How To Test For A Broken Timing Belt (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).

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:

1. 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.
2.       -AND-
3. 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

   Now, when you're ready, 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 the other ‘how to’ tutorials I've written and you can find the links, in the next page, under the heading Related Articles.

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.