2004 civic won't stay running
 

So i went down a slight slope going about 30kmh at angle and my car just sputtered and immediately lost engine power. Thankfully it was just down the street from my house. I turned the car off and tried starting the car again, it'd crank and begin to sound like it wants to start and turn over but it wont. although a few other attempts successfully got the car running for even a second or two before it dies out.

I had my buddy check it out and he immediately ruled out alternator & battery since we tried to boost it and it still wouldn't stay running.

He also ruled out fuel pump because he could hear it prime when the car ignition was turned to /on/

I have a very worrisome feeling that the timing belt may have skipped/jumped. Or worse, snapped.

I'd like to have to some input on what else it could be before me n my friend even begin tackling the timing belt considering it's starting to get colder outside and there's no absolute chance i can push my car up my driveway into my garage because my driveway has a retarded incline.

Re: 2004 civic won't stay running
 

Any check engine light?

btw, if your timing belt snapped and bent valves, you'd know it. The sound wouldn't be like the engine is trying to turn over but just not sparking. The only thing I can try to describe the sound it would make.. Like an old man with a raspy voice groaning while trying to pinch the biggest loaf of his life. While going super saiyan.

Re: 2004 civic won't stay running
 

Nah there's no lights. my buddy's gonna come through tmrw to take another crack it, told'em to bring a scanner if he could just in case.

if my timing belt snapped/bent valves, would my car even start n idle for a second or two? would a timing belt skip be more plausible in my case?


found this thread and the more i read it the more i think the timing would be the issue. I suggested doing what Levi22 posted about unplugging the crank sensor and trying it that way, but my friend said "if we keep turning it over we risk the piston hitting valves. Problem is we don't know how bad the timing is."

Guess we'll find out tomorrow. Keep you updated. in the mean time, any more suggestions are welcome

Re: 2004 civic won't stay running
 

rotate the crank manually by using the crank pulley bolt. First check the timing that way.


1) Pull valve cover, upper timing cover, and pull the plugs.
2) Rotate crank pulley CCW until the timing marks on the pulley line up with the indicators on the lower timing cover. Check if the cam pulley has the spoke that says "up" pointing straight upwards, like so: (photo from Autozone's website, found via google images)
https://repairguide.autozone.com/zne...3f80209045.gif
3) If not, correct timing, careful to not rotate either crank pulley or cam pulley more than maybe 2 teeth from each other. Ensure you're rotating both cam/crank pulleys in the CCW direction.
4) Double check timing by setting to TDC, go through... 2 full crank pulley rotations (I think?) and seeing if timing still lines up.
5) If timing still set after the rotations, do happy dance.

edit: in my experience, I accidentally set the timing on my 2002 off by a tooth or two, and all it did was run like shit. Fixed timing, car ran happy. I did happy dance.

Re: 2004 civic won't stay running
 

i will definitely attempt that tomorrow. pretty bummed that plans fell through today. just got off work n i can't really try it right now, losing daylight already :(. if yours was off by a tooth or two and ran like shit, but ran nonetheless.. i wonder how off mine'd be :hithead:

Re: 2004 civic won't stay running
 

From what I've read online, people have been off by one or two teeth with much more drastic issues. I'm under the assumption I lucked out or something.

Re: 2004 civic won't stay running
 

ok so to give you a quick update..

my buddy came through. managed to get the timing belt off without completely taking off the valve cover. just removed what was necessary enough to loosen the cover to lift up the right end so we could take the timing cover off..

lo and behold, my timing belt did skip about 4-5 teeth.

on a side note, we also found a chunk of metal was missing where a bolt was supposed to be screwed into, which probably contributed to the small gash we found in the belt as well.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.civ...b2727ceada.jpg
I have no idea where its at, but im assuming that piece n the bolt is somewhere lying in the lower cover


we took the belt off, timed it, and somehow managed to wedge the belt back on. it took a few tries, but my car managed to start and idle. drove my car about 25 into my drive way.

Now I need to order a timing belt and all the related parts.

Re: 2004 civic won't stay running
 

Makes me wonder if the chunk metal fell into the belt when you were pointed downhill, got jammed in the gear and popped out after those five teeth went past.

Sounds like you got lucky, like real lucky.

Previous work might have over torgued something.

Re: 2004 civic won't stay running
 

Holy crap, yeah. You got lucky. Really lucky. Had my TDC sensor bolt come loose and cannibalize my timing belt. Left nothing but a 1/4" wide strip of timing belt left, which wasn't enough to hold on either the crank or cam pulley.

Re: 2004 civic won't stay running
 

That's what I'm thinking. or maybe that piece chipped off a long time ago and it only took til now for the damage to catch up with me.


yeah i'm realizing that now. i'm very curious to see if i ever find that chunk lying around within the lower timing cover somewhere. I'd rather find it than always worry if it'll pop up somewhere, catch any momentum and mess with my timing belt yet again. I'm not really gonna attempt anything right now while it sits in my driveway.. just had a solid 4 inches of snow. I ordered my parts already so next time me n buddy do anything, i'll be driving my car another 10 ft into the garage, hopefully within the next 2 weeks when it arrives

Re: 2004 civic won't stay running
 

yep, chances are that it's trapped in the lower timing cover. I'd pop that bad boy off and remove that chunk before anything bad happens. Hit a big enough bump, that chunk bounces its way up, interfering with the timing belt. Just too much potential for significant damage.

Re: 2004 civic won't stay running
 

officially fixed. replaced my ps belt while we were at it. that fixed the squealing when using my AC/window defroster.

Here's the gouge in my timing belt
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.civ...11336e0d8d.jpg

and here's what we found lying around on the lower timing cover.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.civ...1256064497.jpg