Questions and Answers

Honda Eating Caps And Rotors

Q. I'm glad I stumbled onto your site, I hope you can help me figure out what is ailing my car. First the stats,

1991 Honda CRX
1.6 Liter Electronic Fuel Injection
145,000 Miles
Manual Transmission, Original Clutch
AC, but not working

A little history that might be relevant. I had the car in for service at 125K miles for the distributor, while in for service the timing belt snapped. The mechanic took responsibility and replaced the timing belt and said he found a bent valve stem which he replaced as well. The car ran fine for about 12K miles and then the engine began to hesitate as though it were miss firing but only at 2500 to 3000 rpm in 2nd and 3rd gear, it idled smoothly. I took it back to the mechanic and he couldn't find anything mechanical wrong with it. He sent me to a guy who specializes in electrical and computer problems and he couldn't find anything wrong with it.

The problem progressively got worse until the car wouldn't run. I took it into a different mechanic who specializes in Honda's and he eventually replaced the distributor, rotor, cap and cables. He showed me the interior of the cap and it did look overly worn. The car ran fine for about 8K mile and the same problem has developed again.

The question is, could there have been something damaged when the timing belt snapped that was not repaired and is causing me to chew through distributors?

Any help would be welcome before I make the decision to dump the car or repair it one last time.

A. I don't see where a broken timing belt would affect a distributor, although it is possible the distributor shaft itself is bent. There is a bushing inside the distributor that could have been broken or just plain worn out as well. I would take the cap and rotor off and try pushing the shaft side to side and in and out to see how much play is in it. if it's a lot, then it will eat caps and rotors. Those distributors can be somewhat pricey, but you can get a used one much cheaper. Just make sure to check the shaft play on it so you don't buy the same problem you're trying to cure.