Ok, I was trying to be proactive with my car and having everything serviced according to what Honda recommended. Honda recommends to change the timing belt at 110,000 miles. After taking my car to a local mechanic, I'll call him BOB, to get my timing belt changed, my car engine shut off 5 miles from leaving the shop. It even made it through 2 miles of highway and then it died going up a hill on a local back road near my house. Note- There was no difference in power, no difference in noise, and no fluctuation in RPM sitting at stop lights before the engine shut off.
The car was towed back to the mechanic and he found that the Cam sensor went bad. The sensor was replaced and the mechanic test drove it before I picked it up. The car then ran with no issues for another 3,000 miles until it broke down an hour away from my house sitting at a stop light.
The car got towed down the road to a local mechanic, I'll call him John, and he found the marks were not lined up properly during the timing belt change. He told me to call Bob to let him know what happened. Bob was baffled and at that moment and asked himself, "How the time belt jumped time?". He then asked me to find out if John could find if there was damage to the belt or the self tensioner. Note- Bob really was looking for root cause on why the belt jumped. Maybe it skipped a tooth.
Update today- John found that the valves bent and he stated that timing belt was set up wrong.

Q1- Is John right?
Q2- Should Bob be worried about paying for all the major repairs?
Q3- Do you have any suggestions on how this could have happened after 3,000 miles?
Q4- Wouldn't the valves bend immediately if the timing belt was initially set up wrong?
Q5- What about the Cam sensor replacement? Did that play any part with the valves getting bent.
Q6- How much do you think this is going to cost?

2005 Honda Civic Lx 1.7 liters.

 

Q1: Yes.
Q2: Yes, its his fault...He didnt set the timing up right = fail.
Q3: Simply wasnt setup right, just happened to fail after 3,000k.
Q4: Yes and No depends on the timing hehe.
Q5: Not sure.
Q6: If its just the valves shouldnt be too bad dont know how much oem valves are, but if more engine damage has occured you will probably need a rebuilt or a new engine.

ronj or someone else please back up or correct any of my answers.

 

It really sounds like Bob probably set the timing correctly, but there was an issue with the tensioner.

This would explain why the car ran fine for 3000 miles. If the timing had been initially set wrong, the engine would have run badly the entire time. Also, if the timing had been initially set as far off as it would have to be to bend valves, the valves would have bent immediately, not waited 3000 miles to bend.



So here's what I think happened:
Bob changed the timing belt, but he didn't properly tighten the timing belt tensioner bolt. It came loose over the course of 3000 miles, and then the belt was loose because the tensioner was no longer tensioning the belt, and then the belt skipped a few teeth and your valves got bent.


This also explains why Bob was baffled that it skipped a tooth. He knows he tightened the tensioner bolt and did everything, but he must have not realized it wasn't tight enough. I think this was all an honest mistake, but it is obviously the fault of Bob and he should pay for repairs.



Replace the valves with brand new OEM Honda ones. I don't know how much they cost, but it really doesn't matter since Bob is responsible and the valves that got bent were OEM Honda, so OEM Honda replacements are the only fair thing to do.
Also, replace the timing belt again and the tensioner to help guarantee this doesn't happen again, just incase it wasn't that the bolt wasn't tight enough.

 

BOB screwed up the belt job. In addition to Trust's idea, another possibility is that BOB never actaully replaced the timing belt. If so, the belt would be the original one installed at the factory.

 

I would say Bob is def at fault in any case. If he did indeed change the belt, then he should have noticed anything not in a functioning state. When I changed mine, I noticed the tensioner wanting to play a little when trying to tension the belt, so I replaced it just in case. Or he just never even remembered to tension it. I dont think the timing was off when you left the shop, or you never would make it that far before the valves bent.

 

Thank you for help the help ... I'll keep you posted on what happens with both mechanics. Please feel free to post more in the mean time.

 

This was one DETAILED yet extremely simple post to follow lol good job on that for real