So I sent my 5th gen to get the timing belt and water pump done by two local guys. I get there just as they are raping up and about to start the car. So they go to start the car and its not timed properly. They shut it off almost Instantly. The guy said its a half tooth out of time. My question is? is my motor screwed?

 

If they truly were raping your car it's safe to say it was screwed.

Timing 1/2 tooth off? Shouldn't start slapping pistons until higher RPM's than you see from startup & idle so probably not a problem but I can't hear your car.

The real question is why would you give your car to "two guys"? Is it a shop or literally just 2 guys who said they would hook you up.

FYI, the Honda dealer in my area does a full timing belt/water pump/drive belt job (plus hydraulic tensioner if needed) for $650. Parts alone are nearly $300 if you replace everything so for another couple hundred in labor it's really not a hard decision to make on something that can, if done wrong, completely grenade your engine.

 

You get what your pay for.
Pay the extra buck to get it done right.

 

theres no half tooth off... theres one tooth or two teeth buuuut half tooth isnt good lol. no it wont be bad. infact im runnin my car right now one tooth after tdc and even tho my car is pretty much gutless till 5k it runs better than it did when i had the dealership guys do the timin belt. of course they didnt exactly get the balance shafts right cuz it rattled and i took care of that lol

 

Dont mean to get this thread off topic,
But what exacly does that do when you set timing belt a tooth off?
Adds highend power? Sorry

 

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=advance%2Fretard+timing

 

Maybe they ment that the cam was off 1 tooth on intake side, and thats where they got half a tooth.

 

I Would have Someone Else work On Your Car As The Timing On a honda engine Has To Be dead On For the Performance And Life of This Engine..... There Is A Notch on The Oil Pump U Line Up With The Crankshaft pulley And This is TDC And The cams If U look Through The Sprocket Will Line Up With the Camshaft Caps In The Center Of The Cam And The Up That is Stamped In The Cam Pulley will be At 12 o Clock.. For Both Cams

 

When I did my TB it was off one tooth the first time, not a big deal just pull it apart and realign the marks. One tooth shouldn't in anyway be enough to hurt the engine at all.

 

Do you like capital letters?