Recently I brought my CRV in for a time belt change only because it was reaching the mileage of the recommended change ( 105,000 ).Since day one this car has purred like a kitten and ran like a beauty. Since I’ve taken it out of the repair shop the idle is so off that at times it feels like its going to stall out especially when 1st starting ( cold ) and it seems only when its in park but can slightly feel it at times when cruising at a lower speed. Finally after 400 miles of driving the Check engine light came on and it read mis fire. I changed the plugs,Cap/Rotor,fuel filter and added Fuel injector cleaner in it.I didnt change the wires being they have about 20,000 miles on them.Is this a coincidence or is it something the mechanics did and they are not telling me ? They say the miss has nothing to do with the work they did and want to charge me for the extra work…Thank you
PS: I also had them put new fan belts in as well
How much do you trust your mechanic? They could be negligent, or could be 100% straight with you. When you fix one thing in a car, the new and stronger parts put more strain on the weaker, older ones around them. They may have messed up, or it may just be that your CRV had something else waiting to fail.
The belt should have been changed about 5 years ago. Belts are also time and environmental dependent.
If the vehicle was running fine when you took it in and the problem was immediately apparent when you picked the vehicle up then it could be they did not align a timing mark properly.
A conscientous shop or mechanic should always double check their work before buttoning it all back up but unfortunately, many just assume they got it right (what, me make a mistake?) and send it on out.
Misaligning a mark is not that rare a thing to happen and can create other problems.
What would I do? Connect a vacuum gauge to an intake nipple and see what the gauge shows. That’s a very quick and easy first step to determine if there’s a problem with the timing marks, compression, etc.
Gauge readings will vary based on a number of factors but generally you should see about 17-18" of vacuum and the needle should be rock steady.
You should also have turned right around before even leaving the lot and brought this to their attention.
I agree with ok4450 that you made a huge mistake by not returning the vehicle to the repair shop immediately after noticing a problem. The sooner you return to the shop, the more likely they are to accept responsibility due to the simple fact that it is undeniable they made a mistake. To make matters worse, you have also attempted to fix the problem yourself, giving them another reason to not double check their work because, after all, the problem could have (in theory) surfaced after you worked on it yourself and you are now (in theory) trying to get them to fix your screw-up for free (there are people out there who do those kinds of things). Those are the two biggest mistakes people make when they leave a repair shop with a problem they didn’t have when they went in there. Your best bet now will be to take the car back to the shop that replaced the timing belt, agree to pay to have them double check their work, and hope they find something wrong with their work and will not charge you for the double-check. Unless you want to get into it to double check their work.
Water under the bridge on not taking back thereafter.
I believe if the shop finds a timing belt related issue(eg off slightly) they will repair it likely without charge.
They are just asking for payment since it may be a coincidence with bad timing potentially. They don’t want to set up expecting a free repair and then calling you for money.
OK Guys sorry if I didnt state that but I took it back a minute later did a turn around and they told me to let it run a couple of days.The very next morning I told them I will not run with the car like this and left it there…So I came back to them about 6 hours later to pick the car up and at first they tried accusing me that I knew the problem was already there before they even did the time belt and they told me I had to ride the car like that coz they cannot find the problem.So when the CEL came on I took it to them and it read " mis-fire" and they still claimed it had nothing to do with the time belt.Then I took it to another mechanic to check it out and he told me it sounds like an ignition problem not a time belt screw up thats what made me decide to do my own tune-up coz original shop refused to honor the comeback and wanted alot more money to change all ignition needs.
So again may I ask what is your opinion on what is wrong with it.As I stated the other mechanic said it didnt sound like a a misaligned mark coz it didnt sound to him as one.
Thank you
UPDATE: Even though the wires were 18 months old I did change them this morning and miss is still present " HELP "
While it may not audibly sound like a misaligned belt to him, that’s the first thing I’d check for. Did he put a vacuum gage on it as OK4450 suggested? That would definitively check the timing of the valves, which is what can become “off” when replacing a timing belt. Valves that are off will either fail to produce sufficient vacuum or fail to produce smooth vacuum.
There’s also a good diagnostic way to analyze the ignition system. Everything involved can be monitored on an oscilloscope (although actually these “traces” can be seen even on handheld equipment these days).
You need a good dignostician. But the good news is that a good idagnostician can find the problem. And if they screwed up the belt, hit them with the cost.
If this engine has balance shafts, they could have gotten them off time, that can cause a poor idle and can appear to the computer as a random misfire.
UPDATE: Even though the wires were 18 months old I did change them this morning and miss is still present " HELP "
Thank you guys from yesterday and today. I will post the outcome…thanks again…