Timing Belt Snapped

[CivicSpoon]

Like CRXperiment said, it is an interference engine. I doubt that they are all lying to you, they're just incorrect.

[Tony]

Yep, its an Interference motor. You just got lucky, which I have seen able often. Timing belts are always iffy if they break.

[kris]

Originally Posted by Tony

Yea, the only way to inspect the valves is to pull the head off. That cover just keeps crap off the belt and the moving parts in there. If the belt broke when you were turning the car off, you might get lucky, depending how long you cranked on it to start it. You can get another belt and hope it didn't bend any valves.

For future reference, there are other ways of checking, without pulling the head off. It is a simple procedure called a leak down test.

Also, Honda motors are interference motors, like what has been said before. It doesn't mean that if a belt breaks, you are doomed. It means there is a high probability that valves will meet pistons.

So , to the original poster, tell your parts technician friend, and your shade tree mechanic friend, to do some reading before they spew bad advice. Any reference material related to timing belts will tell you the same.

That would be like me telling you, that the un-necessary weight of that huge wing, caused the strain on your belt, causing it to break.

[CRXperiment]

Originally Posted by kris

For future reference, there are other ways of checking, without pulling the head off. It is a simple procedure called a leak down test.

Wouldn't it be pretty difficult to do a leak-down test without a t-belt? You would have to get both the piston and the cam at correct timing for each cylinder. I guess you would have to put a screwdriver or something in each spark plug hole and try to find TDC for each cylinder, then try to match the cam timing.

[kris]

Originally Posted by CRXperiment

Wouldn't it be pretty difficult to do a leak-down test without a t-belt? You would have to get both the piston and the cam at correct timing for each cylinder. I guess you would have to put a screwdriver or something in each spark plug hole and try to find TDC for each cylinder, then try to match the cam timing.

Not hard at all. Simply rotate the crank, the same you would a cam at TDC, or pull the cam out, shutting all the valves.

[KoDKingVegeta]

Originally Posted by kris

So , to the original poster, tell your parts technician friend, and your shade tree mechanic friend, to do some reading before they spew bad advice. Any reference material related to timing belts will tell you the same.

Iv been doing some research, and found a few sites that say the 1.5's are not interference motors. And some that say they are.

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/126553

[FrodoGT]

it is an interference engine, plain and simple they all are. The parts are the same. The only thing that could be argued to say that it is non-interference might be that it has a shorter stroke than the 1.6..