Timing belt broke :(

[bambam89lx]

Originally Posted by kayuman

Mine broke four days ago! I got it towed to the shop, as I am no mechanic!
The mechanic told me that there were some valves that were bent.
The valves needed to be replaced and the heads neede to be machined. I said OK and to replace the water pump too. When I got my car back, it lacks power! When I press down on the gas the car hesistates and then pickups real slow. Then when I am driving, it losses power when I am going on an incline and then force to down shift. Could this be a timing issue? Can anyone help.
I have searched the net for help, but found no resolution, but found a real kwel site: http://crxsi.com/resources/repair/ch...belt/index.htm
were it shows a step by step how to change the timing belt / water pump.

I am taking my car back on friday! But, would like to know what is causing this problem. After all I got warranty on the repair that cost me $1,500.00.

Any help appreciated!
-kayuman

Holy sh*t!!! $1500? You got anally ripped....trully. You paid a mechanic 1500 for that shit? He prolly just put on a new timing belt. I doubt he ripped out the bent valves (if there were any)....and he might not of even changed the water pump. There's NO way for YOU to know... and he prolly knows that. I also doubt he machined the head....why would he need to? Machining the head is totally unneeded here! A timing belt cost $30 and about 2-3 hours to put on and have ur car running again. I could have done it with my hands behind my back!....jeez...i feel bad for you!
On top of that, it doesn't even sould like he did a good job. It definitely sounds like ur timing is off. Or, if you did have bent valves (which i doubt) he might not of replaced them. He sounds like the 9-5 $9/hr mechanic (if you know wut i mean). They're ok with basic shit....but don't trust them to anything else in ur HONDA.....you need someone that knows HONDAS. I'm surprised the guy could even get ur car back together!

[turtlecrxsi]

yep... you did get anally ripped, dude. I'd go back and talk to the boss and tell him "you didn't fix my car" in front of other customers and that you "paid a lot of your hard earned money to have it fixed."

[Fewman]

I would recomend leaving your wallet at home this time.

[BigBearWest]

i have the same problem with my car on returned from the shop it lacks power and i get a ticking from my valves in low RPMs

[RedRacerCivic]

Originally Posted by kayuman

Mine broke four days ago! I got it towed to the shop, as I am no mechanic!
The mechanic told me that there were some valves that were bent.
The valves needed to be replaced and the heads neede to be machined. I said OK and to replace the water pump too. When I got my car back, it lacks power! When I press down on the gas the car hesistates and then pickups real slow. Then when I am driving, it losses power when I am going on an incline and then force to down shift. Could this be a timing issue? Can anyone help.
I have searched the net for help, but found no resolution, but found a real kwel site: http://crxsi.com/resources/repair/ch...belt/index.htm
were it shows a step by step how to change the timing belt / water pump.

I am taking my car back on friday! But, would like to know what is causing this problem. After all I got warranty on the repair that cost me $1,500.00.

Any help appreciated!
-kayuman

WOW

[turtlecrxsi]

I read in old Honda Tuning yesterday that the ticking can be alleviated by retorquing the head bolts evenly...

[nemo_wolf]

well i was on the freeway and managed to bend three of my valves ...

I went to some mexican who did the work and its great! i noticed that it gets up and goes a bit more but thats probly nothing much. only cost me 600 but my regular shop was going to charge me about a 1k give or take depending on if the head needed to be milled

[kayuman]

Originally Posted by bambam89lx

Holy sh*t!!! $1500? You got anally ripped....trully. You paid a mechanic 1500 for that shit? He prolly just put on a new timing belt. I doubt he ripped out the bent valves (if there were any)....and he might not of even changed the water pump. There's NO way for YOU to know... and he prolly knows that. I also doubt he machined the head....why would he need to? Machining the head is totally unneeded here! A timing belt cost $30 and about 2-3 hours to put on and have ur car running again. I could have done it with my hands behind my back!....jeez...i feel bad for you!
On top of that, it doesn't even sould like he did a good job. It definitely sounds like ur timing is off. Or, if you did have bent valves (which i doubt) he might not of replaced them. He sounds like the 9-5 $9/hr mechanic (if you know wut i mean). They're ok with basic shit....but don't trust them to anything else in ur HONDA.....you need someone that knows HONDAS. I'm surprised the guy could even get ur car back together!

You are correct that I would not know if he did the job or not on the water pump, and about the valves/heads. Is there a way to find out? I called around before taking my car to this shop, and all were quoting me above $1500. Dealer wanted $500-$600 just to change the belt, and if there were valves/heads that need work, they said that they will quote after they have inspected, meaning I would have to pay for the inspection if I did want the work done and that is $80/hr. Myaybe living in Seattle has something to do with the price hike. I am no mechaninc, I do not even change the oil ( all shop). My CRX is stock and is used for daily driving (work car). I guess if you guys are right and I did get ripped of, what other alternative did I have?

I did take the car back, and the timimng was set. But, she does not feel like she use to. She still lags, and the power at the lower RPM is still missing. I spoke with someone today that is taking a mechanics class, and he said that if the mechanic does not set it at top dead center, no matter how good the timing the car will not function correctly. If the belt did not break then it really does not matter, but once the belt breaks, it has to be reset to top dead center. If this is true, maybe I will try and do this myself. What are the chances of my ruining my vehicle?

[bambam89lx]

what he is trying to say is that you have to make sure the timing with the block is on the same page as the timing with the head. This is done by aligning marks on the crank pulley and cam gear with marks on the timing belt covers.
People here are saying that you got ripped because everyone here (mostly) works on their own cars. That's the great thing about owning a crx or any other civic for that matter. They are really simple to work on.
I still say 1,500 is way too much for a timing belt job/water pump.
If the timing is correct and ur still feeling lag...it could be the valves being damaged.

[kayuman]

Originally Posted by bambam89lx

what he is trying to say is that you have to make sure the timing with the block is on the same page as the timing with the head. This is done by aligning marks on the crank pulley and cam gear with marks on the timing belt covers.
People here are saying that you got ripped because everyone here (mostly) works on their own cars. That's the great thing about owning a crx or any other civic for that matter. They are really simple to work on.
I still say 1,500 is way too much for a timing belt job/water pump.
If the timing is correct and ur still feeling lag...it could be the valves being damaged.

Thank you for your feedback. I will use the link that I post and get my hands dirty. I want to see if the marks are correct, before taking it back again for the third time. I guess if you want something done right..... well you know!

Thanks!

[kayuman]

Originally Posted by kayuman

Thank you for your feedback. I will use the link that I post and get my hands dirty. I want to see if the marks are correct, before taking it back again for the third time. I guess if you want something done right..... well you know!

Thanks!

Well, after getting my hands dirty, I found out what was wrong! The mechanic did not set the TDC (Top Dead Center) on the timing belt pulley. So no matter how hard I tried to set the timing on the alternator pulley, the timing was always off. This info will be helpful to future non-mechanics. I am taking the car back an making sure he does it right this time!

Thank you guys for all your replies and help!

[nemo_wolf]

there is a thing called the better business bureuo (sp?). You can report this business if they dont give you a refund of some kind. I would highly advise hinting that you will be making a call and see what they say.

[stickershop]

Originally Posted by kayuman

When I got my car back, it lacks power! When I press down on the gas the car hesistates and then pickups real slow. Then when I am driving, it losses power when I am going on an incline and then force to down shift. Could this be a timing issue? Can anyone help.

First, check to make sure that all cylinders are firing. ie: check to make sure that the spark plug wires are all plugged in properly. If it's not something simple like that, then it sounds to me like the idiot put the timing belt back on wrong. It's probably off by a tooth or two.

[turbcivic]

to check the water pump, look on the backside of the block on the driver side. If he changed the water pump, it should be a different color then the block. At honda, we caught a few hack shops just replacing belt and not the water pump when the customer paid for it.