Macnotiss

I was on my way to work and my car just died. Fuel pump seems to be working.I popped the dizzy cap off, no spark coming off the coil. Tried to crank it , but the rotor will turn so I can't take it off. I also looked in the crank case while my wife tried to start the car, as she did, the rocker arms didn't move. Does this mean my timing belt is broken? My Honda is sitting on the side of the highway​.I want to fix it , but I don't know where to start.

alextech

Timing belt? Maybe, did it just cut off while driving? Happened to me once and it was the timing belt.

Macnotiss

I'm not sure. I hope not , because I really love my Civic and I would probably be better off scraping it.It cut off while I was driving, doing around 65.

alextech

Yeah, I would check the timing belt. I kind of knew it was the timing belt on mine when it happened because the spring that helps tighten up the timing belt was weak and therefore the timing belt cut off and im afraid a couple of valves might have bent driving at that speed.

rfmerrill

Just to clarify because your original post is a little confusing:

"Tried to crank it , but the rotor will turn so I can't take it off." - not sure what this means. Are you saying the distributor rotor DOES or DOES NOT turn when you crank the engine?

"I also looked in the crank case while my wife tried to start the car, as she did, the rocker arms didn't move." -- do you mean under the valve cover? Because to look inside the crankcase would require removing the oil pan.

If the distributor rotor and the valve rocker arms are not moving while you crank the engine I'd say that's a pretty big red arrow pointing at the timing belt. If it's a D engine you can take the upper timing cover off without too much trouble and it should be obvious if the timing belt is broken.

weekendboost

Put cyl 1 at tdc and then remove the upper timing cover and just see if all the arrows are lined up. 5 min job.

Macnotiss

Sorry about that typo.I meant the rotor dose not turn. I looked in the valve cover and the arms wasn't moving. I'm sure it's the timing belt.I have to go buy a compressor and an impact wrench to do the job. This will be my first time changing a timing belt.I'll be sure to put a new water pump in as well to avoid that headache.lol

mk378

It is an interference engine. When the timing belt strips, there is a good chance that the valves will be damaged. Cut off the old belt and set the crank to 90 degrees away from TDC. Then turn the cam by hand and check that all the valves come all the way up. If you find that some valves have a lot of slack in the rocker arm, you have a problem. Of course, do not let the crank rotate with no belt.

If that test seems allright, next put on only a new belt and see if it runs OK. If the engine really is OK then you can go back and replace other parts. If not you will need to remove head and get a valve job done, or replace the whole engine.

Macnotiss

I'm sure the valves are messed up. When it died on me, I tried to crank it and it didn't show a check engine light. Around the fifth time trying to crank it , the check engine came on. If it's that bad, it's going to the scrap yard.

mk378

Check engine came on because the starter circuit was energized for more than 10 seconds but the distributor was not turning (which you already know). That doesn't tell anything about the valves.

Macnotiss

Ahh okay thanks for clearing that up.