How To Test For A Broken Timing Belt (1995-2000 1.6L Honda Civic)

A lot of things can cause your Honda Civic to crank but not start and a busted timing belt is one such thing.

It stinks that your Civic is not starting but the cool thing is that testing to see if the timing belt has busted on your Honda Civic is easy and fast.

In this tutorial, I'll show you two of the most effective ways to see if the timing belt is broken and in a step-by-step way.

You can find this tutorial in Spanish here: Cómo Verificar La Correa De Distribución (1.6L Honda Civic) (at: autotecnico-online.com).

APPLIES TO: This tutorial applies to the following vehicles:

• 1.6L Honda Civic: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000.

ENGINE NO-START DIAGNOSTICS:

• How To Troubleshoot A No Start (1995-2000 1.6L Honda Civic).

Symptoms Of A Broken Timing Belt

The most obvious symptom that the timing belt broke on your Honda Civic is that the engine won't start. It'll crank, but no-start. Here are a couple of others:

• No spark: The ignition system will not create and deliver spark to the spark plugs, since the distributor rotor will not turn.
• No fuel injection: The fuel injection computer will not pulse (activate) the fuel injectors (if your Honda has the crank sensors in the distributor).
• No compression: If you were to do and engine compression test, none of the engine cylinders would produce a compression reading on the compression tester.

TEST 1: Check Rotation Of Distributor Rotor

OK, the fastest and easiest way to find out if the timing belt is busted is to see if the distributor rotor is turning when you crank the engine.

There are 2 very important precautions you need to take and these are:

• Disconnect the distributor's electrical connectors. Yes, disconnect all of them. This will prevent the ignition coil from sparking in case the timing belt is not broken and the cause of the no-start is something else.
•       -AND-
• Think safety and be alert since the test you're about to do requires that you crank the engine to observe the distributor rotor turning.

OK, this is what you need to do:

1. 1

   Remove the distributor cap but do not remove the distributor's rotor.

2. 2

   Disconnect the distributor's electrical connectors.
   
   NOTE: This is super important because the ignition coil must be disabled. The ignition coil must not spark during the test or you run the risk of damaging it, so by disconnecting the distributor's connectors, you effectively disable the ignition coil.

3. 3

   Have a helper crank the car while you observe the distributor's rotor.

4. 4

   What will happen is one of two things:
   
   1.) The distributor rotor will turn as the engine cranks in steady circular motion.
   
   2.) The distributor rotor will NOT turn as your helper cranks the engine.

CASE 1: If the distributor rotor turned. This is a clear indication that the timing belt on your Honda is not broken.

Now, you're here doing these tests because your Honda cranks but does not start, right? Well, to further help you in troubleshooting the reason your Honda does not start, I recommend looking at this guide:

• How To Troubleshoot A No Start (1995-2000 1.6L Honda Civic).

CASE 2: If the distributor rotor DID NOT turn. This indicates that the timing belt is broken and not turning the Cam gear, which in turn is not turning the distributor rotor.

TEST 2: Check That The Camshaft Turns

Every now and then the camshaft breaks in half but the timing belt doesn't (I've seen this quite a bit over the years working on Hondas) and this will also cause a cranks but does not start condition.

So, this test is designed to test for a broken camshaft and timing belt by removing the valve cover and the upper plastic timing cover and visually verifying that the timing belt is turning as you crank your Honda Civic (Civic del Sol, etc).

IMPORTANT Be careful, be alert, take all necessary safety precautions when doing any test that involves a cranking engine.

1. 1

   Make sure the battery is fully charged so that you can easily crank the Honda's engine.

2. 2

   Remove the valve cover and the top plastic timing belt cover.
   
   NOTE: The timing belt cover is a two piece cover. No need to remove the bottom part, just the top one.

3. 3

   Have your helper crank the engine once the top plastic timing belt cover is removed and the camshaft gear is exposed.

4. 4

   As the engine is cranking, observe the camshaft gear.

5. 5

   You'll see one of two things:
   
   1.) The camshaft gear will turn as the engine cranks or
   
   2.) The camshaft gear will NOT turn as the engine turns over.

OK, now that the testing part is done, let's take a look at what your results mean:

CASE 1: The camshaft gear turned as the engine was cranking. This let's you know that the timing belt is not broken. No further testing is required.

CASE 2: The camshaft gear DID NOT turn as the engine was cranking. This result tells you that the timing belt is broken and needs to be replaced.

More 1.6L Honda Civic Tutorials

I've written quite a few 1.6L Honda Civic diagnostic tutorials that may be of interest to you. You can find here: 1.6L Honda Civic Index Of Articles.

Here's a sample of the tutorials you'll find in the index:

• How To Test For A Blown Head Gasket (1995-2000 1.6L Honda Civic).
• How To Test The Alternator (1996-2000 1.6L Honda Civic).
• Testing Shift Control Solenoid Valves A and B (1996-2000 1.6L Honda Civic).
• How To Troubleshoot A No Start (1995-2000 1.6L Honda Civic).
• How To Test The Igniter, Ignition Coil Accord, Civic, CRV, and Odyssey (at: easyautodiagnostics.com).