Dead on the highway

[2dumbnotto]

So I had the conversation with my son in law today that his Acura still had lots of life left in it. 170,000 miles and always maintained well with a relatively gentle driver. On his way home it died on the highway. It just shut off. The guages went dead all the idiot lights came on and it wont restart. It has fuel but no spark I can see. I do not have much experience with these cars and need a few points on where to start. I figure it's an ignition problem but I am looking for any pointers I can get from anyone who has experienced this before. There is plenty of fuel and no obvious conections loose.

 

[Winki]

battery charged?

 

[dohcmotor69]

Check the positive wire from the battery to where it plugs in at the engine. It may have come out. Mine did the same thing. So I thought simple first. I found it was starting to come out where it plugs in. Just push it back in real good. you may want to bend the prong things out a little so its harder to come out. I bet anything thats yer problem.

 

[Samurai_Blue]

possitve battery wouldnt make it die if it was driving though, cause the altenator

 

[2dumbnotto]

we just pulled the dist. cap and when he cranks it over the rotor doesnt spin. Im not a mechanic but that would point to the timing belt, wouldn't it?

 

[2dumbnotto]

anyone?

 

[cooki3monstr]

im not sure about the timing belt, but a failed alternator could of caused his car to die...considering he drained the battery all of the way.

 

[Ominous G2]

Just pop the valve cover off and check the timing belt. If it's still good, id look into the distributor.

 

[2dumbnotto]

im not sure about the timing belt, but a failed alternator could of caused his car to die...considering he drained the battery all of the way.

The battery is not dead. He has power to everything. The car will turn over but will not start. I haven't tried to crank it too much to limit damage if it is the timing belt.

 

[master_tech]

remove the oil fill cap on the valve cover, crank the engine and see if you have cam movement ..no movement yes, broken belt. or you can crank the engine manually by turning the 19mm crank bolt with a socket, long extension and a rachet.

 

[2dumbnotto]

remove the oil fill cap on the valve cover, crank the engine and see if you have cam movement ..no movement yes, broken belt. or you can crank the engine manually by turning the 19mm crank bolt with a socket, long extension and a rachet.

Great tip i'll take it. Thank You.

 

[2dumbnotto]

So we pulled the valve cover and the timing belt is broken. I looked at the valves the best I could and I don't see any broken springs or missing retainers. What are the chances we didnt get valve damage? And what is the best way to check for damage?

 

[Kuchtaboy]

VERY low..... since you've been cranking the motor over, even less...


Pull the head and check the damage..... start by getting a new head.

 

[master_tech]

i would give it a 50/50 chance. if you don't see anything abnormal in the valve train, install a new t-belt and see what happens. if it runs bad, the damage is already done.

 

[daf]

Souds alot like the dizzy, perhaps the coil died in it. If he was getting really crappy mpg recently for some reason before it died, id put money on the coil. But yeah, no spark, its typically 1 or 3 things. Plugs, wires, or dizzy.
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