I was cruising on a little highway doing about 80mph, and it's 2am. i just got out of from a salsa dance party, but i did not drink. so i'm just cruising along, about 2 or 3 miles away from my town, and all of a sudden, i hear AND feel this *poof* feeling in the gas pedal and see my tach needle drop to zero immediately. i have no more power, and so i'm wondering what the hell happened. i cruise to a stop, and it's damn dark, i can't find or smell anything wrong in the engine bay. i call my roommate, and he brings a light. aaaah, the timing belt snapped!

so the thing is, since i had no idea what caused it at the time, and for some reason i thought it was the alternator, i tried to start the car like 8 different times... it didn't sound good, and that's probably why i thought it was the alternator (i had problems with an alternator on my old car that sounded similar). so do you guys think that trying to start the car with timing belt half way in was bad??

also, i know i probably bent some valves, but i was planning on putting my itr head on this weekend anyway (i just didn't want to be stuck without a car for a week). is there anything else that might have gone wrong from the timing belt snapping off? and are there certain timing belts out there that are recommended, is there a difference? i went to knecht's (the only car store in my tiny town) and they had a vtec timing belt for a gsr that cost $50. good, or should i get a honda oem one?? thanks for your input.

 

uhhhh... since you tried to start the car several times that means you fu*ked your head up. You most likely bent valves... if you know that your timing belt is broken, then don't try to fire it up anymore.

Get the OEM honda timing belt.

 

Before you make any kind of decisions, you need to figure out exactly how much damage this caused. More than likely there was piston to valve contact which means there will definatley be bent valves, and possibly cracked or even shattered pistons. If there was significant piston damage, then it's also likely that there was sleeve damage that would necessitate either a new block, or sleeving. Back to the head, it's very possibly warped with combustion chamber damage. It's a good possibility that the head is no good. There are tons of possibilities, be sure you check everything out. Hopefully it's just bent valves, but you won't be sure until you tear it down.

 

oh my!!!! now i'm nervous, i don't wanna resleeve yet, and i don't wanna get new pistons just yet, don't got the money! argh!!! ummmm....

ok, when i put the itr head on, do you guys recommend a water pump, or not? what are the benefits of getting one? thank for the shared knowledge guys... hope i don't got a messed up block.

 

I pulled Hondeducations head off about a hour ago. There was NO valve/piston contact...the pisotns look perfect.

This is the third head I have pulled off of a honda motor that had snapped a timming belt, non of them had any damnage to the pistons...has anyone seen (first hand) damage to pisonts from having snapped a timmming belt?

 

Yes I've bent a few valves on a few diff. occasions

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B_CRUZ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">uhhhh... since you tried to start the car several times that means you fu*ked your head up. You most likely bent valves... if you know that your timing belt is broken, then don't try to fire it up anymore.

Get the OEM honda timing belt.</TD></TR></TABLE>

How is that even possible? any damage would be done b/c it snapped, not b/c he tried cranking it up.

Snapped belt = nothing rotating the cams = valves aren't moving, only the bottom end is.

 

Just an FYI-even though the cams are not moving anymore, they still hold the valves open. Therefore, it is still possible to do more damage cranking the motor. The pistons are going up and down, and any valves that are open beyond a certain point are going to get smacked.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by b19coupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just an FYI-even though the cams are not moving anymore, they still hold the valves open. Therefore, it is still possible to do more damage cranking the motor. The pistons are going up and down, and any valves that are open beyond a certain point are going to get smacked.</TD></TR></TABLE>

True, but when you rotate a cam, I usually rolls over the lobes quickly to its tdc/bdc it never actually stays at the point where it opens the valves unless you hold it there.

Now with a snapped timing belt I doubt that any valves would be "left open"

There is a chance.. but I doubt it.

 

yah, pistons look allright. infamous rs is a quick **** for taking off heads, damn boy! but yah, everything looks good, so now i gotta get my new timing belt, head gasket, and b20/vtec ready to go! yeeeha!

 

Your crank is spinning at thousands revs a minute, when the belt brakes it takes a while from the cams to move, then that when they get hit. Thats why they are called interference motors.

 

its all good. his **** is fine. you have some good luck man!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Vetter &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">its all good. his **** is fine. you have some good luck man!!</TD></TR></TABLE> I've never been so lucky

 

yah, i guess i am lucky!! let's hope one day i'm lucky enough to win the lottery and score a playmate!

 

yea but remember there are a lot of valves that can be left open. meaning all cylinders have different vale timing when the belt breaks. this sounds confusing but i know someone gets the jist of what i am saying