Frankie:
Do you have a picture of the old shredded belt?
If it shows signs of being sliced or torn from the side, that would help reinforce the theory the spacer was installed backwards.
I would also look at both sides of the spacer to see if there are any markings showing it was installed backwards. This is a longshot, but there might be very faint scratches, indentations or depressions on it from being installed backwards.
I would also look at the outer edge of the spacer, toward the circumference, to see if itâs been âcleanedâ off from rubbing on and cutting the belt.
As I told you earlier, what happens when a belt breaks on an interference fit engine the intake valves in the head get bent. This does NOT mean the motor is destroyed. Itâs fixable with cylinder head work. If the engine had 250k miles then I might balk at fixing it.
All that has to be done is to remove the valve cover and check for excessive valve lash on certain valves.
Since you have already ponied up an engine replacement cost to these guys I have to ask if you are considering legal action against them. If not, agonizing over this is going to beat you down. What would I do? Take them to small claims.
@ok4450 yes I realize this is true. Honda sold me on the engine because it would have cost more for THEM to rebuild it, I realize now in retrospect that if I had done the research to call people that did engine rebuilds and figure that out it would have been cheaper. But I needed my car back for work (can not work without it, can not rent a car or van because could not find the right set up for my needs) ASAP and Honda had the engine replaced within the week. Itâs neither here nor there now because it is done. Just to recap: letâs call the shop that originally replaced the timing belt Toddâs. Toddâs replaced the timing belt, two months later it broke, had it towed to Toddâs to figure out why my car wasnât running, after having it the whole weekend they said t was timing belt, couldnât figure out why, but not their fault. Towed it to Honda dealership for second opinion. Honda convinced me to replace the engine and they did that work. Toddâs has never offered to help with the situation or replace the engine. I am not agonizing, I am trying to understand what happened and if the original shop can in fact to be proven to be at fault or not. I will not have an attorney and frankly am guessing I will not be able to find an expert witness because who wants to do with all of this if they donât have to. So either I pack it in and say I just eat the $5050 or I try to figure this out. Everyone is telling me different stuff so I am trying to get to the facts. Could something in the engine INTERNALLY (not yelling just stressing this word) have caused this failure? Everything externally has been verified to not be the issue. Honda says itâs not possible anything internal caused the failure for reasons stated above (would cause camshaft to seize etc), other small engine repair places tell me the engine would have to get ripped about for $1000+ to prove. Not sure which is true. @tester Honda is talking me this engine does not have a guide plate and those are typically for cars with timing belts. Is this false? Thank you!
@JoeMario the original shop (we are calling them Toddâs now for less confusion) never provided the belt. It was very very shredded when I saw it on the ground the first day, looked like a pile of dust. Honda is telling me this car 2012 Honda Pilot touring, does not have a guide plate.
Just curious here. Does anyone else make it a habit to start engines to inspect the timing belt while running before installing the timing cover, etc.?
Cool, well at least we got that figured out! Yes I can see how that would be an issue and easy to mess up. Now letâs see what Honda says. Wish I had some truth serum in my back pocket!
Iâm fairly sure that every State licenses mechanics, and at least most states have a part of the DMV or the Department of Consumer Affairs or some other Agency that is interested in hearing and deciding consumer complaints. If I were you I would go to the website of your State government - for me itâs www.ca.gov - and search for mechanic complaint. If that doesnât work, try calling the office of your local elected representative to the State government office and ask them how to file a complaint with the correct State agency. Then do it. You donât have to be a mechanic to explain yourself.
These magazine shows like Dateline have done several shows on shoddy mechanics. The worse type of mechanic is one you pay for a job, but itâs never done. Something like a timing belt is the perfect job. Oil changes or transmission fluid changes are the biggest. This mechanic could fit into this category.
If you do take this guy to small claims court you do NOT need an attorney. Simply pay a filing fee and show up at the appointed time.
Iâve been into small claims probably half a dozen times; either suing someone or acting as an expert witness for some mechanical issue. May not mean anything, but Iâve never lost yet.
There was a woman on this forum a dozen years ago whose shop botched her Subaru manual transmisssion. I knew from the tale what happened and offered to help her online.
I sent a few photos of a disassembled Subaru transmission with the problem area highlighted and 2/3 page long tech explanation of why.
Never heard anything back. Three or four years later she sent me an email apologizing for not responding but she stated she took them to court and won in a slam dunk. Five minutes and it was all over for the shop. They had to refund every dime they received from her; and rightfully so.
Ya so basiclly Honda doesnât seem willing to examine the timing belt plate and speculate about what any marks would mean. Been trying to work on them all day. I donât know if I should just leave it at that as itâs true, it is not my job to find the cause. I have the dealership saying based on everything it would seem itâs the part or install. Iâm not a mechanic, I just happen to be someone that likes to get to the bottom of stuff. And I also have the orginal shop being rude and sneaky. I guess we will just see what happens. Iâm feeling really down right now like everyone is just out to make a penny and take advantage. But I do appechiate everyoneâs advice. I wish I had come here first thing because itâs the only place anyone is telling me the truth. if anyone knows someone willing to be expert witness that is in New England but doesnât cost an arm and leg please let me know
@Tester thatâs so interesting! That seems to match perfectly why my timing belt was shredded. If it was old or a malfunction in the material the most likely it would snap cleanly probably right? But this particular part shreds the belt but at a rate that it seems, based on that link, you can drive you car for a while and not know it. I tried calling timing belt manufacturers today to see if they had hard facts on how improper installation of certain parts causes a certain pattern of damage on timing belts. I was thinking maybe something like this plate would wear the underside of a belt so maybe the car still worked fine (as mine did) but the belt was slowly getting thinner. Or now that I type that I donât know if that would be true because the underside is where all those notches are right so that would cause a skip in timing? Maybe it wears from the top, or just takes chunks out as the poster in that link said. I guess with the reenforcement from the wire cables in the belt it could last a while with parts missing. It definetly seems like the best candidate for something that could cause slow wear. Would marks on the timing belt plate always be evident if it was installed backwards?
