbiscuit

i think it's every 100k

78F350

I just looked it up in my owner's manual:
105,000 mi/168,000 km under "Normal Conditions"
60,000 mi/100,000 km if temperatures range over 110F or under -20F (-29C for the Canadians I doubt you need the conversion for 110F)

dogbiscuit:

Great job with the Plastidip .

4-door Chevelle

I got this 2000 CRV back from my daughter after the timing belt broke on her and she just bought another vehicle. I had a belt put in and it does seem fine???

78F350

If it seems fine, then don't worry. The blue one that I originally started this thread about ran great including a 3,000 mile road trip last summer. I ended up selling it almost a year from the day I bought it, only because I bought a wrecked '99 to rebuild and sell. After all the work to fix it, I liked the '99 better.

LDForget

way to bring a post back from the dead.

tony_2018

Similar issue, thats why he brought it back up. I don't see anything wrong with that.

dogbiscuit

snapped the belt on mine and got lucky theres no seemigly noticeable damage. been driving it since february with a new belt.

Gratefuldiver

Ok Im going to dig up an old post.

My Mom stripped a few teeth on her timing belt while driving (maybe 35 mph) her 98 CR-V. She said she didn't try to start much after it happened. Once she got it home I popped off the distributor cap and had her bump it a couple time and knew right away it was the belt because the rotor didn't turn. It looks like 2 valve are just coming off the peak of the lobe. Guess the only way to know for sure if there is valve damage is to remove the head?

Im an old school Pontiac guy and don't know much about overhead cams engines. Im assuming with a service manual its a pretty straight forward repair. Any suggestions for a guy trying to help out his Mom?

OneBadTurboCRV

Please don't bump multiple threads. I answered in your other thread already. Also, a lot of us more knowledgeable guys are into a lot more than Hondas.

Gratefuldiver

I was under the impression I had to have at least two tech post before I could start a thread. Sorry