Timing Belt Problem ? :confused

[Al Dave]

Few months back I changed the timing belt. At that time I had huge problems. It turned out that the mechanic did not to the job properly, but the real problem was he was denying that there is a problem. After the change at times the car would struggle to go beyond 25 mph. Say you are going in 45 mph, suddenly you will feel a slack in the engine, the acceleration would not work. After struggling it would eventually go up to 60mph.

Going back, the mechanic did not want to acknowledge there was a problem saying he test drove and found no problem. After some argument and going a few times the owner who is also a mechanic intervened and fixed it saying the belt was off by a tooth.

Recently while I was driving I faced the similar situation. The slack and the car does not want to accelerate. It is not as bad as before but definitely it is off.

What should I do? Is this a problem that can be fixed easily? Do I need to change the timing belt again. Is it something to do with the torque, timing, tension >

Please help ! Also anyone knows a good mechanics in Columbus OH who can solve this problem. Till to date I regret for not taking it to the dealership.

[yodawill2000]

Im sure a guru will chime in but all I know to do is take off the timing belt covers and check it yourself.But quite a few things come off to get there.

I did my own and triple checked everything before putting it all back together.

[J30TPI]

sounds like they put the belt on wrong, notch over in the wrong spot. he probably just doesn't want to fix it and admit he made a mistake.

[GerryO]

Consider checking the engine timing with a timing light and also performing a compression check, as an alternative to tearing things apart. Can't picture how sluggish performance can come and go, even if the timing belt is off by a tooth. Pull some codes too. Knock sensor maybe? TPS?

[yodawill2000]

GerryWould the Coolant temp sensor cause erratic timing ??Just trying to think of what connectors have to be dealt with getting to the TBelt.

[GerryO]

GerryWould the Coolant temp sensor cause erratic timing ??Just trying to think of what connectors have to be dealt with getting to the TBelt.

No idea really. Based on what I've read the temp sensor is very important for many reasons though. Fortunately I've never had a problem with mine. I do recall the timing being very erratic, after I mistakenly swapped one O2 sensor connector with the KS connector and vice versa.

I picture the timing belt being off one tooth on any one of four camshafts or the crankshaft as a constantly repeating problem. A number of valves would always be operating out of sync relative to where they should be in relation to others and/or the pistons, both of which should affect compression readings for three or more cylinders.

[yodawill2000]

Now that you mention Camshaft..Maybe the CAS connector is flakey ??

I'm just curious why it ran ok for awhile then went back to being sluggish.Unless the tension pulley for the belt is way loose,, I cant see it jumping time with a new belt.

[GerryO]

Now that you mention Camshaft..Maybe the CAS connector is flakey ??

I'm just curious why it ran ok for awhile then went back to being sluggish.Unless the tension pulley for the belt is way loose, I can't see it jumping time with a new belt.

Not much to go wrong inside the CAS. Just a thin metal laser-cut rotating wheel, an optical pick-up and two sealed bearings inside. Loose belt tension might not be a problem until the belt jumps and then it could by valves vs. pistons.

MAF? Codes? Vacuum leak? Cat? Injectors?

[yodawill2000]

I realize theres not much to go wrong "Inside"the CAS.But what happens if you unplug it while the engines running ??The connector is what I was pondering.

[GerryO]

I realize theres not much to go wrong "Inside" the CAS.But what happens if you unplug it while the engines running ??The connector is what I was pondering.

Sorry, you did state CAS connector.

Imagine the ECM would no longer know that the engine was turning over and the relative positions of any number of internal moving parts, so then there would be no more spark and probably no more injected fuel too? Sort of like pulling/shearing the drive gear off of a distributor with the engine running?

How about intake and vacuum hoses that were disconnected when changing the timing belt?

[swimshark]

If the CAS is not working the car wont run period. i Took my drivers side TB cover off to check something and in my rush to get it back together I didnt fully clip the connector and on my way back from work my car died and would not restart. I pressed the connector and it popped and car started right back up.

When car is really hot (or if sensor isnt reading right) or if you switch the O2 plug with the KS plug the car will be sluggish under 2500rpm because the car is put into a safety map.

Before anything else I would try to pull codes off the ECU and see what it is barking at you to what is wrong.

You might see either a code 11, 13 or 34 (Crank Angle, Coolant Temp or Knock Sensor).

Check this thread out on how to check codes if you don't know anyone who has a OBDI cable and program.zerothread/249406

Only other thing I can think of is that a cam could be off by 1 or more teeth and it would not run right. When I did my timing belt I spun the motor over until everything was top dead center.



The new belt has the markings to make sure all the cams are aligned properly with the crank. Don't know how good of a mechanic the guy is, but if he messed this up then it will not run right.

What all did you have replaced with the timing belt?

When I changed mine I did a 120k maintenance and replaced TB, tensioner, water pump, thermostat, vtc springs, cam gear seals, lower coolant pipe hoses, and idler pulleys. If he replaced the cam gear seals, it requires you to remove the cam gears. If he did this and didn't secure the cam gears to the belt properly when tightening the bolt back down to spec, he could have slipped a tooth on the belt. I did this and had to carefully shift cam back 1 tooth.

[Outkast]

GerryWould the Coolant temp sensor cause erratic timing ??Just trying to think of what connectors have to be dealt with getting to the TBelt.

Yes it will. The VG's are natorious for that. Do a resistance check on the sensor and make sure the connector is clean of corrosion

[yodawill2000]

Thanks for the input here Outkast.Got a feeling you know what your talking about.Sweet Z in the pic !!!Hang around for awhile.We can use some hands on Guru's on the VG bro'

[Outkast]

Thanks for the input here Outkast.Got a feeling you know what your talking about.Sweet Z in the pic !!!Hang around for awhile.We can use some hands on Guru's on the VG bro'

I'm here daily I just hate some of the format features here. Like a button to go to the first new post and I really hate it when I hit a link on a thread go look at it for a minute then come back and all the new posted threads are reset so I don't know where I left off. It's not a bad site just hard to navigate compared to a Vb board.

[yodawill2000]

Weird.I don't have any probs here.Using Firefox FYI.