[micahmayhem]

Last night my buddies car broke and I had to tow him home at 2am. It's a 94 Honda Acura I think. I don't really know much about imports or about his car in general. But he's thinkin' that he may have totally killed the motor. I guess a belt snapped and the rest went flyin'. It was still running though none of the pulleys were turning because there weren't any belts on anymore. It was shaking really bad and sounded awful, but I don't think the motor is done in. He doesn't really have the money to just forget about it and drive somethin' else or buy a new motor. Can anyone help?

 

[D-Man]

We might be able to help but we need to know a LOT more about what's going on!! It could be as simple as a broken serpentine belt or as bad as a broken crank. I'd look at the water pump, idler pulleys and tensioner for bad bearings and go from there. It's not that common but the timing belt might be shredding and took out the timing cover, thus killing the serpentine belt and making a ton of noise. As long as it didn't break (which we know it didn't because it's still running) or skip a few teeth and tag the valves, then it's no big deal. Change it and move on.

You might also check the crank hub/harmonic damper to make sure it is OK and didn't come loose.

Just a couple ideas....Hope it helps...

 

[micahmayhem]

We might be able to help but we need to know a LOT more about what's going on!! It could be as simple as a broken serpentine belt or as bad as a broken crank. I'd look at the water pump, idler pulleys and tensioner for bad bearings and go from there. It's not that common but the timing belt might be shredding and took out the timing cover, thus killing the serpentine belt and making a ton of noise. As long as it didn't break (which we know it didn't because it's still running) or skip a few teeth and tag the valves, then it's no big deal. Change it and move on.

You might also check the crank hub/harmonic damper to make sure it is OK and didn't come loose.

Just a couple ideas....Hope it helps...

We'll check it out. What kind of other information are you looking for so I can let you know, or else ask?

 

[D-Man]

We'll check it out. What kind of other information are you looking for so I can let you know, or else ask?

What you find when you check it out and put hands on it. The more details the better.:yes:

It's not very often that you'll get a "That same thing happened to me and it was this".....Especially on a NOVA board..

That said, there's quite a few knowledgeable mechanics on this board with a virtual plethora of knowledge to draw from. :yes:

 

[Paul Wright]

I might be able to help a bit, since I have some Honda background, but it doesn't matter what name is on the valve cover when diagnosing a 4 cycle engine.

As mentioned, more details are needed. I'm pretty sure he has a B series 4 cylinder engine, though it might help to confirn the displacement and manual or automatic. Is the care modified or stock? How many miles.
It doesn't sound like the timing belt broke, because it wouldn't run at all if that happened and the valves would be bent since it's a "non-freewheeling" design.
What happening just prior to the "incident"? Was he running the piss out of it? The belt snapping may be a secondary failure. I think because he already suspects he ruined the engine, he's not telling the "rest of the story".
First thing is to stop running the engine until he determines what's wrong. I would do a compression check first. If he broke a rod(or two) or blew a head gasket, he'll have zero compression in one or more holes.

 

[micahmayhem]

Well, I got out yesterday to his house and we looked at it, went through it and it turned out that it had some bad bearings and we re-did all the belts and that's that. Thanks for the help guys.