What happens when your Timing Belt goes?

[Oldblueaccord]

I tried to be a cheap skate and let my car go to about 90k miles with out changing the timing belt. The belt lost about six inches worth of belt teeth while cruising at 70mph. Right away i knew what the problem was. the only thing that upset me was that they towed my car and i had to pay 140 dollars for the tow. i installed a new belt and it runs fine. i would guess this is a NON interferrence engine just like the guy said. also, why would they cut the clearance marks into the piston if it is interferrence..... My tip is to just change the belt and dont be cheap. its easy to do it your self. you just need to get the crank pulley bolt off. i used a park bicycle bottom bracket lock ring tool to hold the pulley and a 18"breaker bar and a pipe to get extra leverage. Make sure u spray it down with liquid wrench first.

I went a 100k on my last one. I think back then the belts just didnt last as long but now there so popular there made better and thus last longer.

wp

[86-accord-lxi]

I have the original owners manual for my 86 lxi.
It says that the engine IS an interferance engine.

[88Accord-DX]

Here is what my Chiltons manual says about timing belts.

**Warning***
Severe engine damage will occur if the timing belt should break. Honda uses an "interface" engine design. If the timing belt breaks, the valves will contact the pistons & likely become damaged.

On models through 89, Honda does not specify a recommended inspection or replacement interval. However, since these engines utilize an "interface" design, it is highly recommended to at least inspect the timing belt at 60,000 mile intervals. It is even better idea to replace the timing belt at these intervals.
Replacing the timing belt before its recommended interval is a wise choice. It is far less expensive to replace the belt than to repair the engine damage which results from the belt breaking.

Straight out of Chilton

[blahblahblah]

wow...long one here...I think its an interferance motor..I just broke my belt...But I think I got lucky...How would I know without removing the head...I was just shifting into 2nd when it broke so it was at vary low rpms if it matters.....

[88Accord-DX]

Put a new timing belt back on blahblahblah, then do a compression test with a "compression gauge". That'll let you know if you have a bent valve without removing the head.

[blahblahblah]

Ok...But I was going to have a shop do the belt...I got the new water pump and tensioner on. Im a little lost on puttung the new belt on tho. All I have is the "how to" from here.....

[88Accord-DX]

You need to take that water pulley off, that is it.

First thing first, make sure you have the TDC on #1 cylinder compression stroke before removing the belt!! You can stick a long peice of (stiff) wire down the spark plug hole & rotate the crankshaft pulley bolt to find it. The piston should be at the top & the distributor rotor should point at #1 spark plug wire. I recommend you pull your cam out so not to bend a valve while finding TDC while turning the crank over. I say that cause your belt has broke & your cam & crank probably isn't lined up right.

Here is what my Chiltons says from the belt install starting point.
1. Double check the position of the engine. The timing pointer must be alighned with the white mark on the flywheel; the cam pulley must set so the small dot or the word UP is vertical & the marks on the edges of the pulley are alighned with the surface of the head.
2. Fit the belt to the engine & slide it onto the cam pulley.
3. Loosen the adjusting bolt slowly, allowing the adjuster to move against the belt. Tighten the adjuster bolt temporarily.
4. Install the lower timing belt cover.
5. Install the crankshaft pulley & key.
6. Adjust the timing tensioner. Loosen the adjusting bolt. Rotate the crankshsft counterclockwise until the camshaft pulley has moved 3 teeth. Tighten the adjusting bolt to 31 ft. lbs.
7. Install the water pump & pulley. Tighten the pulley bolts to 9 ft. lbs.
8. Install the drive belts, tension them properly & secure the alternator.
9. Install the upper timing belt cover & the valve cover.
10. Start the engine, allowing it to idle. Listen for belt rubbing or slapping the covers.

There you go, good luck with it.

[JpSaNaB]

Hi everyone, I broke my timming belt 4 days ago, installed a new one the next day and the car is running fine, no damage at all. The car is an 89 accord EX (without pop-up lights) with an A20A2 engine. So I guess its a non-interference.

[visionguru]

Hi everyone, I broke my timming belt 4 days ago, installed a new one the next day and the car is running fine, no damage at all. The car is an 89 accord EX (without pop-up lights) with an A20A2 engine. So I guess its a non-interference.

Sounds good.
How fast were you going when it snapped?
How old was the belt? (in mileage & time)
Have you checked out the broken belt? Was it worn or looks new?

[StressSolutions]

I meant to put "power" in there Steering without it is not fun and almost dangerous IMO at lower speeds

I used to drive city bus, once had to drive one all shift with PS not working! Quite a workout, made me appreciate that power steering, for sure.

[Mars]

what exactly will the car do when it snaps?
asumning your pistons dont plow into the drivetrain.

I was drving from tyler to dallas yesterday (100mi) and on the way to get on the highway, she just died at idle. i tried to crank her to no avail, so we pulled her over and got some starting fluid. a couple shots in the carb and she was running. i did notice that power steering had been off and on while driving it (i remember someone saying a tbelt could affect ps), but so i got it running, and im cruising down i20 at like, 70, and she starts stuttering and just dies on me. the tach is doing all kindsa wierd crap, sitting at 0 while the engine is revving (had her in nuetral) and jumping around randomly. i got her pulled over into a little road, where she wouldnt start period. just crank. if she did stutter and try to fire she would make kind of a whirring noise that ive never heard before. could this be a tbelt?

EDIT: It had been sitting at my fiances house for about 5 days, and it had rained. Maybe condensation got into something?

[JpSaNaB]

Sounds good.
How fast were you going when it snapped?
How old was the belt? (in mileage & time)
Have you checked out the broken belt? Was it worn or looks new?

I had just shifted down into 2nd, so, about 30mph, Im not sure how old the belt was, I think it was 4 years and maybe 35000 miles, and I didn't see it broken because I took the car to a friend's place since I was fearing the worst

[Bglad420]

boom bitch

[88Accord-DX]

what exactly will the car do when it snaps?

People get different results from breaking the timing belt. Some have valve damage, some don't. I think it depends if your r.p.m.s are around 5,000 compaired to 2,000 cause of a little valve float at higher R.P.M.s...

if she did stutter and try to fire she would make kind of a whirring noise that ive never heard before. could this be a tbelt?

There is two things to look for. Either take the dizzy cap off & look for the rotor spinning. You can take the top timing cover off & see if the belt broke.

[Blkblurr]

I know this is an old topic but I haven't heard any good answers to how I was able to rotate my valve trane over and over again with my #1 piston at TDC without hitting the piston. This is the test that proves if it's truely interference or not. I had .008 milled off the head when I rebuilt the head and of course it didn't hit. Regardless of what is published about this engine my 89 does not hit valve to piston with the timing belt removed. Now it's possible for the valves to hit if the head is mill too much or the cam lift has increased but with the stock engine I have in my 89 SE-i with .008 milled, it's not.

[lamontlamont]

my belt broke on me twice . once from a seized tension pulley one from worn out belt. my car ran fine and like th elast poster i had my piston at dead top center and rotated the cam gear and no touching. also a guy showed me this trick. you dont have to take off the distributor just take off the oil cap and look to see if the rocker arms are moving when y ou crank to tell if its a broken belt.

[Cant Stop]

and the debate rages on
as for cheaper to build no not true interferance motors tend to have more compression than non-intereference motors
my mom had a pinto and that was definitely a non-interferance motor,if our pistons have half moons in the top corresponding to the valve placement then it is a interference type motor ,closer the piston is to the top the more compression it usually has.

[2ndGenGuy]

I can guarantee you guys the 86-89 accords are NON-Interference engines in stock form. All accords before 86 were interference engines so the timing belt MUST be replaced between 60k mi. and 80k mi. unless you want new heads.

Hmm.. I don't know if you're correct about the pre-86 Accords. My 84 broke a belt clean off when I dropped to 3rd gear on the highway. The car just lost power all of a sudden, and I ran it through all the gears trying to figure out what had happened. Coasted for probably a half mile with the car in gear, pistons cranking in the block the whole time. I even spent about 5 minutes trying to turn the engine over.

I had it towed to a mechanic and he just replaced the belt, said I was lucky that it's a NON-interference engine. It was about 100k miles ago. Oh crap, I just realized it's time for a new belt!

[aerokid1987]

Wow great thread! Should definitely be a sticky! Moderator???

[accord upset]

in the gates timeing belt guide it says it is. but i have yet to see an a20 have the piston hit the valves. i work on cars all day its my job. ive also broke a timing belt on the freeway once no damage.

[DBMaster]

The Gates book also says my change interval is 60K miles when it is definitely 90K miles. So, even the Gates book can be wrong. The debate rages on.

[Blkblurr]

No debate as far as I am concerned. No amount of discussion can be a replacement for experience rebuilding the cylinder head and trying the procedure I mentioned earlier.

[Soundy]

Yeah, I don't really see the point of debate... replace your timing belt at the specified intervals, and you simply will never (well, almost never) have to worry about whether your engine is an interference type or not. I mean, what are we talking about otherwise? "I want to run my car as long as I can until my timing belt breaks, so I need to know if it will damage my engine or not"??? D-uh!

As for the interval... if someone does follow the Gates book and change it at 60k instead of 90k, well, no harm done... if it were the other way around and the belt broke within that intervening 30k, I can see where there might be a small issue!

[lostforawhile]

have we ever settled this debate? I broke a belt at 70 miles an hour and 6500 rpms,no damage whatsoever. when I had the engine apart, I put a valve all the way down to the retainer with a piston at tdc, it had to have the retainer at valve guide level before it would hit the piston, the valve never gets that low unless the spring disinigrates or something. I wonder if there is a difference between the very early a20 which is the BS series,or the later a20. my book shows some different specs for them. I think the a20 has slightly higher compression or something,could that account for the difference.

[88Accord-DX]

I've talk to a Honda tech about these cars & timing belts. He said that all Honda vehicles with a timing belt are interference design engines. So, if you don't have damage done breaking the belt, than consider it a plus. No debate here.