Why did this timing belt fail at only 60k miles?

[Ken Ford]

Can't remember now. It was in the engine kit that the machine shop gave me when I got the block and head back. Never heard of gates. Should I look into that instead of an oem Honda belt?

Yeah I'm afraid you're probably right about the valves. I was going to put a new belt on it and try cranking it just in case. Maybe I got lucky but I bet I'll wind up pulling the head.

Gates are good belts. Probably make the factory ones.
then again they probably moved production to China…

 

[Targetmaster]

Maybe your from the hood in Macon lol

Nah, I hate Malt 40's, I work and support my Children, just wouldn't work out,,

 

[Ken Ford]

Good point was made, could the tensioner have been too tight causing a heat build up?

 

[testdepth]

Was driving my Honda on the way to the gym this morning when it suddenly quit and I had to get it towed home. Didn't take me long to find the problem but I built this engine 6 years ago and it only has 60,000 miles on it. I was really surprised at how worn and cracked the belt was. It has never overheated however it is a manual and I do like rev matching and double clutching when I downshift. Nothing crazy though, it's a bone stock engine. It's a Honda 2.2 VTEC which unfortunately is an interference engine. What do you suppose the odds are that a piston didn't hit a valve?

View attachment 4840806

Only way to find out is to throw a new belt on it and cross your fingers.

 

[streetroc]

Good point was made, could the tensioner have been too tight causing a heat build up?

Possible but unlikely. All tensioners and pulleys were replaced when I built the engine.

 

[streetroc]

Only way to find out is to throw a new belt on it and cross your fingers.

I pulled all the plugs so there would be no compression and now I'm bumping the starter in gear to get it back into the garage. Motor seems to spin freely without any weird noises. If a piston hit a valve its already too late. Any way to check for that without pulling the head?

 

[testdepth]

I pulled all the plugs so there would be no compression and now I'm bumping the starter in gear to get it back into the garage. Motor seems to spin freely without any weird noises. If a piston hit a valve its already too late. Any way to check for that without pulling the head?

If you had a borescope you could slide in the sparkplug hole and look at the tops of the pistons and the valves. Harbor freight?

 

[jpm2953]

Stick your finger over the spark plug hole and have some one turn it over. You’ll know.

And a tensioner won’t cause heat to build up and do that to the belt.

 

[fast306stang]

Correct , get you a compression check gauge and see what you got , easiest way . Just pull plugs and screw gauge , simple

I deleted my post bc I realized without the timing belt, you can't spin the motor for a compression check? Without risk of hitting the valves?

 

[jpm2953]

I deleted my post bc I realized without the timing belt, you can't spin the motor for a compression check? Without risk of hitting the valves?

You’ll have to do it on a single hole where the cams are both on the base circle.

You risk more damage by during it over but it’s already messed up