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1997 Honda Passport Timing Belt Issue


zewoo
03-30-2009, 03:03 PM
I have a feeling this question has been asked many times... I've searched the forums and think I've found the correct answer, but I'm posting just because I want to be absolutely positively sure on this --

The long and short of it is:

My 72 year old mother was driving my '97 Honda Passport last week, when from what I can cull together, the car started to run hot... she pulled over, and turned the car off for a bit, but seeing that she was where she wasn't suppose to be she tried to turn around and make it back to town, but she didn't get too far because the car just stopped running, forcing her to pull off the road.(She was heading toward the casino... I got a phone call that started with 'hey, um, I'm in a tight spot) Anyway, I had the car towed back into town and talked to the mechanic this weekend, who said that the engine was most certainly ruined, if the timing belt broke. Oh GREAT! We towed the car in this morning... and he took a look and it seems the water pump failed and took the timing belt with it --

Seeing that I can't afford to take anyones word for it, I started to do some research on the internet on whether or not there was any way I might have caught a break and dodged a bullet and I thought I had found it, since much of my reading says that this car should have an 'non-interference engine' in it which apparently shouldn't cause any damage to the engine... So I decided that I would go buy the parts that this site said I would need and the guy at the auto store said, that I was wasting my time, because it was an interference engine and he wanted to give me the name of a guy that rebuilds 'heads'? (Um, if you couldn't tell I don't know a thing about a car, I didn't know there was any such thing as a timing belt until this weekend)-- I don't know if it's because I'm female, but I have a feeling I'm about to be fleeced.

I'll also add that the guy at the Honda dealership over the phone this weekend told me when I asked if the engine was ruined said 'it depends, they put two different engines in that model, you'll have to bring it in' -- which means to me, we'll get your car here, rip it into a thousand pieces and charge your 1000.00 no matter what, just to put it back together again...

Honestly, if I have to have a new engine, I'm just going to pull out the ol bike and my mother will have to figure out another way to take her mid day casino runs... (yet another problem I have to deal with) ....

But I digress...

I didn't buy the parts, water pump, timing belt and tensioner was what I was going to get-- I was unsure of what to do, so I didn't buy anything-- can someone give me a good indication of how I might proceed, what kind of engine is in this model and if all is good with the engine are there any other things I should replace while I'm at it...? I would greatly appreciate it. This Honda/Isuzu Passport has been a great car and replacing the parts it needs is fine with me within reason... but I can't handle the new engine at the moment, so if that's what it takes I guess we'll just have to part ways... and I'm going to be getting a lot more exercise.

Thanks again:grinyes:... I know there's probably been a uptick in my kind on these boards recently...

Cat Fuzz
03-30-2009, 10:06 PM
It does depend on the engine. If you have a 4 cylinder, that is certainly an interference engine and there is probably valve damage done if not piston damage. The pistons usually survive though.

The V-6 is NOT an interference engine even though almost all published data says that it is.

As far as parts go, if you do have the V-6 it sounds like you have it covered. However, make sure you buy the right tensioner part. Some parts places when asked for a tensioner will give you the pulley. The part you want to replace is the hydraulic tensioner assembly or pusher. Also, you may or may not need to replace the idler pulleys. If any of them are to hard to turn or spin to freely they should be replaced. Some will say to replace all of them while you're in there but I consider that personal preference. I haven't had an idler pulley fail on me after a t-belt change.

zewoo
03-31-2009, 12:06 AM
Hey Cat Fuzz...

Thanks... I have a '97 Honda Passport EX V6 4x4 -- which makes my night - now I'm set to argue -- I'll print this out and ask questions about the pulley and stuff -- :smile:

Thanks again... that's what I needed.

It does depend on the engine. If you have a 4 cylinder, that is certainly an interference engine and there is probably valve damage done if not piston damage. The pistons usually survive though.

The V-6 is NOT an interference engine even though almost all published data says that it is.

As far as parts go, if you do have the V-6 it sounds like you have it covered. However, make sure you buy the right tensioner part. Some parts places when asked for a tensioner will give you the pulley. The part you want to replace is the hydraulic tensioner assembly or pusher. Also, you may or may not need to replace the idler pulleys. If any of them are to hard to turn or spin to freely they should be replaced. Some will say to replace all of them while you're in there but I consider that personal preference. I haven't had an idler pulley fail on me after a t-belt change.

Florsuzo
03-31-2009, 04:37 PM
Hmm...I'm not sure how it went from overheating (running hot) to replacing timing belt, etc. here.

If your timing belt broke it definately would stop. But if the vehicle were overheating and someone kept driving it you're looking at other issues besides a timing belt. I suppose it's possible the timing belt seized momentarily on a frozen water pump, jumped a few teeth on the belt, and stopped working. I would think though it would have made horrible noises as this happened.

FYI the water pump is driven by the timing belt.

Question you want to solve first (if possible) is why it started running hot.

Cat Fuzz
03-31-2009, 10:04 PM
It sounds simple enough. The water pump seized up and smoked the t-belt. I've seen it happen before. The op already said they plan on replacing the water pump.

zewoo
04-01-2009, 01:37 AM
Hopefully there won't be any other consequences from her driving the car while it was running hot, she knows better, but knew she was where she wasn't suppose to be(bad mom), 72 year olds don't like to be stranded on a highway in the middle of the delta I suppose :shakehead , yet I hope she's learned her lesson-- maybe the timing belt breaking was the best thing that could have happened under the circumstances.

She didn't say the car was making any noises, but she did smell something burning after it just cut off... who knows, I ordered the parts today and they should be in tomorrow, so time will tell...

Thanks again...


Hmm...I'm not sure how it went from overheating (running hot) to replacing timing belt, etc. here.

If your timing belt broke it definately would stop. But if the vehicle were overheating and someone kept driving it you're looking at other issues besides a timing belt. I suppose it's possible the timing belt seized momentarily on a frozen water pump, jumped a few teeth on the belt, and stopped working. I would think though it would have made horrible noises as this happened.

FYI the water pump is driven by the timing belt.

Question you want to solve first (if possible) is why it started running hot.

zewoo
04-14-2009, 01:54 PM
Got my Passport back, took awhile because I ended up ordering OEM parts from an online vendor which saved me 300.00 bucks from what local Isuzu wanted-- it runs great!!

Just stopping in to thank the forum, this place saved me a lot of money -- no valve damage was correct, as I trusted it would be even though I had three different mechanics including an Isuzu mechanic tell me that there would most likely be damage -- my mechanic stuck with that story right up until he cranked it up and called me to say...'looks like everything will be OK'


Thanks again...

(now to stop that squealing noise... I'm all over it, thanks to you guys...) :)

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