I believe the 1.5 D engine is an interference engine and the valves usually just bend over to the side. A peek in the oil filler cap while cranking will tell if the cam is turning with the engine.

On a motor with a cam driven dizzy you can take the cap off, give it a quick flick of the key to crank and if the rotor is pointing a different way then the cam is moving. That's somewhat easier if you haven't got anyone to crank it for you and don't have a remote switch.

Everything inside the distributor cap is sealed away from the elements by a large O-ring and *drumroll* the distributor body. Therefore, when assembled, the space inside the distributor body and inside the distributor cap become one.
Oh, and the ignition coil is above and to one side of the rotor, not under it. Other than the rotor and spark plug wires, it's the only thing that has an electrical connection to the distributor cap.
The ignitor unit is below the rotor - it's attached to the distributor housing and has 4 wires.

Generally speaking, that's true. But that doesn't mean a main relay can't fail while the engine is running. The typical fractured solder joint symptoms have something to do with heat and the mechanical forces exerted on the relay contacts, so they generally manifest themselves once the relay is warmed up, and the mechanical load has been removed (relay switched off). There are many other ways the relay could fail, some of which would occur while the engine is running, and would permanently disable the relay. Just because the faulty solder joint problem is the most common failure mode, doesn't mean it's the only one.

Not necessarily... You're playing camshaft roulette. The cam has quite a bit of drag to it and not a whole lot of inertia, so when the belt breaks it stops spinning pretty quickly. It's really a matter of how those few out-of-sync rotations and the cam's resting position relate to the movement of the pistons. If a pair of valves happen to be fully open when the corresponding piston hits TDC, you'll be buying new parts. If not, you got lucky.


My money is on the ignition system - probably the ignitor unit. Not that I have enough info to make a sound judgement. :)

When I turn the key, I can hear the fuel pump priming so I guess I can dismiss the main relay or fuel pump being bad. I didn't have a chance to pick up the coil yet, but i'll do it today.

Suspendedhatch - read my post fully. I didn't say to replace anything willy nilly. I said:

And at the VERY BEGINNING I said to check the following - coil, cap & rotor. I meant exactly what I said - check first, but if you replace the coil you should replace cap & rotor at the same time if not new. Please don't imply that I said otherwise, when I specifically did not. We are all here to save on fuel, and that extends to saving on parts when we can. It doesn't make sense to do otherwise.

"Everything inside the distributor cap is sealed away from the elements by a large O-ring and *drumroll* the distributor body. Therefore, when assembled, the space inside the distributor body and inside the distributor cap become one.
Oh, and the ignition coil is above and to one side of the rotor, not under it. Other than the rotor and spark plug wires, it's the only thing that has an electrical connection to the distributor cap.
The ignitor unit is below the rotor - it's attached to the distributor housing and has 4 wires."

since I had just replaced my civic's ignition coil a few weeks ago, I take it that it's a given that I already know that.

I totally agree with you there.

replacing the ignition coil should also warrant a change of the distributor cap and rotor. I would go a step further and do a full tune up and replace the wires and sparkplugs as well. if the fuel filter haven't been changed yet, I'd go ahead and replace it.


as for the original posted problem, Haynes repair manual states the fuel system, and ignition system to be checked with this type of problem. I would check the ignition system first (coil, cap, rotor, spark plugs, wires, relay).

Then why did you state otherwise?

well the cam isnt goign to immediately stop it will make a at least one or a few full rotations, and since the pistons are moving 2X the cam speed somehitngs gonna get smashed or even if it does stop instantly its guranteed at least 2 valves are going to be open in the engine by just the way an engine runs

why did I state otherwise? read my posts, it specifically state that I've replaced my ignition coil. I also stated that the coil is inside the cap under the rotor. I don't see how that would be understood as anything else.