This thread is not about a 3rd gen, mods can move it you to other cars if you want. But i thought i'd ask here because you guys have timing belts unlike 4th-6th gens. My dad drives an 89 Accord and the timing belt snapped while driving. I'm told that is not good at all because there most likely is valve damage. Is this true? Also, we put on a power steering belt a couple days before, would this have effected anything? Maybe it was too tight and put too much strain on the motor? Thanks

 

All valves will be bent. How many miles were on the TB? Power steering belt should not have affected the TB. How tight did he have it? The other guys here should have better answers..I am not an expert on this stuff..I only know what I read and experienced.

 

he just got the car so he doesnt know the last time the belt was changed. it wasnt on that tight, you could definately flex it.

 

It really depends on the manufacturer. I think pretty much all Nissans are interference motors (meaning bent valves if belt breaks). I think most if not all Toyotas are noninterference motors (no bent valves if belt breaks). I don’t know about Hondas though. I have worked on two Toyotas with broken belts that ran just fine after replacing the belt. I have worked on a few Nissans that needed the head replaced after a belt/chain break.

Go to a Honda board and give them the model number of the motor to find out if its interference or not.

 

most Hondas are interference engines. some have been lucky (i.e. my dad that broke a belt in his civic 300 miles from home. put a new belt on it and it was fine)... but for most of their engines you're going to have to rebuild/replace the head.

and being a 17 year old car, you might as well just junk it. engine replacement will cost more than the car itself.

 

That is too bad. The engine, probably was damaged. I checked on a website and for 89 Honda had no mention of when to change the belt, so it was up to
the owner. The previous owner probably had an inkling the belt was going to break, and probably wanted to dump the car before it did; thus getting something for the car without having to pay the expense of having the belt changed. The power steering belt probably did not play a role in the belt snapping, though I don't know the engine compartment set up of the Accord. Your dad may have to decide if he wants to repair/replace the engine if it is damaged or try to sell the car. Either way, unfortunately, it will be a loss for him.

 

thanks so much for the replies. Has a lot of body rust, might as well junk it.

 

Hey I got 2 Accords for sale if you wanna fix yours lol.
88 LXi AND 89 LX both greyish gold.

 

You're welcome. That's too bad. That is another problem with Hondas of that vintage, the dreaded Honda Rust. Once it starts it is nearly impossible to stop and will eat through the metal in no time.

 

A little late, but I have an old civic (91), and I've replaced two timing belts on this little weapon. The engine in mine is interference, and I was under the impression that most if not all honda's were. Mechanically the car is amazing, but the rust and 15 years of abuse have taken their toll, making it a very ugly car to drive (gets good mileage though!)

 

The car may still be okay, some valves may be bent, some may be okay. Regardess, you have to at least replace the belt, see if it runs, check compression. If it has okay compression, then it's fine. If it has bad compression, or doesn't run, the valves are bent, you need a new head. If he was not at a stop light, almost certainly, most of the valves were bent.