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Ignition Timing Problem?


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this problem has been coming up since timing belt replaced about one year ago:

turn off the car, wait for 3 or 5 minutes, start the car again, it (I feel it's the engine) shakes alot, doesn't respond to gas, the shaking slowly disappears. When the shaking is gone, the engine shuts down, engine, oil lights are on then.

Everytime this happens, I need to wait another 1 or 2 minutes and to start again.

Also when I drive on highway, as the speed goes up to 50 or 60 miles, there is abnormally loud noise, some kind of rumble.

has anybody faced this wired problem?

I want to go to the mechanic who replaced the timing belt for me, but it has been one year, waranty expires, I want to have an idea what is wrong before I go.

Thanks

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It does not sound like the timing belt. I assume that the check engine light is on, so I would recomend having the codes read. Without knowing what codes are present, my first guess would be a fuel pressure related problem.

thanks for the reply, George, the engine light is not on, I tried to read codes in autozone, but failed.

I went to the mechanic today, and was told tune up may help solving the problem.

I don't think I can trust that mechanic's digonostics anymore, spending >2k bucks there. Here is why.

They replaced my brake pads one year ago, then the scratching braking noise appears ever since. They said it is the rotors, so I paid 300 for rotors too. But the problem never ends. Only last night when I was reading the factory service manual, which I downloaded from this forum, I suspected they didnt replace wear indicators and anti-sqeal shims when they replaced the pads.

Guess what, I went there and asked them this morning, and they indeed didnt change it! Another 107 bucks were spent to order and replace front shims...

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Odd that you are not able to read codes, VERY strange that it would run that bad without getting so much as a random miss-fire code. Perhaps the issue is with the ECM itself, but that would require further troubleshooting (I am not suggesting replacing the ECM right now).

If you do not have any communication, you could check fuses, there is 1 fuse that supplies 12 to the OBDII diag port, if that is blown you would not get power to the scanner.

Do you notice any issues with slow cranking when starting, or any other symptoms? If so take the car to you local auto part store and ask them to check the battery/charging system.

Your previous mechanic sounds a little questionable. as far as the brake pad wear indicator, it is part of the pad, so when they replaced the pads the indicator is replaced too (although some aftermarket pads do not have wear indicators). As far as rotors, he should have been able to determine if they needed to be turned or replaced easily when he replaced the pads. Brake noise can be caused by several things, but it should be fairly easy for him to correct (many times all that needs to be done is apply anti squeal gop to the back of the pads). I am concerned that they did not replace all the the normal hardware when they first did the brakes. But to charge you again is a little outrangeous in my opinion.

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Odd that you are not able to read codes, VERY strange that it would run that bad without getting so much as a random miss-fire code. Perhaps the issue is with the ECM itself, but that would require further troubleshooting (I am not suggesting replacing the ECM right now).

If you do not have any communication, you could check fuses, there is 1 fuse that supplies 12 to the OBDII diag port, if that is blown you would not get power to the scanner.

Do you notice any issues with slow cranking when starting, or any other symptoms? If so take the car to you local auto part store and ask them to check the battery/charging system.

Your previous mechanic sounds a little questionable. as far as the brake pad wear indicator, it is part of the pad, so when they replaced the pads the indicator is replaced too (although some aftermarket pads do not have wear indicators). As far as rotors, he should have been able to determine if they needed to be turned or replaced easily when he replaced the pads. Brake noise can be caused by several things, but it should be fairly easy for him to correct (many times all that needs to be done is apply anti squeal gop to the back of the pads). I am concerned that they did not replace all the the normal hardware when they first did the brakes. But to charge you again is a little outrangeous in my opinion.

Thanks for your reply! Now I just want to find out if it is justified to replace rotors after theyve been used for 40k miles, as it will make me feel better. Or it depends on how used they are?

Anyway, a mechanic that relies on me to point out the solution is questionable indeed.

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40k sounds a little too soon to be replacing rotors. But they are easy enough to check, if it passes a visual inspection, a decent mechanic would then measure the thickness to see if they are capable of being turned. If there is any doubt, he would then measure the runout.

It is not impossible that you needed new rotors at 40k, but it is unlikely. The fact that you had to bring it back in for brake, and then they charged you for the callback! I would suggest not ever going back there.

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