Timing Belt Shredded

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by N.E.Ohio Bob, Sep 21, 2007.

  1. N.E.Ohio Bob

    N.E.Ohio Bob Guest

    "02 Civic, 7000 miles on new Honda belt and water pump. Belt began
    making noise, and while driving to have looked at belt broke and engine
    quit.
    Belt scraps were in long pieces of rubber coated string. Can see some
    wear on lower cover. Bent all the valves.
    Anyone out there seen a belt give up like this?

    Bob
     
    N.E.Ohio Bob, Sep 21, 2007
    #1
  2. N.E.Ohio Bob

    Tony Hwang Guest

    Hi,
    Wondering who install the belt?
     
    Tony Hwang, Sep 21, 2007
    #2
  3. N.E.Ohio Bob

    Tegger Guest


    Can happen if tensioner seizes. Was the tensioner also replaced 7000 miles
    ago?
     
    Tegger, Sep 21, 2007
    #3
  4. Sounds like either a bad tensioner or an overtightened or defective belt.

    Either way, you are now looking at least at about $1000 repair bill to repair
    the valve train. Depending on the damage to the timing cover, you may need a
    new one (possibly could get from a wrecker, but unlikely). Also, the Crank
    angle sensor could have been damaged, its a $130 dealer part.

    When this happend on my sister's 99 civic, it ended up costing over $1200.
    Also, not all of the valves may be bent. You'll need a new head gasket and
    head bolts as well. Go for a honda head gasket for sure.

    t
     
    loewent via CarKB.com, Sep 21, 2007
    #4
  5. N.E.Ohio Bob

    jim beam Guest

    indeed. or a seized water pump.

    don't need new head bolts in the d-series motors - ok to re-use originals.
     
    jim beam, Sep 22, 2007
    #5
  6. N.E.Ohio Bob

    N.E.Ohio Bob Guest

    Work was done by professional Honda-Acura mechanic. He is sole
    proprietor in his own shop. He has many years of Honda dealership
    experience, and does about three timing belts a week.
    Tensioner wasn't replaced, but feels fine. Water pump was new (Honda)
    with belt, and also rotates freely and has no rough spots on gear.
    Will replace all valves and needed gaskets. Probably will replace
    tensioner too.
    Can give more info next week as work progresses.

    Thanks for your info. bob
     
    N.E.Ohio Bob, Sep 22, 2007
    #6
  7. wow man that sucks.

    If the guy is worth his salt, he should at least offer a discount on labor to
    rework your top end...

    It is a rarity to hear that someone who is actually on top of the maintenance
    plan gets pooched like this....

    t
     
    loewent via CarKB.com, Sep 22, 2007
    #7
  8. N.E.Ohio Bob

    bigjcw1023 Guest

    How many miles were on when you replaced the belt/pump? The guy
    shouldn't give a discount, he should do it for free. He was the
    mechanic that did the "job", he should be responsible for the repair.
    Of course, if he did this job and messed it up, why would you want him
    to do another job for u?
     
    bigjcw1023, Sep 22, 2007
    #8
  9. N.E.Ohio Bob

    jim beam Guest

    fwiw, i discovered that it's possible to over-tension the timing belt if
    the tensioner bolt is too loose when adjusting. book spec is that it's
    half a turn loose - on this occasion, i'd made it looser, so that the
    base of the tensioner pulley had tilted. on tensioning, the base
    leveled out and therefore pulled the belt a lot tighter than it should
    have been. i discovered this later when another project required
    re-entry, and on loosening the tensioner, not only could i see the belt
    loosen, but the cam gear relax - it had been elastically distorted it
    was pulled so tight!

    bottom line, if he's a pro, he knows what he's doing. but we all make
    mistakes on occasion. short of a massively defective belt, [possible,
    but unlikely], that would be the only other thing i can think of to
    explain the problem. other potentials such as mis-routing the belt,
    i've seen, but are usually immediately evident and don't get the vehicle
    out of the shop.

    oh, and the other thing to look out for with an over-tensioned belt is
    potential damage to the cam bearings. in fact, the cam doesn't even
    have bearings, it sits directly on the aluminum casting and is oil
    lubed. under normal belt tension, that is sufficient, but under excess
    load, the oil film that normally separates can get too thin and the
    aluminum can get gouged. if that's the case, the head is done and needs
    to be replaced.
     
    jim beam, Sep 22, 2007
    #9
  10. N.E.Ohio Bob

    jim beam Guest

    or maybe they didn't actually do the work!
     
    jim beam, Sep 22, 2007
    #10
  11. N.E.Ohio Bob

    Big E. Ratt Guest

    If Honda did the belt replacemenet, it may be under warranty (12 mo/12000
    miles) .
     
    Big E. Ratt, Sep 30, 2007
    #11
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