I have an 01 Honda Accord DX (the non-VTEC 4 cylinder) and recently had a timing belt done by a local shop. I came back with two complaints (see below), they looked the car over and said they everything is fine...well its not, they suck, and I'm moving on...I've outlined the two major changes below...

1. the engine seems louder (particularly while accelerating) and has a more noticeable vibration in the cabin while idling and accelerating. At first I assumed perhaps a motor mount could be bad, but considering that this occurred directly after the timing belt job, It sounds to me like that would be quite a coincidence...I also visually checked the rubber and all mounts look good. My best guess now is that when the timing belt was changed the shop perhaps did not reset the balancer shaft to sync with the timing belt which would explain the increase in vibration. Now the vibration in the car nothing earth shattering, it really is more a nuisance than anything alarming, does this sound like something that a mistimed balancer shaft would create? Opinions?

2. There is more noise coming from the timing belt (mostly noticeable while idleing) Can I safely assume the belt is probably just overtightened, or is there something else I should consider as the problem prior to adjusting the timing belt tension.

Needless to say I will not be going back to that shop.

Thanks,

-Brent

 

I would really like to know the answer to this. Ditto with a '92 Accord LX - goes in for a timing belt/water pump/valve adjustment, then comes out with a rough idle. After 2 years, still puzzled.

Donno if it's unrelated, but I have the oil-in-the-spark-plugs issue.

On Volvos (my daily driver's a 740) there's an idler/tensioner that can cause issues if it's not replaced with the belt - usually on Volvos it just shreds the belt (non-interference engine -whew!).

Ari


Modified by SpazMan at 8:39 PM 4/27/2008

 

1. when you did a visual inspection of the mounts did you also try revving the engine and see if it rocks at all?

2. if the sound you are hearing is a whining sound that gets louder with rpm then it could be over-tightened and I would try to re-tension it and see if that helps.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TouringAccord &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">1. when you did a visual inspection of the mounts did you also try revving the engine and see if it rocks at all?

2. if the sound you are hearing is a whining sound that gets louder with rpm then it could be over-tightened and I would try to re-tension it and see if that helps.</TD></TR></TABLE>

To anwer your questions...

1. I had a friend hold the brake while revving. There was a slight movement up when the load was first applied and then when the load was removed it would settle back again, maybe a 1/4"-1/2" of overall movement.

2. Doesnt get louder with RPM, in fact it really only seems to be noticable at idle.

Thanks,

-Brent

 

I took some time to notice when the vibration was the worst. Its definatly worst at idle and while accelorating. When coasting (in gear) its really not that bad...I'm starting to lean more towards a bad motor mount. I'm going to put the car up, lift the engine up a little and see if anything glaring pops out at me.

-Brent

 

I didn;t catch what tranny you had. If its an auto, I think your year may have a vacuum operated rear motor mount. One of the techs might have accidently cut a line or otherwise damaged the mount.

I think that could explain idle vibration...

sohc

 

Yes it is the auto with the vacuum operated rear mount. My chiltons manual has a whole checklist to verify if the rear mount is working properly, so I'm going to go through that this weekend and see if thats potentially a cause of the problem.

-Brent

 

because of the situation- the fact that the t-belt was just replaced, i'd look at that and ignore mount issues untill the belt area was completely checked out.

i know you don't want to deal with that shop again, but they should discount your bill or fix the problem for no additional charge.

i wouldn't rule out the timing belt being off a tooth or two... you may also want to check tighness of the bolts on the driver's side motor mount as well as the front crossmember (under the splash shield and radiator. commonly this will be loosened and lowered to allow more room to work.)

if you had brought your car to me to work on, i would pull the front of the engine down and check everything: belt tension, all bolts...everything

 

change valve cover gaskets, sparkplugs, and check wiring at both the distributor end and sparkplug end. if there is corrosion replace wires and distributor cap+rotor. <TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hondamark35 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">because of the situation- the fact that the t-belt was just replaced, i'd look at that and ignore mount issues untill the belt area was completely checked out.

i know you don't want to deal with that shop again, but they should discount your bill or fix the problem for no additional charge.

i wouldn't rule out the timing belt being off a tooth or two... you may also want to check tighness of the bolts on the driver's side motor mount as well as the front crossmember (under the splash shield and radiator. commonly this will be loosened and lowered to allow more room to work.)

if you had brought your car to me to work on, i would pull the front of the engine down and check everything: belt tension, all bolts...everything</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

One thing to add..the idle vibration does NOT occur when the engine is ON and in Park. When i shift down to Drive, Neutral or any other position the idle vibration comes back....does that help narrow down the potential problem at all?? I'm checking the motor mounts tomorrow afternoon.

-Brent

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Spookygeek &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">One thing to add..the idle vibration does NOT occur when the engine is ON and in Park. When i shift down to Drive, Neutral or any other position the idle vibration comes back....does that help narrow down the potential problem at all?? I'm checking the motor mounts tomorrow afternoon.

-Brent</TD></TR></TABLE>
you can pretty much rule out the timing belt, if it was off a tooth it would always idle rough, and feel very funny when you hit the gas, i would look into the rear mount. especially if it is doing it at idle with the trans in drive