I haven't posted on here for awhile, my car is a 1999 Civic EX
D16Y8 built up, 15G turbo, hondata. For the last couple of weeks, the car would stumble if I left it for a few hours in the sun and then started it and go down the road, but would eventually stop after a minute. It would also "buck" in gear at low speeds. I thought it might be the fuel filter so I changed it, seemed to help but it was still having the same problem but not quite as bad. I decided to get Exxon gas instead of Shell, thinking I had a batch of bad gas. That made it even worse, then finally it bucked and killed on me. I got it started again and it still bucked a little. Once I got it to the gym about two blocks away, It stalled out again and I could get it started. It would turn over, and would "want" to start about every third try or so. The plugs were changed about 500 miles ago, the air filter just changed. I'm gonna look at the plugs when I get it towed back to my house. I am thinking plugged injectors or a fuel pump going out? I had a similar problem with it a couple months ago but it seemed to solve itself. Any idea? Thanks

 

I got the car towed back to my house and tried to crank it again just to see. It started but it wanted to stall if I didn't give it some throttle. It sounded like a harley, erratic. Then
I kept it at about 2,000 rpms and it smoothed out after about 30seconds. There has also been alot of what sounds like valve train noise for awhile. The guy that towed the truck said that maybe the timing belt has slipped? I had it changed a year ago

 

Yeah if your timing belt slipped a tooth you most likely bent some valves. Set everything at TDC and see if it all lines up. It does sound like you have bent valve(s) issue if you have to give it gas to keep it running along with the valvetrain noise.

 

Thanks, I thought about checking the valve clearance. When I take the valve cover off does it expose enough to check if the two dots or marks align? Also what is the best way to turn the engine over?

 

Also, perhaps stupid question but hey I'm full of them. Which way does a D Series engine rotate clockwise or counterclockwise? I know some honda engines are backwards from the rest of the world.

 

Most Honda engines are backwards from the rest of the world. I've heard it's a holdover from their motorcycle tradition. D-engines turn counterclockwise when viewed from the pulley end of the engine. (The engines that spin clockwise are mounted in the right side of the engine bay.) All engine's I'm aware of spin the same direction as the tires going forward. Hondas can sometimes jump timing if they're turned backwards.

Take out the plugs so you can turn the crank pulley by hand. I think you'll have to take off the upper timing belt cover, too. Turn it so the "UP" arrow on the cam sprocket comes into view. Then look for 2 little dimples out at the sprocket teeth. Those dimples should line up horizontal, right at the upper edge of the rear timing belt cover or the surface of the head. (The arrow isn't going to be perfectly vertical.) At the same time, the single notch on the crank pulley should line up with the pointer. (The set of 3 notches is 16deg. before TDC for spark timing.)

 

When the dimples are lined up with the arrows on the timing belt cover, the white mark on the crankshaftt pulley isn't line up with the mark. The difference between where the white line is and where it should be is about half the distance betweeen the 1st 3lines and 1whiteline on the crankshaft pulley. So this would mean my car is advanced one tooth?

 

Maybe a better way is to make the crank pulley line up with it's marker. Then look at the dimples, & decide whether they're off a tooth. Since the crank spins twice as far, sometimes it's deceiving. If the camshaft is off by less than 1 tooth, you can't do anything about it anyway (unless you've got an adjustable sprocket).

While it's open, try to twist the long span of the belt on the exhaust side. You should just be able to twist it 90 degrees. If it's loose, especially if the timing is off, you might have to take off the lower cover in order to get at the tensioner pulley. (I don't have a D-engine...) That probably means you have to take the crank pulley off.

 

Thanks for all the advice Jim, I appreciate it. It looks as if these next couple steps aren't neccesarily over my head but close. I called a local reputable shop for an estimate to check and adjust the belt and adjust the valves while their at it. Hopefully they don't find bent valves.