Hello, my name is Anthony. I have a 07 Hyundai tiburon that I had the timing belt and water pump replaced on two days ago. I am very concerned that my engine has been damaged due to improper installation of the crankshaft pulley. When I first went to pick up the car I started it and could immediately tell something was wrong. Upon inspection the pulley was wobbling extremely. After telling the mechanic and him taking the pulley back off he tells me a new pulley will be needed due to it was damaged on the removal ( something about the aftermarket pulley fitting into the crank gear, causing a separation during removal). Now after the car is back together it seems to be running smooth, but I am hearing very Strange sounds that my engine has never made. First noise was a slight squeak after rpm’s come down, the second is a type of wobbly hum while holding 1-2 thousand rpm, and the third is while the ac is on there is a loud hum that increases with rpm ( it’s almost like the regular noise when turning on the ac but it is much louder). I also feel like it doesn’t quite have the power it had before. Could this be caused by the timing being off, or did my crankshaft get damaged some how. Also I’m fairly positive the mechanic installed the crank bolt with an impact and not a torque wrench. Does anyone have advise
I don’t know what your best course of action is at this point. It is easy to separate a crankshaft pulley while removing it if you don’t have the proper tool to remove that particular crankshaft pulley. I can forgive the mechanic for not having an unlimited tool budget, but he should have noticed that he damaged the pulley and not tried to reuse it hoping that you would not notice. I can also forgive him for using an impact wrench to install it. That is not a particularly torque-sensitive application, and it is likely quite difficult to hold that pulley from turning while torquing it down.
Given what you know, it is possible that he did other things that caused the other noises you are hearing. It is also possible that you are a bit more sensitive to unusual noises because of your recent experience. I would be cautious about letting this guy work on that car anymore, but whether you ask him to check on the noises depends on your read of him and how concerned he is to make sure that the job was done correctly.
I took it to a couple other mechanics, told them the whole story, and both of them told me it sounds like the alternator bearing is making the noise, and that could be creating the noise from my ac due to extra load from the bad bearing, which could also cause the slight power lose. They both say they doubt my crankshaft was damaged. In theory it’s sounds possible, thanks for your time, I’ll post what happens after I change the alternator.