Broken timing belt

Gmonney83Gmonney83 Wagonist
in Engine & Drivetrain
this is urgent if someone can call me to help me figure this out it would be appreciated..i just was trying ot get to my grandmas house going through a bunch of snow and i was having to rev high in 2 low gear and car just turned off..opened hte hood and the belt was snapped. if you can call me at 616-485-3813 need help with this asap. not sure which one it is but its the one thats directly connected to the engine please help

Comments

  • CharbCharb Administrator
    What motor?
  • HabmxHabmx Band Wagon
    lets hope there wasn't any piston and valve intercourse. best of luck man. doing a timing belt isn't too bad. just tedious.
  • Gmonney83Gmonney83 Wagonist
    its the stock motor for a 1990. yea i read up if its a piston thats damaged also..bye bye wagon..lets hope for the best
  • CharbCharb Administrator
    1990 what?

    4wd?

    2wd?

    Different motors=different things to worry about
  • JDMWago666JDMWago666 Senior Wagonist
    Gmonney83 wrote:
    its the stock motor for a 1990. yea i read up if its a piston thats damaged also..bye bye wagon..lets hope for the best
    Not necessarily bye bye wagon just bye bye motor.
    OR you can look at the plus side and say "hello new motor"
  • JakerJaker familEE
    Not even bye-bye motor. These are non-interference motors. I've popped a few timing belts in my years. The best one was getting on the freeway in my 89 Si hatch, one of those 270 degree on ramps, whaling away at 6,000 in 3rd gear. Got to where the ramp opened up to the freeway, floored the gas, and it just went flat.

    I pretty much knew right away what the problem was, but that didn't stop me from trying to start it a couple times. I had the car towed home, threw on a new belt in about an hour, and was back on the road, totally unscathed, except for the lost revenue from being off the road for 2 hours. I was courier driving at the time.

    All this to say throw on a new belt and try it. I'm willing to bet you're gonna be fine.
  • CharbCharb Administrator
    The dual points and the A6 are both non interference?

    I knew the dual points were. That's what I was getting to above.
  • Gmonney83Gmonney83 Wagonist
    yea its the rt4wd i would have to sell it because my parents say its not realiable enough and we would of already put more money into the car then we bought it for. but gettin it towed today getting fixed for around $200. only reason im not trying to fix myself is because of winter..cant really get out to look at it. but this summer i learn how to do stuff, hopefully
  • superhatchsuperhatch Moderator
    I believe that Honda classifies the A6 as an interference engine. Actually I think they classify all the D series motors as interference engines. Some people just seem to get lucky. I've only snapped one belt on a D series and I did bend valves.
  • bikewrenchbikewrench Wagonist
    I snapped a belt on a b7 on the freeway, also tried to turn it over a few times, and no bent valves.

    I think a well maintained 20yr old civic is very reliable, I wouldn't trade any of mine for a new car.
  • SiWagonSiWagon Council Member
    Keep the Wgn.

    Jaker was lucky.Hope it's not bent.If it's bent a little bit.You'll just loose some mpg & a wee bit power.I bent a valve on a '84 & lost 2-3 mpg.
  • Gmonney83Gmonney83 Wagonist
    well looks like everythings alright with the wagon..just the timing belt broke...but quick question the mechanic said the timing belt cover came off because i ran over something. Does that sound about right to you guys i dont really understand that
  • JakerJaker familEE
    The bottom cover is behind the crank pulley, so for it to come off from "driving over something" would be quite a feat. You'd hear so much noise and clatter, there's no way it would happen without you knowing it. My guess is he forgot to put it back on, and it's quite a job to do that, so he decided to "pull the wool over your eyes". Do you know for sure if its was there when you brought the car in? Is it possible you bought the car without it? Has someone else worked on the car since you bought it?

    It's not a huge big deal to run without it. I've run all my cars without them for the last 20+ years, both in Eastern Canadian weather (think northern Michigan winters) as well as here on the wet coast. The only issue I ever had was finding a small sharp stone poking through the timing belt on Saturday before a Sunday autocross. Since there were no belt covers on the car, it literally took me 45 minutes to change the belt.

    I'm glad to hear things worked out. I guess that's 2 of us that have been "lucky"!
  • Gmonney83Gmonney83 Wagonist
    yea well heres what i was told yesterday when i got it back. there was a hole in the timing belt cover, and when all the snow i was going over go into the hole the snow melted on the timing belt slipped, and the belt was grinding against something and then it snapped. sounds legit to me. what do you guys think? i didnt really understand before but this sounds good to me.
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