95 Civic With No Compression

I have a 95 Civic with 250k miles on it. The timing belt was changed about 25k ago.

Car has been running great with no problems.

I got in the car and started it up, ran for a couple of seconds, then died. When I tried to start it again, it seemed to have no compression. It was a sure sign to me that the timing belt went again.

I tore it down and replaced the timing belt. It did look like it was out of time by one tooth on the camshaft.

Put it back together and it still does the same thing. I rechecked the timing and everything is on. The crankshaft is on the timing mark. There are 3 marks on the crank pully and I set it to the middle mark. The camshaft has the UP pointed up and the two horizontal marks are lined up with the head. The distributor rotor is pointing to #1.

I'm stumped. How could it not be the timing? I checked to make sure everything is turning (in case the camshaft broke) and all looks good.

Any ideas?

Thanks for any help. Mike

Reply to
mike
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It's not. It's a possibility, but it's certainly not a sure thing. It's not even probable.

Could be all kinds of things, most notably fuel starvation. And it COULD be the timing, due to an internal engine issue. Or a valve train is shredded completely.

FIRST, since you're worried about timing, do a compression test and see if the cylinders hold air. If they don't, and the timing notches line up, it's time to start looking inside.

If the engine passes the compression test, it's time to start looking at other things, like fuel starvation, or the computer trying to shut the engine down.

Lots of them but most of them will involve buttoning the engine up, doing a compression test, measuring fuel pressure at the rail, and checking the ECU for codes.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

mike wrote in news:30655cc6-46ce-4938-b267- snipped-for-privacy@v13g2000pro.googlegroups.com:

"Seemed" to have no compression? What made you think it "seemed" to have no compression? Symptoms are important; please report them.

"Again"? Did you change it pre-emptively the first time, or did you change it because it broke? That's important too.

That would result in crappy running, but not a failure to start.

Check the valve clearances. Got any that are well over .020"?

Reply to
Tegger

Or the timing belt was slipping badly and just happened to stop in "about" the right position, now there's a whole mess of bent valves.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

No compression... ? Sounds like the crank is broken inside the engine at the flywheel. Time for a new engine.

Reply to
Paul

Sounds like bent valves to me. Like he said, check the valve clearances to see if any are hung open. HTH, Ben

Reply to
ben91932

The timing belt was changed a year ago because it broke on the freeway. Fortunately the valves made it ok and it ran perfectly after getting the belt changed. I say there is no compression because it cranks very fast. I know from experience that from the sound it makes while cranking that there isn't any compression. The pistons are going up and down so I'm sure the crank isn't broken. I can see the camshaft turning so it isn't broken. Perhaps for some strange reason the rings got gas soaked. I will be checking the compression tomorrow with and without squirting oil into the cylinder. I checked the timing again and it seems to be right on.

If it got gas soaked what might cause that. As I said it started up, then died withing a few seconds.

Thanks

Reply to
mike

If this job was done properly the belt should last no less than the specified change interval, usually about 60,000 miles or 5 years. 5 years being a safety net because I believe your car has an interference engine.

Define 'no compression'? It cranked really really fast? If the belt had infact broken, at idle, you probably didn't tear anything up too badly. If you immediately tried to crank it in this condition you no doubt would have heard some ExpensiveNoises from under the hood.

Don't take this the wrong way, but what this tells me is that the timing belt was just fine and this is not the problem. Being ONE tooth off will sure make the thing run like crap, but it will start.

So far, so good. Sounds like you lined everything up okay.

Before you invest any more time changing parts you need to find out what is really wrong. Your engine is an air pump in the simplest terms. Does it do so? Does the cam turn with the crank pulley? Valves open and close? If so, pull the plugs, put a compression checker on it, and find out what each cylinder is doing. If all of them show zero or something ridiculously low(like say, 40psi) then it sounds to me like its time for a new long block from the local wrecking yard. There's no point in doing major repairs to an engine with 250,000 miles on it. You either overhaul it, or find yourself a good used wrecking yard pull and put it in.

I have a hunch that you have a fuel delivery and/or ignition system failure, not a lack of compression. Have you even checked it for spark at one of the plugs? How about fuel? Does the fuel pump run? Hows the fuel pressure under the hood at the injectors?

Good luck with it.

Chris

Reply to
Hal

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