Timing Belt Problems

[blkcivic93]

so today driving along going to go get something to eat at a friend's house and car quits on me in the middle of the road.
check engine light and shit came on.

two guys stopped one of them having a pretty nice, dropped rsx type s, the rsx guy told me to try to crank it, then he yelled "wait wait!!" he pointed out that my timing belt was broken. i hope i didnt hurt the engine cranking it. well i got a friend to push me back to my apartment since i wasnt too far away...scrapped up my back bumper but i dont care at this point.

my main reason for this post is, did i damage my engine and how much is this gonna cost me?...worse scenerio and best possible scenerio if you can give one.

[Vtec_Power]

well it all depends on how long the engine tried to run before you cut it off. theres no real way to tell if theres damage unless you take the head off and take a look. If you heard any clanking metal on metal noises. that prolly means that your valves were hitting the pistons...which isnt good. if you've got bent valves and stuff, you COULD try to fix it yourself. but if you dont have the know-how and have someone else do it.. its gonna be costly.

[Hybrid_Coupe]

In my two experiences with breakin a timing belt, or taking the teeth off the timing belt, nothing happened...However! hondas are interference engines, which means in all likelihood the valves will contact the pistons during a belt slip, or breakage. You can pull a plug out and look down at your pistons...youll likely be able to see some sort of damage, other than that, you could easily change a timing belt yourself, they dont take all but 20-30 min. to change if you got the know how. however, if you dont know how to tension the belt it would be a good idea to have someone there know what they are doing. im anal about tensioning timing belts...if you ever feel one of mine...youll se what i mean.

[DINANBLOWNBIMMER]

How fast were you going RPM wise? Generally anything under 4 grand on the powerband causes no damage, as far as cranking it, the motor spins too slow to generally cause damage. I have seen several timing belts break on Hondas, and although they are interference motors I have not once seen piston or valve damage. You have a 99% chance you damaged nothing.

Oh and if you pay a shop to fix your belt roughly $300 tab, mostly paying for someones time, it's listed in a repair manual as a 4 hour job. If you do it yourself, $50 for the belt and an hour and a half of your time.

[blkcivic93]

i was going like 45 mph when it happened so RPM should have been around 2500-3000...but i'm about to see whas going on right now...possibly get some price quotes etc etc and see how it goes.

thanks for the replies guys

[dubcac]

I was at low RPM when mine broke, and I had bent valves. Bought a head for $60, headgasket for $80, and a new belt for $50. Make sure you get an OEM timing belt, don't skimp out.

[blkcivic93]

the damn water pump caused all this...so new timing beltt, cover, waterpump and some misc items....but engine is fine

still $$$ and i have to wait for honda to get a part. so wednesday hopefully.

[dubcac]

Are you positive the engine is fine, or are you just guessing?

[blkcivic93]

Originally posted by dubcac@Oct 16 2004, 04:18 PM
Are you positive the engine is fine, or are you just guessing?

i had the car towed and checked out man.

[blkcivic93]

is it possible, after all this, for the tensioner bolt to break in the block as well...this is the latest to all this that has happened.
or did the guys who checked my car out, could they have done it accidentially and charging me for it?