2001 Acura Integra Engine problems

2001 ACURA INTEGRA
95,000 MILES • 4 CYL • FWD • MANUAL
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JAPOSTOL78
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HI, i have a 2001 integra with a B20B (CRV)motor swap in it. Just yesterday i started the engine and it idle really low then shut off. i tried to start a couple times after that but it wouldnt turn over. Before it shut off i heard a knocking noise where the cams were. i removed the valve cover to see if anything was loose or came off. nothing..i did feel the timing belt...and it had alot of slack on the top and on the left (towards the front). the belt was really loose. did my timing belt skip and caused the cams to be mis aligned? would it be best to just replace the belt since a tooth may have been broken? any advice would be good right now. thanks.
Mar 1, 2009 at 5:40 PM
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F4I_GUY
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If your timing belt has a lot of slack it could be because the tension-er has failed (which is not very common on these vehicles) What is more common is a mechanic induced problem. I have seen a lot of DIY'ers not properly tension these timing belts and they have jumped a couple of teeth.

A quick way to check this is to remove the valve cover and upper timing cover. Set the crank pulley to TDC via the mark on the lower timing cover and look at the cams. If the marks are off then you have a problem.
Mar 1, 2017 at 3:02 PM
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JAPOSTOL78
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thanks for the reply. i went ahead and removed the valve cover to check out the timing belt. unfortunately there is a row of teeth missing. so it is the timing belt that skipped. my question is; can i replace the belt and save the engine? i was not driving the car when the belt was shredded. it idled around 1000 rpm and shut off.Thanks!
Mar 1, 2017 at 3:02 PM
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F4I_GUY
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You will not know if you have done any damage until you properly install another belt and then do a compression test.
Mar 1, 2017 at 3:02 PM
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F4I_GUY
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No, the only real way is to do a cylinder compression or cylinder leak down test.

However, the fact that it drives strong and does not misfire strongly indicates that you did no damage to the valve-train.
Mar 1, 2017 at 3:02 PM