Had timing belt changed by trusted garage. At first the car seemed to sound higher pitch, gizmo like a dc motor. Then after 2 days of 15 minute drives back and forth from work I start to hear knocking like somethings loose near the left front wheel or gas pedal. The sound is very noticable and was not present before. It is also leaking clear fluids under the transmission but looks like coolant.
Have you taken your mystery vehicle back to this trusted garage, and described the symptoms in detail? Via cyberspace, this problem is not easy to diagnose, but a good mechanic who has already been paid for repairs on this vehicle should be able to provide some relief for you, and he is honor-bound to help you–unless he is unscrupulous.
Fluids–by design–are not usually “clear”. Trans fluid is pinkish-red, coolant is either greenish or red/pink, and motor oil–unless it is pristine–is usually brownish. Can you capture some of this fluid on a paper towel, and provide a more complete description of its odor and its viscosity?
I will take photos and a video clip on the knocking shortly. I am actually helping out at the garage. Last friday was my first day. I did explain the problem noticed to him. I forget what he said it might be but he suggested I take the engine cover off and adjust the screws to .010 or .012. which we might get to soon. He said it’s ok to drive around for now but I won’t get the power until the adjustment. But the knocking has got me worried that I might damage something in the long run. The knock happens just when the car moves, whether its reverse or forward. It knocks going into 2nd gear and 3rd or when speed increase. a bump can add to the knock during those moment, but bumps in the road will not add to it after a certain speed. It stops knocking when the speed is consistent.
Mystery vehicle, turn what screws, helping out at garage ( is this a real garage ?) plus getting really strange advice from mechanic. I say forget pictures and video and go to a different mechanic.
I suggest checking for a loose motor mount… Immediately if not sooner.
The timing belt on most vehicles is either in the front, or on the passenger side (right side for US) of the car. Since the knock is coming from the left side, the timing belt may be a coincidence; i.e. it was about to happen anyway. Clicking noises, especially during start-up, can sometime occur if the valves are not adjusted properly. Maybe that is what the mechanic meant by adjusting the “screws”. Valve clearance adjustments can be in that range as I recall. Valve clearance adjustment typically isn’t part of a timing belt job, but the timing belt does drive the camshaft, and the valve clearance is the distance between the camshaft lobes and what they push on, so it is sort of related. Again, not likely a result of the timing belt change tho. The advice above about taking it back so the shop can hear the sound is the best route. It may be something simple like a heat shield that has come loose.
I tend to agree with Rod Knox about a loose motor mount.
As for the shop, I’m a bit suspect of them in that they would advise you to remove a valve cover and adjust the valves.
My assumption is that your mechanical expertise is not very high and a novice can easily get into trouble with a valve adjustment; meaning a ruined cylinder head.
Good point about the motor mount. On transverse engines the motor mount usually has to be partly removed to do a timing belt job. But it is usually the one on the right side, not the left. But sometimes a transmission mount in the center has to be loosened.
@jkou’s post reminded me of this thread
The front motor mount must be removed from many FWDs to get at the timing belt. Broken bolts, bolts left out, bolts over torqued and broken, etc, all come to mind from the symptoms.
I also hope this issue of power is not something that cropped up after the belt change and is being blamed on valve lash.
I’m wondering if this mystery vehicle is an older Civic or Accord, where the timing belt was still on the driver’s side . . . ?
On the four cylinder Honda engines the timing belt is on the drivers side.
On V6 engines, it’s on passenger the side.
Tester