ASKED MY MECHANIC TO REPLACE MY BELTS AND MY CRANKSHAFT BROKE. TOOK IT TO ANOTHER MECHANIC AND HE SPOKE TO HONDA MECHANICS THAT THEY HAD SEEN THIS HAPPEN IF THE BELTS ARE OVERTORQUED.THIS HAPPENED ON MY 94 HONDA ACCORD.MY MECHANIC SAYS THAT IT WASN’T HIS FAULT
You don’t break a crankshaft by putting on the belts too tight. I can’t think of anything your mechanic could have done to break a crankshaft putting on a belt. Now if you were getting a timing belt, that would be different. The crankshaft bolt on the front is very difficult to get off because it is put on so tight. If he tried to remove the bolt by wedging a breaker bar on it and hitting the starter, then he would have broken the bolt and damaged the crank because the Honda’s engine turns the opposite direction. That trick doesn’t work on Honda’s.
No way, shape, or form did overtightened belts cause the crankshaft to break. If this were all it took to break a crankshaft, there would be 94 Honda Accords sitting all over the roads with their serpentine belts sitting under them.
I think what happened is the crankshaft was defective when it was made. Maybe from a poor casting? And it took this long for it to fail. I’ve seen crankshaft bolts shear off because of poor manufacturing.
And if he’s a true mechanic, he’s probably replaced hundreds of belts. And knows how to check for belt tension just by using his thumb.
Tester