I have a 1995 Accord and I broke a timing belt a few weeks ago. We looked at the valve clearance and none of them were loose. We adjusted them to where they are supposed to be. I assumed that meant none of the valves were bent, but we weren't 100% sure. We replaced both belts, (and water pump) and waited to see how it ran.

The engine started up and it sounded really smooth. Didn't seem to be misfiring at all. But, when I drove it there was a significant loss of power. It rode smooth and the engine sounds great, and it eventually got up to 70 mph, but acceleration is really slow. There's no engine light or anything on.

There's also a knocking sound that's always been there since I got the car a few months ago. It comes and goes. Not sure if that's related.

Any idea what the problem might be? Did we do something wrong?

 

double check timing ( easier )
do a compression test , leak down test , if all fail take head off ,inspect the head and valves to make sure all valves seal and are properly seated , turn it upside down , level it ,fill the chambers with gasoline , see if gas leaks or any bubble come out of the valve seats ,

i know thats what u dont want to hear , but its the way it is

 

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying. You think that a valve might not be sealing?

I was told on hear that if a valve was bent that I'd be able to tell by listening to it, that it would either not start or would misfire.

 

The only way to tell for sure of a valve is bent is by rolling it on a piece of glass or something like that. Poor compression could be an indicator of a bent valve though.

 

Could be a number of things. Analysis required first.

Bad Oxygen sensor, Injector clip wire came loose..... Any number of things. Easiest to start with a compression tester.




Take out a spark plug, pull off spark plug wires (just pull them off, you won't wreck it) Get a spark plug wrench, and unscrew them, screw this in.

It has a pressure release valve, start your car, it won't turn on, just crank a few times, and then look at the compression gauge to see what each cylinder has for numbers.

 

Thanks for the responses. My dad wondered if maybe it was tuned up to a stretched belt so now it just needs to be tuned again.

After having driven it a few times it's the low RPM's that have no power. When it gets 3k or above it drives great! Obviously this is killing my gas mileage lol

Is this a possibility? If so, what should we "retune"?

Oh, there's sometimes a squeal when i first start the car (or early in the trip), I don't remember if it did that before we replaced the belt. The knocking sound is getting pretty annoying, it always did that though. The sound goes away in higher RPM's.

 

look like its out of time ,


check your timing belt is with in mark and lining correctly , if ur loosing power the engine is not making all the power ,

if u dont know how to do a timing belt leave it for the pros man u could mess ur motor

 

I really need your help, guys. The car always runs beautifully after 3k rpm, but really struggles to get up to 3k when carrying a load. It revs beautifully. At first I could just rev to 3k and then it would stay at 3k when I let go of the cluth. But, it's gotten worse and worse and now when I let up on the clutch it goes right back down, sometimes to even below the idling speed.

Used to, taking it out of first gear and going back into first would often help, but not anymore. Sometimes it gets really bad and it will take a solid 60 seconds just to get up to 3k which is obviously very dangerous on the road and very frustrating for other drivers.

We used a timing light to check the ignition timing and it looks fine. I can't imagine that we put the timing belt on with it off a notch, but is there a way to check that without taking everything off? I'd hate to go through all that work if that wasn't the problem. It's such a big job!

Anything else it might be??? It runs absolutely beautiful after 3k rpm!

BTW, the SRS shows a code 1 I think which is the O2 sensor. I've heard this can also indicates the timing belt is off a tooth. Is there anything else it could mean?

 

The manual I use for my 1991 Accord shows for loss of power to check things in the following order:

0) ECU is in Backup Mode. If the CEL light (when the service connector is not jumpered), and the self-diagnosis indicator (CEL light when the service connector is jumpered) are both on steady, the ECU is in backup mode and should be swapped for a known good ECU).
1) Fuel Supply: parts other than the Fuel Injector
1.1) Fuel Filter
1.2) Contaminated Fuel
1.3) Fuel Injector (note, previous table says to check this afterward, so I would assume to check the #2 from the previous table before checking the #3's from this table)
1.3) Injector Resistor
1.3) Fuel Pump
2) Throttle Angle Sensor
3) Manifold Absolute Pressure Sensor
3) Fuel Supply: Fuel Injector
3) Air Intake
3) Emission Control: controls other than the EGR Control System

 

you need to double check your cam timing. you can fix everything else in the world but if your cam timing is off then none of it matters.

 

It really does sound like the valve timing is off. Take off the valve cover and upper belt cover, set the crank at #1 TDC, and check to make sure the marks on the camshaft line up with the top of the cylinder head:

 

Try playing with the timing, putting it one tooth forward or backward. After my timing belt change, had REALLY slow acceleration up until 3k, then it kicked ***. I always had decent acceleration UP to 3k before, and just 'blah' afterwards. My mechanic couldnt figure out what was wrong. He put the timing one tooth off, and it was perfect after that, just how I remembered it. I have decent acceleration up to 4k, and blah afterwards. I generally shift a little before 3k, or a little after if I am doing a little spirited driving.