New timing belt, new accessory belts, new vibration...

[macster]

Hey guys,
I've got a gen 1 SLE with ~103k. Just got my timing belt, both accessory belts, and the water pump replaced, and since then the car's been exhibiting an unusually rough idle after warming up. The engine itself sounds ok, but the car seems to shake, and the tach wiggles like it never has before (between ~650-850). I've poked around and there's nothing I can see awry, but I'm no mechanic. I hope it's just me not willing to admit the car's getting old, but it showed up pretty suddenly after this last bit of maintenance.

On that note, anyone know of a trustworthy guy in the San Jose area? I'm going to be replacing my struts in the next couple of months, and I'm not extremely happy with the quality of work where I've been going. They're very nice and seem honest, but the mechanic has forgotten something that I caught nearly every time I've taken my car there, which only makes me wonder what else they could've forgotten.

Thanks as always. And if you have any recommendations for struts, I'd love to hear it.

[Gibson99]

check all the grounds in the timing belt area. there are 2-3 of them, and if one is off, it may not get a good ground and thus make your gauges all weird.

how does it drive? does it seem down on power? is it a 4cyl or v6?

[Pogs]

X2 to above,
gibson im sure you overlooked it - sle = v6

i always forget to think about grounds but they do cause alot of problems. definetely check those.

for the struts, are you looking because you want to lower your car, or because they are going/have gone bad. many people will tell you kyb gr2's or tociko struts. I know trdgreg lives in cali but i dont remember where. Apparently he is the guy to have work on your car. nothing but good things have been said about him.

[JamesT]

Does it surge or is it consistanly rough.

[macster]

I'll look into the grounds tomorrow afternoon. Driving it, it doesn't seem down on power, but it does seem like it sounds a little rougher or throatier than before, if that makes sense. I'm not exactly sure what you mean by surging. The vibration isn't a constant wave, it's inconsistent, as if perhaps the throttle is having to adjust all the time.

As for struts, I'm looking to replace them because when I got my tires rotated they told me my left front tire was cupping. However, I'm not against a <1" lower if it doesn't cost much. I don't want to have to invest in new coils yet though, but I've heard replacing the bushings with poly urethane is a good move. Really I wish I knew more about the suspension. I think I'm going to pick up one of those maintenance manuals, just to have around.

[macster]

Alright, it seems to be worked out. So a few days after I posted, the CEL came on. Since the car still didn't feel right, I dropped it off at the same shop and asked them to take a look.

I got a call at work, saying CEL reported random misfires on 1-3-5 and told me I need new wires and plugs to the tune of $430. I was pretty immediately angered, since after talking to a few mechanically inclined friends of mine, I thought it most likely had to do with timing.

I told him I had just had the timing belt replaced at his shop, to which he knowingly replied "yes." He insisted, however, that the timing belt has nothing to do with the problem. But I insisted that they check the timing belt.

Lo and behold, I get a call from him 3 hours later where he apologized and told me that I was right, one of the cams was off.

Needless to say, that mechanic won't be touching my car again ever. I simply won't take bullshit and sloppy work. I have a feeling that the first time through, the car was rushed since the mechanic had to come in on his day off to finish the job.

On the bright side, the car runs better than ever now! And I've got a good recommendation of a mechanic who's a friend of a friend of mine.

[solara90]

when i first read it i was going to suggest timing. Glad you got it all worked out!