Piston

[Cobra04]

Daughter has a 97 Dodge Neon where we just had a water punp and timing belt put in and WHAM. One week later we are told that the engine has a bad piston.

Now how we(them) arrived at the bad piston is. They(mechanic) listened to it. It taps pretty good. Daughter said it has little power as well. When the timing belt along with the water pump being replaced could there be anything that the mechanic could have done wrong to now have this knock ? Not a tick sound from bad gas or low octane but a KNOCK.

So the questions Ihave as a dad who knows jack shit about engines is.

1) Is there a way to fully determine if it is a piston
2) If it is a piston, are we talking JUNK the car ?


I'm sure I will have a few follow up questions after some replies to the few lol.

thanks guys

[das2123]

Did you have the timing belt replaced because it broke or for maintenance purposes? The reason I ask is if the belt broke, then you may have some bent valves causing low compression, thus low power. It could be piston slap, which is common on the neons when the engine is cold.

[Cobra04]

Had the belt replaced for Mait. reasons. Figured if I'm replacinng the water pump, I mind as well replace the belt too.

[HPNOTIQracing]

probly out of time. if its tapping it could be anything. a "piston" cant go bad unless it cracks or breaks. the piston may be in the wrong place and slapping valves due to the timing belt being replaced improperly.

get a second opinion on the tap/knock
if it is a knock its probly a rod bearing and a garage will rape you on the charges for that. even tho its a simple job.

[das2123]

Originally Posted by Cobra04

Had the belt replaced for Mait. reasons. Figured if I'm replacinng the water pump, I mind as well replace the belt too.

Hope you did the tensioner pulley as well.