Ok, I know this is a common topic and I have searched and read many similar topics. So I have an understanding of the most common issues when this occurs . Just want to know some peoples thought's on my situation. I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to working on vehicles in general.

Long story short (Daily Driver, 91 DX Hatch, Auto) I was driving on home on the highway and the car lost power when I was steadily accelerating up a hill section of highway, I was doing about (about 55 MPH I think) and didn't hear anything break or anything, the engine just seemed to power off. No throttle response (Radio stayed on, never turned off). Now the car won't start at all. I had to get it towed off the highway.

Wondering if this is related.... A few hours earlier while driving in city traffic I was at a red light and once it went green I stepped slowly on the accelerator and got NO response for what seemed like 2-3 seconds, then acceleration kicked in.... then it continued on like normal and everything seemed fine. (Until dying a few hours later of course).

I have had a problem before with the main relay cutting off power and giving it starting problems, etc. But I bought a new main relay last November, and all seemed well with it. Fuel pump primes every time I turn the ignition now.

The ECU was throwing code 16, but I think that might have been from WAY back (before I replaced the main relay last year). Because I never reset it after I replaced it. I went back over to my car today and reset it. But now it's not giving any code. I took the cap off the dizzy and everything looked good I think. THEN, I got someone else to crank engine, looked inside the oil filler cap and couldn't see anything moving. Couldn't see that well though (Not much light). So does that mean my timing belt is toast? I'm guessing so. Anything else to look for? I live hours away from where my car is stranded, and I am in a tight spot here with not much time. Not mechanically enough inclined to do a timing belt or even to take the cover off, lol. There is a shop across the street from where my car is and I'll probably be taking it there I guess (preparing for rape job).

So i'm guessing it's the timing belt is there anything else I should check before I push my car to the shop across the street?

 

you can take the top timing cover off to verify it is the timing belt, but if you didnt see anything moving with the oil filler cap off, then you are probably out of luck. You just need to verify that the belt is broken. if it is, then you are in for a world of hurt, financially, if you want to keep the car and can't do any of the work yourself.

 

Replacing a timing belt is relatively easy though. As long as you don't have an interference motor and haven't broken anything in the engine you should be fine.

I had a timing belt go out of on me at 2AM in the morning and had to call my parents as they are the ones with AAA. Luckily my engine still ran after replacing the timing belt and water pump.

EDIT: How many miles are on this car? Do you know when the timing belt was last replaced?

 

Yep, I am guessing its the timing belt.

I say so because the exact same thing happened to me.

Cruising at 55 and then the rpms dropped to zero. As if the car just shut off.

Pulled the timing belt cover and there it was....ripped like a beef jerky.

Inspect your belt often and keep up with your maintenance.

 

ah.. seeing as how this is a honda board.. it is guaranteed its an interference engine, unless he is running a volkswagen engine in his honda.

A timing belt change is almost rocket science if you dont understand what is going on and how things are supposed to line up. The op doesn't even seem to want to look under the timing cover, so a timing belt swap is most likely out of the question. He is almost guaranteed to be looking at a head rebuild if he wants to keep the same engine.

My recommendation is if you can somehow verify the timing belt broke cheaply, then just buy a new engine. It will be cheaper than fixing the one you have.

 

Its all up to the OP and how deep his wallet goes. Changing the timing belt is only a 1/4 of the whole issue on hand. After that comes the leak down compression test to see if the valves are bent. If they are bent, you will be looking at a triple digit price closing on a grand. But it all depends how many times you cranked it on the highway when it died. Lots of suggestions could be given to you but only one is right, take it to a machine shop and have them inspect it.

 

i remember reading somewhere that supposedly the d15b1 and d15b2 were non-interference type engines. i think they are interference engines but perhaps they are just less likely to destroy themselves due to there design. compression isn't as high, piston doesn't get as close to the cylinder head as say a higher compression gsr or type r engine would. if i were guessing i'd bet you are probably just fine, and you may get away with just a new belt. of course if you could learn real fast how to do it yourself, you'd save a lot of money lol.

 

when my distributer wnet out i had the problem of slow booging throttle response when taking off. it never died on my while driving but did stop starting up. not sure if this is your issue but another idea to check.

it is really simple to check your timing belt. i think there are two bolts on the upper timing belt cover and 4 on the valve cover.

 

yea it's an d15b2 engine, I was being a little sarcastic when I said I couldn't take the timing belt cover off, its just the pure frustration of being hours away from the car and having to balance childcare and what not to be able to have time to look at it. I will take the upper off tomorrow when I go check it out and decide what to do. I could probably replace the timing belt if I had unlimited time and the car was at home (no stress etc.), but that's not the case.

thanx guys for all the tips

 

wtf guys? its your distributor. the slow throttle response is the distributor failing. i bet your car still cranks but has no spark. its very easy to repair a distributor. just buy the failing part to the distributor. happened to me so i would no. actually happened to me 4 times. twice on my d15b2 crx and twice on my sedan.


just buy a distributor to test it on the car, or borrow a friends, i strongly suggest that you get it somewhat timed on the ignition timing or itll blow again.

 

he said he took the distributor cap off already and everything looked good. so we ruled out distributor because he thought it was good. If his belt looks fine, then i would suggest going back to the distributor, but we arent there yet are we?

 

This really does NOT seem like a timing belt issue.

My money is on the distributor, or a vacuum leak. Both of which can be checked.

 

after re-reading the original post i definately have to agree. it sounds exactly like the distributor crapped out.

 

you cannot tell that the dizzy is bad but looking at the rotor. a few hints to when a dizzy fries out is a weird smell as well as a slow throttle response. but what is weird is that i rarely see the d16a6 as well as other d16 models crap out, maybe its just the d15b2 that sucks ***. another reason for me to upgrade to mpfi ****


but trust me i got all my moneys on the dizzy. ill put 200 down for a new dizzy.

 

you could with the last one i replaced..




The bearing seized on this one, and got so hot it melted the rotor. Timing belt was fine.

MPFI really is no better. I have a box of old distributors from hondas both mpfi and dpfi...



It could be either timing belt or the distributor is all im saying.

 

i had this exact same thing happen to my old d16a6 and it ended up being the dizzy that died. if there had been no warning signs once so ever and then just all of a sudden the car acted like it shut off, then i would be more likely to believe the timing belt broke.

 

wow. stupid 90's model civics haha.

 

yea I guess my dizzy is bound to fail someday soon, so i'll check it out soon, but the verdict is in on my civic... timing belt broke, which i was really expecting (due to not seeing any action as i looked into the oil filler cap, I was just hoping I was going blind.. lol). So yea i took the valve cover off and yea I see a timing belt, looser than loose

oh well. thanks for all the help though guys, much appreciated

 

You don't take off your valve cover to check your timing belt? You said it broke.. Then you said it was loose.. Does the engine still turn over? Perhaps it just slipped a couple of teeth.

I didn't see that coming.

 

Normally, the next step i would take is to pull the head and check for damaged valves, which is a huge production. The cheap way would be to replace the timing belt and cross your fingers when you turn it over. My guess is though you wont have compression in one or more cylinders which will then require a head rebuild, if there is not further damage to the block if a valve broke.

good luck..

 

Yeah, but I got lucky when my timing belt went out and I didn't bend/break anything.

 

i had a timing belt brake on my 89 civic si. did the job myself and got lucky i didnt bend any valves wen the timing belt broke. my car still runs perfect to this day =] timing belt job is not hard to do if u have the proper tools for the job

 

squirtle!

 

misubishi!!!!

 

well, i broke the timing belt on my prelude on the highway and ended up needing 4 new exhaust valves.. but that was nearly 10 years ago. It really is unpredictable whether or not you will damage something. For me, i put a new timing belt on my prelude, did a compression test, and got 39, 18, 160, 162 compression, and then sold it, having learned my lesson that you never ever let a honda go over 80k without changing the timing belt.