Ok, I was at 3500 in 2nd then shifted to third and car had no power. Pulled over and tried cranking it like 5 times. poped hood and saw that belt was snapped. This belt was only 2 months old. Do belts break somtimes only after 2 months??? A more importantly.........What are the chances I bent my valves??? The engine is a DOHC 1st gen B16A. Thanks........

 

ahhh sucks.

worst nightmare for me to have timing belt brake.

hopefully your motor is OK!!!!

 

Its tough to say until a new belt is put on....

 

ok so when a put a new belt on, how would i be able to tell? thanks

 

if it runs like hell or doesnt start at all then its done for

...but i broke a belt in my civic at while bouncing off the rev limiter (went to 3rd instead of 5th in a freeway race) i put on a new belt and it fired right up.

 

the cranking coulda screwed u over. u should of checked out whats wrong b4 cranking it. as now the things crankin over wit valves in an IFFY position.

i know its normal to try startin it instantly.

good luck man. id pull the head or do a valve test at TDC. jus air pressure in the lil port in the front on the head by the vtec solenoid.

i had my crank pully shoot off before while racing after my b16 install hehe. it shot at about 100mph out the front of the car and glowed as it sparked across the road. the belt almost slipped off the bottom.

good luck man. hope nothings wrong

 

belts usually dont break after 2 month but if it was to tight or in a bind it could have very easily.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by blackZC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">belts usually dont break after 2 month but if it was to tight or in a bind it could have very easily. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I am with him.

 

well it was kina tight.......how do u know when it is "too tight?" thanks

 

Your car will not run if your valves are bent. Chances are good they are bent since they broke at 3500 rpm. Belts can break if you get a factory defect in them, or are too tight when installed. If the belt barely moves it is too tight. You need a little bit of slack.

 

if the car cranked freely without any strange clunking noises your valves might be straight still. did the engine keep spinning after the belt broke? did you hear any clunking sounds?

 

I'm betting on a ruined motor.

That is very odd you broke the belt so soon.

 

sux about your motor man

hey isn't that the Ganguro girl in your avatar!
haha

 

how many miles did u have on ur car and when should u start changing ur timing belt?

 

There was no noises when the belt broke (since i was pretty much coasting?) also when i cranked it again there wasent any tapping or hitting noises, only the starter.
Think it still might be ok???...........
I had 70k on the motor with a pretty much new t-belt.
and BTW thanks for all the help and replys it really helps

 

nope, valves are gonna be shot. once you try and crank it a few times, it's almost always done for...... did the same to one of my rexes....

 

I would think that the valves will be done for hopefully not for your sake but if so time to upgrade to a skunk2 valve train!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Waachback &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well it was kina tight.......how do u know when it is "too tight?" thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>

Just let the tensioner put the tension on it. It should't be any tighter than that.

Valves are a 50/50 chance. I'd bet they are bent, but I've see a few supposidly zero clearance motors break belts with no valve damage. Good luck.

 

the timing belt broke in my 91 CRX at 80 MPH on the freeway and I just had a new belt put on and it ran fine after tath. Wish I knew then what I know now. Wouldnt have paid $200 for a timing belt install. Pretty easy thing to fix. Good luck.

 

i had a belt break on a zc twice, and turned it over both times when they were broke, and it was fine, motor kept running strong, till i spun a rod bearing...

 

well I say your chances are 100% you bent on the minimum of 2 valves. If belt was too tight or cut accidently doing install it could happen, Even if it was bent to tight it could have been damaged. Sorry, I feel your pain, Have had 1 fail on me before. Luckily it wasn't my honda. It happened on a Chevy sprint Turbo I used to own. Don't laugh, that was a fast little car. and still got over 40mpg on the highway and got tire in 4 of 5 gears. And would go 120 mph (electronicly limited all day long) I drove that baby from Brehmerhaven Germany (on the nother Sea) to Pisa italy, 1,500 miles in 13 hours and that included rest stops along the way and 2 shopping stops at army basses along the way, Still completed 1,500 miles 13 hours after I left the starting point. Loved that car.

 

before you put the new belt on make sure you setup your timing,cam gears/crank pulley,make sure thats all accurate.then look for what caused the old belt to break,probably some plastic from those covers is cutting into the belt.good luck

 

Another point I forgot about till now, check your water pump. if its old replace it. make sure it spins free that will cause you problems too. But usually strips teeth but could snap belt as well.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by virginia_dude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Another point I forgot about till now, check your water pump. if its old replace it. make sure it spins free that will cause you problems too. But usually strips teeth but could snap belt as well.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Good call, and the tensioner pulley. That should spin with little resistance. Make sure the cam gears and crank gear are in good shape of course, and make sure there isn't any significant oil leaking in to the timing belt area as that supposidly takes life off of the belt.

 

timing belts breaking...gay why dont cars have timing chains? maybe a dumb question but hey, they dont break