Hello all, I have a mechanical timing question.

92 Accord 2.2, 300K+ miles. I last replaced the timing belt at about 225K.

Engine died under normal highway driving. Cranks like out of time. Spark at coil but not at plug.

Removed valve cover and upper belt cover. Crank and Cam are in time, but distributor is not (probably 15 degrees off)

Has anyone ever seen the pin shear in the distributor to let it get out of time with cam?

I know broken cam may be a possibility, but have not had someone to crank engine while I watch.

Any input appreciated. Thanks!

 

The engine timing is 15 degrees before top dead center, so your distributor is probably in the proper position.

Unplug the electrical connector to the distributor and turn the engine by hand. The distributor would move with a good camshaft. There are also three marks on the crank pulley. Line up the middle mark to see if the distributor points to the #1 cylinder. It can point to #3, since the crank turns twice for every turn of the cam.

Spark at the coil and not at the plugs could be from a bad distributor cap, bad distributor rotor, or weak coil. Inspect the cap and rotor for signs of wear. Test for 12V to the blk/yel wire going to the distributor with the key in the II position. You can test the signal wire to the coil. Do you have an internal or external coil?

Also, check for engine codes. I'd clear the ECU by pulling the 7.5 amp backup/radio fuse in the engine bay fuse box. Try to start the car with everything back together. Post any codes you find on here.

 

Can you grab the distributor rotor & try to spin it? Both directions? (You're looking for the motion that's now possible from a broken pin or broken shaft)

The distributor must be still spinning, because otherwise you wouldn't have the timing signals to tell the coil to fire.

But if it were ONLY that problem, then it wouldn't "crank like out of time". Do you mean it spins freely without the sound of the cylinders coming up on compression?

 

Thanks for your input. The distributor moves with the cam. That is why I was asking about a possible sheared pin.

As far as the cranking sound, it cranks off balance (like when the belt has jumped, not broken)

At the risk of sounding stupid (of which I am completely able to do):

One of the replies spoke of three marks on the flywheel. The last belt I replaced, I only used the marks on the crank timing belt gear and the engine. My poor quality photo in the Haynes manual illustration only showed one mark on the flywheel when I inspected this from the topside this week. A few degrees away from the three on the the flywheel, there is one lone mark. If the center of the three marks is tdc, then I lined up the wrong mark before my last post. It is quite possible the belt did jump. I have been waiting for snow / ice to get off of car before I pull the front of the engine apart to check the timing gear itself.

I will let you know. Thanks so much for your help.

 

PAHonda said crank pulley not flywheel. There are three marks on it.

 

Below is a video on the marks that I am talking about. They are used for setting timing using a timing light. I used some whiteout to see the marks easier.

 

The center of the group of 3 marks is 15-before-TDC, to be used for setting spark timing. The single mark is actually TDC.

As the cars age, there's one reason to prefer the marks on the flywheel. The front pulley on the crankshaft has a hard rubber layer for vibration damping. That can get old/dry/oily and begin slipping. Once that happens, the marks are no longer lining up with true crankshaft position.