Terry wrote:
> John Ings <nodamned@spam.org> wrote in message news:<e3vjj0d6jc9amin08nlsejn55todoea03c@4ax.com>. ..
>
>>On 4 Sep 2004 09:44:19 -0700, r2000swler@hotmail.com (Terry) wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I am afraid the T-belt has really jumped and the engine is badly
>>>out of time.
>>
>>Sounds like it. Put the front up on jackstands, remove the left front
>>wheel, and find a socket big enough for the bolt on the crankshaft
>>pulley. Turn it with that. This will be a two person operation but one
>>can be a wife who doesn't want to get her hands dirty.
>>
>>Remove the rocker cover, watch for #1 cyl exhaust open & close, then
>>#1 intake open & close. That's to make sure you're turning in the
>>right direction. Then get a flashlight and look down the sparkplug
>>hole for the piston. When you're close, clean off the face of the
>>pulley and look for the timing marks.
>
>
> Removed all four spark plugs, then the valve cover. Then ran the
> starter to
> verify engine direction of rotation. Then insered an 18" 3/8" wood
> dowel.
> With the plugs out, and the car jacekd up (and braced with several
> 4X4,
> gravel driveway and jackstands are a bad idea) then rotated the crank
> with
> a T handle driver. At TDC #1 the distributor is pointing (roughly) in
> the
> proper direction, pointing where #1 plug wire would be if the cap was
> in
> place.
> The valves behave like I would think correct. After TDC, with the
> rotar
> pointing at #1, as I rotated, on the next upward stroke the exhaust
> valve
> opens, then closes just before TDC, on the downward stroke, the intake
> valve opens and near the bottom of cyl movement, intake closes, then
> neither opens until after then next TDC would should be the power
> stroke.
>
> It started to sprinkle, so I covered up the valve train with plastic
> wrap
> and will check it all again Sunday afternoon. I will also get my wife
> to check
> the T-belt teeth, a quick look shows the belt to be in great shap, no
> obvious
> missing teeth, no cracks, no oil. I will also check compression if I
> can find
> a gauge long enough to go down to the spark plug hole. I thought that
> with the valve cover off, I would have access to the spark plug base,
> no go. They are
> at the bottom of individual tubes, and my compression gauge is
> designed
> to work with "standard" heads, where the spark plus hole is easy to
> get at.
>
> I would think that even if I had blown/leaky intake valve the engine
> should still at least attempt to start. Do pieces of intake valves
> ever "break off"?
>
> Terry

blowback through the throttle is common if the timing's off.

re: you valve question, sometimes the head drops off the valve, but
that's real rare on a honda and usually results on the head & piston
being irreparably damaged. and you'd hear the mangled metal noises.
often the engine will run on the 3 "good" pistons until the valve head
breaks through to another cylinder or the broken piston crown sucks all
the oil out of the motor leaving it to sieze. something like that.
it's ugly any way you slice it.

re: timing, i wouldn't bother trying to find out how close the current
timing is to book with all that stick-in-the-hole business. the timing
marks on the crank and cam are way more accurate. just start again by
slacking the belt off completely, aligning crank to tdc, then the cam,
then seating the belt properly. make sure the belt is nice & tight per
the book spec, then crank by hand to be sure it turns ok and ends up
with the timing marks back in alignment after 2 full revs - remember the
crank turns twice for every turn of the cam. then you can try start it
again. if that doesn't work, try a compression test. if you've dropped
a valve, you'll get zero compression on that piston, but as i say,
engines with a dropped valve often run.

another possibility for blowback is a burnt valve, where part of the
valve has been eroded away. again, this will show in a compression
test. and these engines also run.