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I have 1998 Honda accord LX, Inline 4. A few months back over spring brake I decided to change my timing belt, water pump, engine seals, etc… I really did not have all the right sockets and wrenches to do the job and it ended up taking me 2 days to get the timing belt back on. When I went to start up my car it did not want to start. I must have not gotten the timing right seeing that I had fits getting the tension right.
After being frustrated with the project and running out of time I decided to tow my accord to the shop and have them put it in time. It cost me about $370 to remove and replace the timing belt. The Tech told me that there was a bolt missing off of the timing belt tensioner. From what I understand that bolt is only there for when you are installing the timing belt. The tech told me that he placed the missing bolt in there.
My car started right up when I was leaving the shop and has not had a single issue sense then. I just have one major problem though. I get a loud whirring sound form the timing belt every sense the work was done. My engine also vibrates when at a certain rpm when accelerating. I stated doing some research a few weeks ago on this issue and I am 99% sure that the tension is to tight.
I’m now sorta mad because when the tech test drove the car he should have noticed the issue and went back and fixed it. I have a lot of family and friends that use this shop and they do not have any issues with them. I’m just unsure what to do about this issue, seeing that my new parts have had a bunch of extra ware on them due to incompetent work.I want my money back, but am I being to uptight about it?
After getting to know that area of my engine compartment, I want to go back and fix it my self because I really enjoy doing this kind of work.
What do you guys think?
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I’d get all the tools necessary for just about anything first, if you’re doing it on your own. I can’t explain it, it just gives you that extra confidence in working on a car. I went out and got a Haynes, Ellery’s and the car’s factory manual, so every part of every system is covered. I joined my car’s club forum and there are highly experienced owners there, so they know the failure patterns and more than likely have previously run into a problem I’m having.
Think about it, you’re the only person who knows your car the best. I’ve found that lesser experienced mechanics tend to apply the same procedures on a broad range of cars, but when your car calls for certain specialized techniques, there’ll be a problem. Mine was that they kept using sealants in places they’re conventionally used, but my engine was designed so it doesn’t require sealants where gaskets are used, applying sealant actually causes problems.
It’s not that they’re bad mechanics, it’s that they don’t specialize in that car, so it just may be that you’ll know your car’s design better than they do, hell, I know my car’s parts requirements better than the dealer’s parts guy. There’s also the added bonus of you controlling what goes on your car i.e. quality/oem parts.
As for your tension problem, check the tension of the belt yourself, confirm that’s the problem. See if it’s within spec (can be found in the manual), if it’s too tight, you can bring it back to the shop and show it to them and then you’d have every right to demand compensation, though, from experience, they may insist that they do the repairs themselves and not actually refund you, not sure how it works there, but that’s how it is here in Australia. You could readjust the tension yourself, but if the problem persists because the damage has been done, then you wouldn’t have a case for a free repair/refund, since it can be said that you’ve fiddled around with it and that may have been what caused the problem and you’re trying to cheat them. For me, if it’s clearly their fault, I don’t see why I should pay for their mistake. Next time, it needs replacing, I’ll do it myself.
Thanks You guys!
I know for one that I don’t want to be unreasonable with the shop or tech. It is my fault that I did not say anything as soon as I got the car back. Right from the get go I thought something might not be right. They did fix my no start issue but it appears to be that they did not do the procedure properly.
I did pay a nice fee to have the timing belt removed and replaced but it may not have been done right. This leaves me feeling like I should not have to pay the full price for the service. There is also the cost of buying the parts again to insure me they they do not ware to quickly.
Also after getting the job done i noticed my coolant disappearing very slowly so I need to pressurize the system and see if coolant is leaking out at the water pump.
I’m just not sure how I should bring the issue up to them.
Thanks!
The tension should be set by an automatic tensioner, and there is nothing the tech can do about that.
The bolt that you may be thinking of to adjust the tension while installing the belt is often the battery hold down bolt (Yes, the battery hold down bolt)… It is long and has the exact thread and threads down to hold the tensioner from applying tension.
The bolt missing from the tensioner sounds like an average 10mm bolt which holds the tensioner on.
Before I would diagnose this as a timing belt issue. I would look at other things first… It could be something completely different.
-Karl
If the bolt is in place to hold down the timing belt tensioner on my particular engine then it can not move up and down to automatically adjust the tension. If you know what the the engine under the timing belt cover looks like, then you can see what bolt i’m talking about.
Thanks
This Picture show exactly what I am talking about. The bolt that I am talking about is circled in red.
I’m not familiar with that design, but are you saying that there’s an auto tensioner on there, but it was locked up by the bolt, thus not allowing it to tension the belt automatically? I’m a little confused by what you mean.
From what I know, usually they only offer to fix the repair for free, not give you a refund, nor buy you extra parts for insurance, but if there’s already damage there then they’ll probably change all that for you for free, no harm asking, either way.
I’d suggest that you diagnose exactly where and what the problem is (for the coolant leak), before going back to the mechanic. That’ll give you a big advantage, in that you’ll know what’s going on, and they’ll know that you know what’s happening.
There is a spring that holds the tensioner in to position. It is also there to help set the tension when rotating the engine a couple degrees in the direction of engine rotation. If the bolt that is there is tight enough to hold the tensioner in position then it is stuck in that position regardless of it being set to the right tension. Turning the engine from the camshaft to set the tension is the way honda wants you to do it. you also could do it by adjusting the position of the tensioner by hand. the ajugestment nut is what holds the tensioners down.
Sigh. Posts like this are disappointing for me to read.
First, there is no bolt where they installed that bolt. Installing a bolt there can cause improper belt tension to be set. Seems you’re having that problem.
If the balance belt is not installed correctly, there will be a vibration around 2500 rpm or so.
Seems like there’s a comedy of errors here.
There is a specific procedure that should be followed when setting belt tension on that belt, similar to what you’ll see here.
I also have a VManual available from this site that shows step by step how to replace that timing belt and water pump.
Not sure if that will help at this point but I thought I would throw it out there for you.
Good luck and keep us posted.
THAT BOLT NEEDS TO BE TAKEN OUT. I WOULD TAKE MY CAR BACK TO WHERE THE WORK WAS DONE AND TELL THEM ABOUT THE PROBLEM AND THAT AFTER RESEARCH THAT YOU HAVE FOUND THAT THE BOLT WAS A TEMP HOLDING BOLT Y YOU TIME THE MOTOR.YOU MIGHT WANT TO TAKE BACK THE WATER PUMP BECAUSE IT WILL START LEAKING AFTER RUNNING WITH A BELT TO TIGHT. I KNOW THAT I WOULD WANT THE CHANCE TO FIX THE PROBLEM IF THE RAPAIR WAS MADE AT MY SHOP.BECAUSE 1 BAD JOB WILL OFSET 100 GOOD JOBS. SO I THINK IF THIS IS A GOOD SHOP WITH THE RIGHT CUSTERMER CARE THEY WILL FIX IT FOR YOU.AT LEAST I KNOW I WOULD.
Yup I had your vmanual when it attempted to do the job. It was rather helpful! I just was lacking, experience, tools and time to get the job done right myself. I made a pore choice as to when to do the job. Had I waited to do the job, I would most likely not had the same issues. I came to this forum because I know you know Hondas. I want to do the repairs my self so i don’t have anyone but me to blame if there is a problem. I just dont feel like I should be paying for parts I did not damage. However this whole thing has been an fantastic learning experience. My water pump is more than likely leaking, considering that I have been gradually having to add more and more coolant. I did not have a leak before the job.
So I guess the first step is to inspect the work and make sure my hypothesis is correct. If it is then i will confront them with the issue and give them a chance to resolve it.
From there I still don’t know what I should do because id feel a lot better if I did the job myself. I know i’m capable of it. I just need to buy some deep sockets and wrenches.
Oh it hearts to think of someone other than me working on MY car!
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