Ok I was driving my Honda civic.. and it just died pulling into the gas station.. I tried to push start it but it wouldn't.. So instead of getting gas.. I just went home. and towed it..

I first started thinking it was my timing belt.. Because when i tried to crank it.. it sounded like something under the hood was spinning but it wasn't turning over...

I took the timing belt cover off.. and the timing belt is fine.. I used a friends truck (didn't have a battery) and connected his battery to my terminals with jumper cables..

Clutched it, turned the key, and it spins again.. The timing belt is spinning but very very slowly... and the starter sounds like its spinning like crazy.. but theres no "chi-chi-chi" sound.. just a spinning sound.... So i think it maybe the flywheel..

I take the starter off and the teeth on the flywheel look fine!.. I took the starter to a battery.. the teeth pop out.. and spin.. So i think its fine... I put it back on and does the same thing..

I haven't checked the spark but its getting gas..

What in the world could this be????

1993 Honda Civic - 16V 1.5L...

PLZ any help would be greatly appreciated.. ive never seen this before...

 

im a bit drunk, now thats cleared up heres what i thinks the deal.
when a starter turns it pulls outand catches the fly wheel. your starter is spinning but not pulling out to catch.

i dont know the names but thats whats happening.
hope it helps!

dale~

 

try hitting your starter with a hammer.

 

If it was running then stopped without shutting it off then it wasn't the starter. Check to see if you are getting spark.

 

Does the timing belt seem a bit loose? With the upper cover of the timing belt removed, does the crankshaft pulley appear to be turning more rapidly than the camshaft gear when the engine is cranking? Specifically, is it possible that the timing belt is slipping on the crankshaft gear?

 

so thats not the problem...

i am going to check spark.. but that still doesn't explain why its turnings soo slow...

 

its loose enough to slide left and right but theres no give in it up and down.. not really how sure how tight its supposed to be.. but its pretty tight.. if i had to guess...

does the bottom cover come off as easily as the top?? i will probably make a note of that tomorrow.. i need this thing running fast for a job interview... keep the help coming..

the more scenarios I have the more I can check off, of whats wrong..

 

Just to clarify, have you seen a working engine crank over? I mean, you say it turns slow but when cranking, a normal engine doesn't crank at idle speed. They do it slower than that.

 

You'd need to remove the crankshaft pulley (difficult) to remove the lower cover, so it would be easier to test whether or not the crankshaft pulley rotates the same number of revolutions as the camshaft gear when the engine is cranking. From your description of the problem, it should be obvious whether the crankshaft is spinning more rapidly than the camshaft.

 

There is a clutch in the starter that can get stripped. It's a one-way clutch, it's normal function is to make sure the engine can "overrun" the starter if the driver keeps the key turned after it starts. When it's bad the gear will still pop out and the motor will spin, but with any load on the gear the clutch slips and the engine doesn't turn.