I have a unique dilemna, my timing belt broke on the expressway the other night, I was in nuetral right before it happened. I take it apart the next day, did a compression check and all cylinders are holding compression. Looked at the pistons and valves and nothing looked like it hit, no damage, everything seemed fine. Sent in the head to a machine shop just to double check, they did a leak down test and another compression test and say it holds in all four cylinders. They say even though it holds compression the valves could still possibly be bent, but the only way to tell is to take it apart and with honda valves they are apt to break or bend when checking. So the bill is totalling up and I can take it like it is, or replace everything. I was under the impression if it holds compression then the valves aren't damaged, if I just leave the head as it is and put it back on will it mess anything up down the road? I don't really have the money to replace everything, but I could wait if it comes down to it. Just wondering if anyone could help me out, thanks in advance.

 

How do you perform a compression check with a broken timing belt or the head removed from the engine?

What engine do you have? You can pour water into the intake an exhaust ports while the head is removed and check for leakage past the valves. You are probably fine.

 

It's possible, I guess, to bend the valve stems a bit and still get a fairly good seal on them when they seat.

 

Sorry I was in a rush to go to work, I have a b18b1 and we did the compression test once we had the head open, cranked it a few times in each cylinder to see if we had compression. Once we took the head off we went it to a machine shop and they did a leak down test to see if it was holding vacuum, which it does. I told them to just mill it so I can get my car up and running again, if I'm fortunate maybe it will be fine, if not I will just tear it down again and replace the valve train. What should I look for when it's up and running to know if it's fine or if I'm going to have problems down the road?