Elle, this sensor is not on the distributor housing, its right in the path of
the timing belt under the timing belt cover.  In the shop manual, they call
it the Crankshaft Speed Fluctuation Sensor.  I haven't been able to find it
on any of the parts websites out there including Majestic and San Leandro
Honda websites, or any after market ones.

I have a JPEG of the affected part for clarity, but don't have anywhere to
post it.  How do I send it to you?

t

[$300 (canadian?) for the CYL crank angle sensor on a 1999 Civic, 165000 km]

So that's about $257 American and about 102,000 miles.

The crank angle TDC/CYL sensors are installed on the distributor housing, so
what they're doing (rightly, assuming the CYL sensor really is damaged) is
replacing the whole distributor housing. Online OEM parts sites sell the
housing for this Civic for about $233 American. A little more for labor
sounds quite fair. The shop will switch over the old ignitor, coil, cap, and
rotor to the new housing. Though you should consider a new cap and rotor at
this point if your sis does not maintain this car well.

The better news is that replacing the housing anyway for a car with this
many miles is not a terrible idea. The bearing on it often fails with age.
(Well, it could last another 100k miles, too.) From my reading here and my
own experience, many Honda owners end up with a new housing at some point in
the mid-life of the car, though not due to the accident your sister's car
had.

An independent shop "determined" that the cause of some non-start problems
my 91 Civic was having around 140k miles was the way I had jury rigged the
rotor to the distributor shaft. They told me the car needed a new
distributor housing to replace the jury-rig fix, etc. Their diagnosis was
wrong: about ten days later the car stalled again, and they found the
problem was actually the ignition coil. Whence we had a few firm
talk-through-your-teeth-and-try-to-keep-things-friendly words. But in
hindsight, after reading more here, the new housing probably spared me
problems further down the road.

If you're a junkyard addict, you can quite possibly get a real deal on a
distributor housing.

Like you and others say, though, the bigger question is whether the valves
were bent. I'd be talking to another shop to ask them what would be
necessary to identify this, as I agree what this first shop is saying sounds
fishy. Also, if this first shop is the one that put in the belt...

I am a pretty big OEM parts proponent these days (after learning the hard
way a few times), but I don't recall seeing at online fora who makes Hondas
T belts or any controversy over them. I am kinda doubting Goodyear being the
maker had anything to do with this.

Hi All

My sisters (poorly maintained) 99 civic with 165000kms has recently snapped
the timing belt.  Thought I would add some ammunition to the OEM vs nonOEM
parts debate.

The belt has 60000kms on it.  Its made by Goodyear.  Its 3 years old.  We are
located in Winnipeg.  And its not even cold yet.

Not only did it possibly ruin the valve train, it took the lower timing cover
and the CYL Crank Angle sensor with it.  (And they want to charge $300 for
the sensor alone!)  Total bill to put it back together = $700 at the
dealership.  Then we get to crank it over and see if the valves are bent.

Sounds a.s backwards to me, I told my bro-in law to suggest doing the
clearance checks on the valves as is, but the dealership told him that
wouldn't work.

Any ideas out there regarding this?  Also does 3 bills for that sensor sound
right?  What about the valve clearance check?

Its not my car, so I am just doing this for info purposes.  I drive a (much
better maintained) 98 civic with 236000kms on it.

Thanks in advance.
t