hi guys, tonight i was driving my car, about 25mph on a service road when i heard a sound like a clutch dumping, instantly the car died, battery lights and etc came on indicating the car was dead but just in the on position.

so i got my multimeter, checked voltage, i have a 12.7v float, so its good..
car sits and turns over and over and over but not start, it looks like we are not getting spark, so i borrowed a distributor that works, still nothings, tried a chipped p28 ( off a car with gsr swap) in place of my p72, still nothing, checked all fuses, all look good, under the dash there is a starter signal and IG fuse, they are good, but the start sign only reads about 9v while trying to crank, the other reads scattered voltages

while searching for the problem i saw where it could be a snapped timing belt- no compression. when i turn the key on i hear the fuel pump prime.
so at this point i'm thinking no spark, or possibly bad gas

i had stopped at a gas station just 5 min before this and got about 10 gallons worth of 93 octate shell vpower, i drove maybe 3-4 miles and bam, just dead, won't start, bad gas? don't know, never had it and don't know the symptoms, all i know now is we think its not firing, i hope you guys have some ideas, in the mean time i'm gonna check my cars wiring harness diagram and see if i can find anyting that interrupts these wires that could have faulted.

 

oh i don't remember if i noted this, but it is not throwing any codes

 

lol this happen to me in my da the other night .... if its turning over but no spark replace your coil pack and maybr your d cap anything that gives spark replace i did plugs wires car rotor and coil pack 142 but runs like a champ hope that helps man

 

^^^^ car sits and turns over and over and over but not start, it looks like we are not getting spark, so i borrowed a distributor that works, still nothings

 

and your fuel is kickin on when you turn the key???? thats wierd you replaced it and still nothing well its something that gives you spark and if its not what i said last then very well maybe your ignition relay umm ill ask my buddy what he thinks he know all about that stuff but that what i would check next is that relay man

 

well i found the problem, apparently my friend that was under the hood checking spark while i was trying to crank it was wrong about it getting spark, i guess it was, because i took the valve cover off today to find a broken timing belt.

 

I was about to tell you it was your timing belt. Mine did the same damn thing. I filled up and as soon as a I get out of the station it just died...
It wouldn't get spark if the timing belt was snapped. The distributor spins with the cam.

 

i was just about to say timing belt as well. sorry bro

 

yea maybe i will get lucky and i didn't bend a valve- not even sure if thats possible, but maybe.. i was going low speed when it happened, like 25mph in 2nd or 3rd gear.

 

Mine snapped, I put a new one on and good as new. I guess I got lucky. Or is it just the vtecs that are interference?

 

i'm not sure, this will be the first time i've pulled the head on my car, i've pulled the head on my brothers 96 ek before and its vtec, but sohc, it would be nice if it only interfered during vtec, cause i was no where near it, i guess i will look it up and see.

 

ok so does anyone know the chances of the damage? does the valves interfere during normal driving or only during vtec? is there a chance my pistons are damaged too or do they not reach the valves? i will be finding out soon enough but i'm just curious anyways since i know this has happened to many before.

 

Well they are all interference engines. Apparently it is easier to cause damage when you drive a manual because of the engine braking characteristics. I think the chances of bending valves are higher when you are higher in RPM when it happens. Put a new belt on there and if you here the sound of bent valves then it is time for you to buy a new head. You might be able to get away with swapping valves though...

 

well.. if its just bent valves why would i need a new head? it may be hard to tell because i already had a little valve tick anyways.. but that sounds worth a shot, go ahead do my oil pump, water pump. i notice most people on forums assume if you break a timing belt you need a whole new motor, sounds like BS to me.. i can see bent valves, curious if there may be piston damage even, i'm hoping the face i was going to slow will work in my favor though, i bet i was at like 2500 rpms or less while driving. i guess i will try that though and hope for the best.

 

A new head is easier to swap than the valves.

 

my friend's b16 head was ****ed when he was on the highway and it snapped but you was going at a slow speed so hopefully the valves aren't bent.

 

yea maybe not, but the fact i tried cranking it a few times because we was not getting spark, my pistons may have been beating my valves