I have just had a major service carried out on my 1995 Accord EX by
a Honda dealer, including replacing the timing belt and
balancer shaft belt, and decarbonising the injectors.

I was very disappointed how much rougher the engine was when I picked it
up. There is an obvious boom at 2500 to 4000 rpm and a corresponding
vibration, neither of which were there before.

I took it back to the Honda dealer immediately, and they found that the
balancer shaft belt had been incorrectly fitted one or two teeth out of
position. They fixed that and believe that everything else is as it should be, but I still find the engine is producing more noise and vibration than it did before. For
instance, driving at 50mph, previously I could read the number plate on
the car behind, but now the mirror vibrates so much that it now isn't
possible.

The service department manager suggested that I drive the car for a few
days to allow the belts to bed in.

Is this unusual, or could there be other problems? It feels so
strange, that I am nervous driving it, in case something mechanical breaks.
It really does feel that bad.

After spending $450, I would have hoped for a better result.

Anyone had the same experience or could there be something else wrong?

 

have them check the cam timing. The cam gear may very well be 1 or 2 teeth off. It will be a lot cheaper for them to check and fix this now vs. replacing your head gasket when it melts.


This is not as uncommon as you may think, a lot of the mongrels i work with at my honda dealer mess up cam timing.

 

was that $450 USD that you paid?? If so then WOW! that is cheap.

Here a similiar job at my dealership would be ~$900 USD

 

It cost 950 Australian Dollars, which is about 450 US dollars. The exchange rate is so bad for us, but great for you if you are planning to visit.

 

I'll be in japan in 4 days, perhaps i need to spend spring break down under....

 

thats exactly what I thought you were paying for at the dealer, better, more competant, machanics. apparently not...

 

if you feel that the dealer has bad service file a complaint with the austrailian verson of the better business bureau that is the quickest way to get a dealer to shape up.