JJK

I have a 2006 Civic EX 1.8 SOHC and half the drive belt flew off the other day. Battery is charging now because the belt flung off the day before my vacation, so I just ordered a belt online and left for 7 days. Just got back yesterday.

I replaced it, but now the car won't start.

But, I'm not totally convinced it's the battery. When I turn the ignition, I hear the standard click and it feels like a pulley may be locked up.

So, I guess my question is: Is there an easy way to diagnose this or should I just have my car towed to a real mechanic?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

ezone

Those belts normally will last well past 100k miles.
Did it break the pivot bolt for the tensioner pulley?
Did it break the water pump pulley?
WHY would it get "flung" off?


Flung the belt off?
Driven until the battery ran dead? Did I read that correctly?
How long did it run without the belt on it?
You can smoke the engine in a hurry if that water pump wasn't turning.
Less than a minute in some cases.


It's all DIY for me, because I do it for a living. It's tough to think like someone in their own driveway LOL.

I'd first check what's going on. Battery and starter check? Amp draw of the starter?
A starter that is trying to spin a locked up engine will draw far more than the standard ~100~130ish amps.

If I thought the engine was locked up, I would put a wrench (19mm socket) on the crank bolt and see if the engine will turn by hand.
If it spins ok by hand, then I'd think you have a starter/battery/electrical problem.

If not, then......

Yes, a locked up accessory or pulley can stop the starter from cranking the engine.
Remove the belt, then retry turning it with the wrench again.
Yes?
Then see if the engine will crank and run. Shut it off. Then check for something (accessories, pulleys) locked up.





If it still won't crank even though you removed the belt and all the pulleys spin freely, then remove the 4 spark plugs and retry it. If it blows out a bunch of antifreeze and now cranks, you probably have a ruined engine, or at the very least a severely warped head--- due to overheating, due to driving on home without a belt, because the water pump was not spinning.


Ray of freekin' sunshine, ain't I?

JJK

Thanks!

I guess the next step is to turn the crank bolt.

The way it happened was I heard a squealing sound on my way home from work. I my commute is about 50 miles. I probably drove 40 miles with a squeal. about 2 blocks from my house, my car cut off at a stop light. I cut it back on and drove home. Parked in the back. The next morning, I lifted the front, changed the oil, checked the drive belt. Looked loose and cracked.

I crunk up the car to get the new oil circulating and closed the hood. As soon as I sat back in the front seat to turn the car off, I heard a loud whipping sound. I immediately cut the engine off and popped the hood. I saw loose pieces of the drive belt at the bottom of the engine. The drive belt had split at the 3-4 ribbed point on the 7PKxxxxx drive belt.

After vacation:

I loosed the tensioner to get the rest of the belt off (what a pain in the ****), and put the new belt on. Had to get a diagram on the internet and all made sense. (grooves on belt matched to grooves on pulley, smooth side on smooth pulleys, etc).

Now when I turn the ignition, the starter sounds like it works, the belt starts to move (maybe 3-4 inches) and the engine will not fully turn over to idle. I'll go check the crank bolt now. But, I get the feeling that it will turn since the belt moved when I turned the ignition.

Thanks for your response, sunshine.

ezone

I remove the engine mount brackets, then I can raise or lower the engine as needed to gain room for access. Will drop a couple inches, and raise maybe 6 inches like this.
Makes a whole lot of difference to me.

HTH

JJK

So, after I removed the belt, checked all the pulleys, turned the crankshaft manually and put the belt back on. It started. Now, it makes a loud rattling sound. Almost reminds me something grinding... but, not quite. Do you think this is a bad water pump? I tried to look for leaking, but didn't find any. I guess I should check to see if I even have coolant in the reservoir. Can you offer me any thoughts, ezone?

ezone

Use a stethoscope to figure out where the noise is loudest (long screwdriver or long dowel held to your ear can work too).

See if the tensioner pulleys are laying crooked.
(When you said you had to loosen the tensioner, did you mean you just moved it or did you mean you unbolted something?)

Next thought:
Take the belt back off. Start it (briefly). Is the noise gone? If so, spin all the pulleys and see which one doesn't spin smooth..

Grab the pulley ring of the compressor and see if it wobbles side to side.


Maybe you are on your way to figuring out WHY the belt came off/apart in the first place.

JJK

Stethoscope is something I do have. Ha!

When I mentioned the tensioner, I'm saying that I just moved it. I didn't unbolt it.

I'll let you know after I check these things. It's probably gonna be this weekend.

Thank goodness I have another car...

Thanks for your expertise in this, ezone.

ezone

YW.

Curious: How many miles are on the car?