I am at wits end with this car, I swear. Here's some background:

Bought the car ('88 CRX DX) and temp gauge didn't work. Discovered there was no thermo in the housing and put a new one in. Car then overheated and I replaced the radiator. Still overheated and replaced the water pump. After the water pump install, started the car and it made horrible noises and I assumed the timing was off somehow. I've reset both pullies to TDC and it continues to make the noise. Here's some stills and motion picture to document the pullies @ TDC and the noise.

Cam TDC:
http://www.hondatwincam.com/trav/DSC00684.JPG

Crank TDC:
http://www.hondatwincam.com/trav/DSC00685.JPG

The horrible sound:
http://www.hondatwincam.com/trav/MOV00681.MPG

I've spent the past three weekends trying to fix this and have gotten nowhere. Any advice, insight etc. will be greatly appreciated.

-Jesse


[Modified by hondatwincam, 2:04 PM 4/29/2001]

 

In regards to the overheating prob, check that the cooling fan is coming on. The relay is located near the intake filter. I had the same prob and it turned out that the relay was bad. Did it make the noise before you did the water pump swap?

 

Oh, I forgot to mention that the fan is wired to be on all the time. Thanks for the reply though.

 

damn that sounds bad but it sounds like the timing belt tensioner isnt putting enough tension on the belt so it might be slapping on the cover or the motor mount. hope it helps

 

No, tensioner and belt are good. I've decided to ditch the motor and start anew. Thanks for the reply though.

 

just bought the car? sure its a 1500, and not a 1600?
the cam timing is different on each. double check engine serial number.
also, just for laughs, what year is the engine?

 

Well, didn't *just* buy the car. We've had it for months now. It hasn't been on the road though. And yes, it's a 1.5. The engine model is D15B2. It's an '88.

 

heres another bizzar thought. did you take the cam pulley bolt to see if the woodruff is stripped off. as i remember the key was made on the pulley, and i have seem them shear off. could make timing retarded and overheat. just a thought. good luck.

 

Hmm, I'll have to check that out. I've given up on that motor now and it's now in two pieces (head/block) in my shop. Funny thing is, when I pulled the head off, there was no indication of valve/piston contact. The carbon on the piston tops was undisturbed. Weird...

Oh well, I'm starting over w/ a '92 Civic DX motor. Thanks for your insight though

 

the sound is like a rod knocking... hey JG check it out and see. but i hope ya get it fixed

 

That's what I was thinking after seeing that it wasn't valve-piston contact. I'm not even going to mess w/ it anymore. I mean, I've already got another motor to start with and all, it's not even worth the time.

Thanks for the post...