Ok I got a 97 accord with a 4 banger non vtec and I think the timing belt broke on it today. Driving along slowing down to a stop light, car just shut off, engine light came on so I pulled into a parking lot. I got out looked under the car didnt see any puddles and opened the hood and didnt see anything funny looking. But when I went to start it, it sounded weird. Almost like a higher pitched cranking of the starter then usual. Is there a way I can tell if this is it? I did pull the code and its a cam position sensor basically isnt getting any power/info. The guy said its either unplugged, cracked or bad. Then when I told him what it was doing he said timing belt. Ive never had a car do this so I was curious to see if theres a quick way to tell with out taking all that crap apart. I didnt hear any unusal noises or anything when I first started it and took off down the road.

 

i assume you pushed it to the parking lot since it sounds like it's dead from your post? if it shut off quietly, then you probably didn't break the belt. If the belt breaks, the pistons will hit the valves, so you should hear that. is your belt really old?

 

Soo... have you checked to see if the timing belt is still on there properly?

Its right there on the side of your engine. That'll answer that question.

Take it to a mechanic and get it evaluated if you don't feel comfortable with checking stuff out.

 

It has 209k on it and the belt has never been changed. I was going about 25mph down the street and it just died, no sounds, no smoke, no odd noises, I coasted it into the parking lot where it sits now. Is there a way I can easily check to see if its the timing belt? Cause I read a how to post on here and it seems an awful lot of crap has to come off in order to do it. The only thing that sounds different is when I try to crank it, the starter has a "faster and higher pitched" sound then normal.

 

NEVER been changed?

Well ****, yep I would say it's your timing belt. Recommended interval is 7 years or ~80/90k miles. So you're overdue twice over on both accounts.

I would strongly suggest having it towed to a mechanic to have him look at it and diagnose it. Probably be ~$75 for the diagnosis and depending on the damage (probably damaged valves by trying to start it back up) you're looking at an expensive fix. You can take off the valve cover yourself to look at it and see what the situation is. It's on the right side of the motor on the cam gear. Refer to the Accord FAQ timing belt change to get an idea.

*edit* And may I make the suggestion of if you choose to keep that car/motor is that you go ahead and do ALL maintenance items?
- brake fluid
- tranny fluid
- engine oil
- coolant
- belts
- ball joints
- brakes
- bushings
- spark plugs/wires
- air filter
- distributor
- clean egr valves
- timing belt
- water pump
- engine mounts
- etc


Just from the sounds of it the car has not been taken care of in terms of the recommended service intervals.

 

Assuming the T-Belt broke, The higher pitch might be because the crankshaft is only spinning. Which means the belt is not connected to the camshaft.

Since you already cranked the engine and nothing went wrong. You can make sure by having an assistant crank the engine, while you look through the oil cap hole. If you see the rocker arm moving, that means it's still good. (Wear safety glasses, just incase if the oil accidentally spray onto your eyes)

 

your timing belt is definately broke bro. my ex did this when i was back east. she had to drive her sisters POS up to new jersey from south carolina. anyhow the car died in virginiaat about 11:00pm. i came up and got there to the car at 6:00am. it was unlocked so i had my scanner and i looked under the hood-just a standard neglected POS. then went to the motel where my ex was and got sleep (2-hrs). went back to the car and the scanner said bad cam sensor. i know it was probably the belt though and was sure when i heard it try to start. off to new jersey (with the car still there on the side of the virginia highway LOL). got to new jersey-went to new york for lunch, stopped in pennsylvania to try a cam sensor since it was only 20 bucks, then to virginia. got to the car at 1:00am and changed the sensor in 20 minutes. (no good). considered her sister calling it in as stolen cause towing was expensive but finally decided to sleep in our car till the morning and get a U-haul and car trailer. so we towed it back on the U-haul and the shop her sister bought the car from replaced the timing belt and fixed everything for free. they even repaid her sister for the U-haul. but anyhow, your belt is broken and youre gonna have to pull the head off too. a valve job, new valve guides, valves. head gasket, head bolts, timing belt, timing belt tensioner, (is there a balancer belt and tensioner also?-cant remember right now LOL) umm...water pump, and bad oil seals (or just replace them because now is a great time to do so), valve cover gasket set, spark plugs and wires, dist cap and rotor, air filter, fuel filter, oil filter, engine oil, trans fluid, brake fluid, thermostat, fan switch, and coolant, radiator cap, any bad hoses and belts, and motor/trans mounts are gonna need to be replaced. some of this stuff should just be replaced because it sounds like the car is majorly neglected on its service history and has probably never been done other than maybe oil changes. hope it turns out that the pistons are not broken or bad. good luck. let us know how it goes

 

a better way to check would be to pull the cap off the distributor and see if the rotor still spins wouldn't it??
Not too sure where the cam sensor is located on your engine, but I would take a guess at it being in the distributor.... so with that being said could the problem possibly be with your distributor??
(I'm only living in hope for your sake - but lack of maintenance = shame on you!!)

 

take the top cover off of the timing belt. and don't keep cranking it cause you are mashing valves and pistons if it is broke

 

Now im just wondering if its even worth fixing it or not. I dont have the money for a new car, I dont have the money for all the parts imma need to fix it. Wondering if I fixed the top half of the motor how long before the bottom half goes bad. Would it be worth my while to maybe find a new or used engine and just putting it in the car instead? Just looking for suggestions. Ive never had a car this old with this many miles on it. I have put new plugs, wires, cap rotor and all that good stuff cause I thought that was my problem with starting the car in rainy weather. All the fluids are changed when its supposed to be. The only think I havent done was the t-belt. And of course the water pump.

 

Pay the diagnosis and tow fee.

See how bad the damage is, you *may* luck out and just be able to replace the timing belt and water pump and get away with that. I'm doubtful however. I sold my perfect running condition F22B1 for $150 with similar mileage.

 

a used engine would do if you cant afford to fix the one you have. i recommend replacing the timing belt, its tensioner, and water pump, along with the seals inside the timing cover before you install it but a used engine would be okay in your situation since it sounds like a daily driver. just replace the parts i said so you wont have timing belt issues and you wont have water pump issues or oil leaks inside the timing cover

 

I say try it. I lucked out when my dad's mitsubishi galant (an interference engine) had a broken timing belt. They changed it and it was fine. Perfectly fine. Best thing to do is to remove the valvecover and inspect the belt.

There is always hope!

 

My neighbors 93 Accord with the F22 just broke the timing belt on the freeway. He took it in and luckily it just broke the belt with no valve or piston damage so its worth the diagnosis before getting rid of it.

 

Will a compression test tell me anything if a valve is bent or broke? Imma have it towed to the house tomorrow and start to look at it then. I do my work out of this car so thats why I really need to get it up and running again. Thanks for all the submissions/answers/help yall have given me.

 

a compression test will help. however, you will still have to put the new timing belt on before you do the compression test so that the cam shaft will turn. and being that this is an interferance motor you most likely bent valves (despite some other peoples luck). so if you get it together then you do a compression test-find out its bad, and you have to remove the timing belt again to remove the head. i would just do it now. but yes a compression test will help diagnose an issue in the valves