Hey peeps a few months back my civic started to sound gruff so i parked her up on my dads drive the other day i had to move her so i started her with no problems and then after a few seconds i felt somthing snap, You can imagine what i thought so i took the rocker cover off and the cam belt cover and to my amazement the belt is fine no missing teeth not signs of ware etc so i turned her over with the covers off and all pullys and belts move smoothly so my dad and i then changed the sparks.

You all know the sound a civic makes when it turns over well mine will get to the peak of the sound when she is supposed to turn over and instead she just drops off my mind is blank to what it could be theres plenty of petrol going to the engine all sparks are firing i dunno what else the problem could be.

Any help would be great i really cant afford to buy another engine.

Andrew

 

Since you have the covers off, see if the timing marks line up. It is possible for the belt to "skip" and put the engine out of time. That may or may not damage the valves. If the belt has slipped, replace it and set the timing properly.

The other possibiity is that the gas (petrol) has gone stale, if a few months is more like 8 or 12 months I'd give that serious consideration and drain the tank and put in fresh. Civics really don't like stale gas and it may not fire at all or as you describe it sort of almost starts but it doesn't.

 

Cheers il give the timing a go and will look at the petrol is there anything else it could be.

Andrew.