Hello everyone,

I got the timing belt of my Accord 2002 replaced at 100K miles. After the replacement, within a few miles of driving the check engine light went on, and the engine felt like it is skipping a beat in the usual flow. I took it back to the mechanic, he took care of the check engine light, and told me to drive it in the highway, and that the rest of the symptoms would go away. But the symptoms did not go away, and I had the check-engine light go on a few more times. Finally the mechanic kept the car for 5 business days, after which he told me that I need to replace the Crankshaft Position Top Dead Sensor, and if I decide to do it, I will be paying for both the parts and labor. (He is also telling me that this is not a big deal, and that I do not need to change the sensor, I can keep using my car as is, and it would not harm my car or its performance...)

The car was running perfectly before the timing belt change, and when I mentioned this, the mechanic said it is only a coincidence.

I do not know much about engines, but something did not smell right in this process, and I wanted to check with more experienced people on whether the change of the timing belt might have anything to do with this new malfunction of the crankshaft sensor?

Any thoughts/information would be very helpful. Thanks in advance.

 

What its the EXACT code indicated by the check engine light? It COULD be that timing is off rather than as sensor being bad.


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Unfortunately I do not have the actual code

 

The mechanic fucked up by not putting in the belt right and it may skipped a tooth. !!
2. Damaged your ckp when workin on your belt. Sometimes its stalled wrong or torn the wire. Sometimes its short to ground. Many people would tell u tooth off would not cause a car to start but many times I've seen it but runs like crap. That could be the case.

 

Any mechanic that tells you that symptoms will go away after you drive it after they've worked on the timing belt, you should not be going back to those morons. You should go to someone else, have them redo it properly, and file a complaint with your bureau of automotive repair for your state. Hopefully they will help you get your money back.

 

I am also leaning towards not taking it back to the same mechanic; but I would have to bear the cost of the repair at another location and I am not sure I can get reimbursed by the first mechanic for the costs at another place.

Does a complaint to the bureau of automotive repair for the state have a good chance of addressing this issue? What would be the best approach to this: should I get some sort of note from the new mechanic saying the likely cause is the timing belt change? Would the new mechanic give such a note, and even if he does, would this be enough?

 

Yes. By law on the repair order it should address the problems y is it running like that and what they found .should be enough go show bar or the dumb mechanic.

 

Mechanics giving you the shaft.....belt was not intstalled properly....rear balancer gears need to be aligned.....bet he didnt check that or align them completly. The CKP sensor is probably just doing its job and telling you in a nice way that your mechanic sucks...