alright...so my 90' crx si, SOHC ZC engine hooped out on me..i was getting onto the freeway, i gunned it a lil bit but not slammed the gas pedal. as i got onto the freeway, i traveled a few hundred yards then...bam....no engine, not running at all.

as i was getting onto the free way, i heard this abnormal sound like it was almost bogging, but it wasnt.
i pulled over, tried to start it but nothing...soo here's the symptoms:

it will crank but not turn over, sounds like its not getting any spark at all.
battery is fine, lots of juice.
checked one spark plug *didnt have time to check the other 4 i was in a hurry*, the closest one to the dizzy, it was FULL of oil, the plug doesnt look fowled at all.
checked the oil and there isnt any antifreeze or anything milky.
oil levels are good.

bout a month ago, when ever i reached 3k RPM it would start to have a vibrating sound in the engine bay though.

i'm thinking its either piston rings, head seals, or spun bearing...

not sure
please help a fellow honda dude out?

thanx for everything guys

 

I would pop of the dizzy cap and make sure that your rotor did not come unscrewed from the dizzy shaft.

 

well since your getting oil on your plugs and you are not getting any antifreeze in your oil (i.e milky brown oil) it can't be a head gasket. So look at changing your spark plug tubes so it stops the oil from hitting the plugs. then you want to check your compression to see if you still have compression. Buy a compression gauge from any auto parts store or even rent it from one and get back to us with the compression numbers.

If you want to check for spark, pull a plug wire and put that wire about .5in away from a valve cover bolt and turn the car over, if your getting spark you'll see it arc from the wire to the bolt.

also check if your getting fuel.

 

maybe it broke a timing belt?

 

alright, thank u all for your inputs, they are greatly appreciated!

i will definitely check all those for sure. and i'll check all the spark plugs too, cause i only checked the one plug closest to the dizzy.

thank you again all

 

a very similar thing happened to my 91 sedan the other day and it ended up being this^^ the screw came out of the rotor button

 

this sounds right

 

timing belt, dizzy, or make sure it's getting fuel.. my fuel pump went out and it was the same symptoms. it'd bog right before the thing died.

 

well i didnt do a compression test, cause the car isnt running....now i found out how to do a compression test with just cranking it. so i might do that later on this weekend.

reagardless, i checked all the plugs now, and they are all flooded with oil.
i doubt all the piston rings could of gone all at once, so i'm betting on the head gasket or the head seals.

as for the timing belt, well..if it comes to that then i'm just going to get a new engine then.

if it wasnt the timing belt i was just going to buy a rebuild kit.

http://automotivepr.auctivacommerce....et-P89451.aspx was hoping on that one.

lemme know what u think guys.

 

what side of the spark plugs were covered in oil, the white side or the electrode?

 

if your belt broke that does not mean you need a new engine mine broke all i did was clean the gears off of the melted rubber and made sure everything tdc and put on a new timing belt. i was told the zc sohc are a non interference motor i belive the only one honda has so if it was the belt just take off the valve cover take a look around if everything checks out then put it back together

 

both sides, the electrode and the white side, more so on the electrode side.
just out of the blue, that would mean i'm getting good oil pressure right??? lolol.

 

if thats the case, i'll be one hell of a fricking happy camper....either way i'll prolly take a yonder at it tomorrow and kinda go from there.

its supposed to rain tomorrow though grrrrr...

 

alright, so today it was nice outside and i decided to take initiative and took the valve cover off to see if the timing belt was broke.

sure enough it was broken, i lifted it right out.
so now what do i do?! do i take the chance of replacing the timing belt and seeing if the internals are all fubared? or what?

whats your opinions?

is the SOHC ZC one of those engines that when a t-belt blows, the engine is still safe? please let me know guys!

thank you all.

 

Man just take it out. By the time you get done with buying parts and machine work you will only be around 100 bux away form a JDM engine.

Single cams are cheap.

..... I know I am Older than many of you but when did "turning over" mean starting up? To me "cranking" and "turning over" are the same! lol!!

 

:\
maybe its a canadian thing? lolol

help on this please?

 

I just scanned Craigslist and I google real quik. A JDM single is anywhere from 200-500.
You dont know if you bent valves on your head or scummed a piston. And since you got oil on your plugs then either your valve stem seals or piston rings (or both?) might be done.

I would throw it in tha gutter and go buy another.

 

haha, nah easy e.. he doesnt need to junk it just yet. throw a new belt on, time it, clean the plugs and crank it up. it takes 30 minutes at most to time your motor. just let the motor burn off the excess oil.

its woth it to spend the 15-20 bucks and see if your motor is still good..

 

yeah dont give up yet.

 

you know alot more about the history of the motor in your car also. What happens if you buy one from craigslist and its ****ed.

 

thank you for the support guys! much appreciated....but.....i havent put a timing belt in a car before lol. i hear its a bugger to do :\

 

It is. While you're in there to check if the motors good and all checks out ok, get a T-Belt and a new water pump and she'll be golden.

 

Okay. Spend 50 bux on a belt and have fun with all the smoke out the tail pipe.

 

if you want to get rid of the oil on the spark plugs, you might want to get a valve cover gasket kit. it has all of the spark plug tube seals, and the valve cover gasket.

 

and is the oil on the threads/ignition side? or the plug wire side?