Please Help!

[Labster]

I'm new here, as you can probably see. My question is though, I have a 91 civic dx (auto). I was driving down the freeway doing about 70 last night and all of a sudden my speed starts dropping and the engine stops making any kind of noise, so I get over to the shoulder and it won't even start now. The starter is almost new, just got it put in about 7 months ago, the fuel pump and fuel relays are about that old as well. My thinking is that it could be the timing belt. What do you guys think and do you possibly know the cost of getting this fixed at a shop because I have no time in between now and when I leave for Africa to fix it and I was planning on selling it before I left. Thanks in advance for any help.

[Masta]

try to fix the timing belt. Same thing happened to me on the highway like 5 months ago, but i saw smoke coming out of my exhaust and smoke coming out of my engine/intake, ect ect lol. i blew the motor :P

[jackacc]

Sounds like you may have broke your timing belt. My sisters prelude did the same thing when the belt broke, just lost power and bogged down. Hopefully you did not mess anything up in the motor when this happened. Depending on where you live and who you take it to, it could cost anywhere from 300-600 bux. Honda always charges more... avoid them... My sis took it to a local mechanic in NC and only paid 300. Good luck!

[Masta]

wait, this happened to me like last month also...check your Distributor Cap and Coil.

[i_a_n112784]

There is a really easy way to tell if it is the timing belt (normally). When you go to start the car, you will just hear spinning of the gears. If the car still sounds normal, then it's probably the distributor cap/rotor.

[Labster]

Well I got it towed into the shop and they said that I definately broke the timing belt. They aren't sure of whether or not I'll need a water pump as well but they'll let me know tomorrow. I guess that there is something special about my engine and there's like a 25% chance that the pistons collided with something and if that happened then I'm in trouble. I didn't hear any knocking sounds or anything when it quit running so the mechanic said that that was a really good sign but that they'd know for sure tomorrow after they get the timing belt in. It's going to be around 300-400 and that's including the $40 to "diagnose it", the $93 for the water pump and the $53 for the tow (covered by insurance, thank God). So I'm not too bad off I figure. It could be worse. Thanks for all the help though.

[i_a_n112784]

The thing you had said about the pistons hitting something is definately something to worry about. This and earlier generations of civics don't have valve clearance. That means that without the timing belt to move the cam(s), the pistons can smash into the valves. That will either bend the valve, or put a hole in the piston. Bent valves normally require that the head be rebuilt with new valves replacing the bent ones, but that is expensive. If you bent one valve, generally speaking, you've bent a couple of them. And despite what they may tell you, you can drive using an engine whose pistons have slight gouges in them from hitting valves, I've done it, it wasn't a high-performance car, and I never noticed a difference.

Be sure to find out what broke the belt, was it never replaced after its 100k lifespan, or was it something else? In a 86 civic i owned, the $2 crankshaft oil seal was slowly leaking oil onto the rubber, oil eats rubber, and the teeth stripped right off the belt while going down the road. I bent 12 of the 16 valves, and that cost close to $250 in parts (with my honda hook-up discount), and i did all the labor.

[blue4g2def]

How do you check each individual valve? I know you could check the cylinder compression to find out if theyre bent, but individually?
And how much did it cost to get the head redone with new valves? Do you need to replace all of them or just the ones damaged?

[Labster]

Well, no engine damage. The valves and the pistons appear to be just fine according to the mechanic. I'm out about $375 for the timing belt, new water pump, diagnostics, $53 for the tow (I get that back), and they're also going to throw in a free oil change because I'm a first time customer. Now all I have to do is fix that pesky cv joint before I sell it. Thanks for all the help guys.

[i_a_n112784]

Glad to hear that you didn't have to go through all of what I've had to.

As for the questions blue4g2def asked, the easy way is to simply take off the valve cover, and grab the part that pushes the valve, and try to move it, if it moves a good amount, it is most likely bent. That way isn't a guaranteed way, but it will give you an idea of the damage.
I spent about $250 in parts for the 12 new valves, and did the work myself.
I also just cleaned the old valves that weren't bent, and put new seals and such on them so I could say that I have rebuilt the head (its better for selling if you've completely rebuilt it than just halfway rebuilt it)

[blue4g2def]

Originally Posted by i_a_n112784

Glad to hear that you didn't have to go through all of what I've had to.

As for the questions blue4g2def asked, the easy way is to simply take off the valve cover, and grab the part that pushes the valve, and try to move it, if it moves a good amount, it is most likely bent. That way isn't a guaranteed way, but it will give you an idea of the damage.
I spent about $250 in parts for the 12 new valves, and did the work myself.
I also just cleaned the old valves that weren't bent, and put new seals and such on them so I could say that I have rebuilt the head (its better for selling if you've completely rebuilt it than just halfway rebuilt it)

250 for the valves eh? That was with the new seals and stuff too? All you did to the head was replace/restore the valves, as in you didnt like bring it in someplace or anything? Im trying to tally up how much my own engine job is gonna cost if i do it myself.
So far, thinkin:
Head Gasket/Valve cover gasket
Timing belt
Timing light
Water Pump
New seals wherever needed
possible valves/valve seals
possible si camshaft
edit: Oh, and prob a new cap and rotor for a general tune up

[i_a_n112784]

I did have a machine shop smooth out the bottom of the head, and check for any cracks. I have a friend who is a Honda mechanic. The dealership he works at sells him parts at 10% above what the dealership pays for them, and I just pay him to get the parts for me, so almost everything is cheaper just to buy a new honda part than an autozone part.

You will need a special tool to compress the valve springs, it looks like a modified C clamp, I obtained the dealership's for a weekend through my friend. I know that autozone has that loan a tool thing they do.