Just had timing belt changed and car is very loud now

[IHateMyGalant]

Just had the timing belt, balance belt and tensioners changed. Now when the engine is revved, it is 5 times louder inside the car. The mechanic (not dealer) said he couldn't get the timing marks to line up exactly but got them as close as he could. I'm guessing this noise is due to the timing being off? The car seems to run ok. Is damage being done? I plan on taking it back Monday when they re-open. Can timing be adjusted by rotating the distributor like on older American cars? :evil:

[Dark7GHawk]

If I remember correctly, and at least on my car. 7G's don't have distributors.

[GottMan]

Don't worry, it's doesn't have anything to do with the belt being lined up properly...it's your belt. The belt is cheap quality, I have the same problem too. Replace the timing belt with a more high quality one and problem should be solved with no more loud squeling during cold starts.

[Ositoyb]

just in case they refuse to do anything, get "in writing" that you tried to have the car fixed, and that they acknowledge there WAS a loud noise, after they changed the timing belt, and that they refused to fix the problem. just my opinion.

[JiP]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IHateMyGalant)</div><div class='quotemain'>Just had the timing belt, balance belt and tensioners changed. Â*Now when the engine is revved, it is 5 times louder inside the car. Â*The mechanic (not dealer) said he couldn't get the timing marks to line up exactly but got them as close as he could. Â*I'm guessing this noise is due to the timing being off? Â*The car seems to run ok. Â*Is damage being done? Â*I plan on taking it back Monday when they re-open. Â*Can timing be adjusted by rotating the distributor like on older American cars? Â* :evil:</div>

All 7gs sept the GS have distributers. You can not adjust timing on 96+ Galants, the distributers dont rotate.

As for the noise I dont really know, however, your mechanic is a jackass if he couldn't line up the gears, he shouldnt be doing the belt then. Im guessing if he dont know how to line up the gears on a dsm, he also doesnt know how to properly set the tension on the belt and that could be a major problem. I would take it to someone who knows what their doing to redo it. Timing belts are kinda important to have set correctly on these engines to prevent having to rebuild your engine =D

[Moosh]

Rob is RIGHT, you need to have this redone NOW. He probably has your balance shaft out of phase and timing off. My car was loud as HELL when my timing was off and balance shafts were out of phase. Do not let him get away with it, go to him tell him that the dealership said that he did it completely wrong and that you want some of your money back so you can pay the dealer do redo it properly.

[rfpa1]

I guess, the mechanic is not that great or interested in this job.

I did my engine last novemeber. Each sprocket have a timming mark, You only need to do this with the covers and belts off first. Then put the belts and check, then check and check and then put the cover. The tension is done by the auto tensioner by the water pump and some hand presure. (USE THE REQUIRED TORQUE HERE OR ELSE)

(With the engine on, it takes some more time, but if you have alift its easier.)

The valves, have a notch or dent on the sprocket and then the mark ins on the valve cover. (It depends on sohc or dohc).

The balance shaft is the one that you have to careful and rotate 180 degrees. (I removed mine so I do not have to worry)

Good luck. Have it fixed now before it could damage the valves.

[IHateMyGalant]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rfpa1)</div><div class='quotemain'>I guess, the mechanic is not that great or interested in this job.

I did my engine last novemeber. Â* Each sprocket have a timming mark, You only need to do this with the covers and belts off first. Â*Then put the belts and check, then check and check and then put the cover. Â* The tension is done by the auto tensioner by the water pump and some hand presure. Â*(USE THE REQUIRED TORQUE HERE OR ELSE)

(With the engine on, it takes some more time, but if you have alift its easier.)

The valves, have a notch or dent on the sprocket and then the mark ins on the valve cover. (It depends on sohc or dohc).

The balance shaft is the one that you have to careful and rotate 180 degrees. Â*(I removed mine so I do not have to worry)

Good luck. Â* Â*Have it fixed now before it could damage the valves.</div>





You removed your balance shaft? Don't you get a lot of vibration now? Anyway, the car goes in to a different mechanic tomorrow so hopefully all will be well and no damage has occurred. Glad this only has to be done every 60k. I think this last one went over 100k but it still looked pretty good.

[IHateMyGalant]

Ok, so I took it to a different shop and they said the timing was lined up fine but the balance belt may be off and they would have to tear into further to see. They suggested taking it back to the original mechanic and have him fix that. They also said an upper motor mount was busted. Took it to original mechanic and he said balance belt was right on but also said the motor mount was busted. So as I speak, that is being changed out. Can a mechanic break a motor mount? There was no mention of it when he originally changed out the belt a week ago.

[Ositoyb]

i doubt it, never heard of a mechanic breaking a mount. it might just be that you have too many miles on your car, and you do need it changed. i have all my mounts busted, and im waiting to buy my new ones.

[IHateMyGalant]

Got the motor mount changed and no help. The inside of my car sounds like a "crotch rocket" motorcycle when I rev the engine and the car is still slower. Maybe I just got a cheap belt? I still think something is off, even though two different mechanics say all is good in there. :evil: Guess I'll try the dealer now. Third time's the charm.

[rfpa1]

Ok:

Try this:

1) take the cover off the timming belt off. (The top cover by the valve body). See if the belt shows any signs of abrasion (like something is touching it). If you do - you need a new belt. (1st)

2) the sound can you be more specific on where do you hear it. I did my belts and forgot to adjust the pulley that sits on the automatic adjuster and that one was making noises and causing the inside to hit the water pump.

3) If I was you and have some time, pull the belt pulley the cranshaft pulley out and pull the plastic cover out and take a look at it. You should be able to start the engine and run it for a few ( not more than 10 if the engine is cold or 5 if is not). and check for the noise.

I think that the noise you are hearing is from one of the pulleys (there are

3 ) and its time to go or it came defective from factory. I will be carefull because if one of them locks on you or starts wobling it will cause the timming belt to jump.

4) one last item that could be causing this noise is that the belt was adjusted (tensioned) tooooooooo much and it can break. Normally I do the belt on friday run it for that day and sunday and go back and check the tension on all of the bolts and belts. So far I have never had a problem.

5) if you need a good belt, try to get (I forgot the exact name) a belt that is made by a german company, This belt have a metal string running in the tread and it does live to its name. I had one and when my balance shaft belt broke, it caused the belt to jump and got cut in the inside, but it did not jump or snap like the lower quality ones. I got them I think from autozone or thepartsbin.com I can not remember, I might have the bill some where and I will be looking for it because my belt is due in a few more miles (220K miles.)
I have 195k

Well have them check the pulleys,
and do inspect all you mounts specially the rear mount and the tranny that sits under the air filter area. the other front engine mount - you should see the damage very easy.

Goo luck and keep us posted.
anything helse give a yell.

[JiP]

First off how could they tell u if the timing was correct and not be able to tell you if the balance shaft belt was off? Its not possible. To check the timing you have to line up all the gears with the timing belt covers off, which means they are lining up the the gear on the balance shaft belt as well.

Obviously ur goin to mechanics that dont know anything about mitsu's or are just stupid... take it into mitsubishi itself and have them rip u off...but atleast it will work...uh probably...

[IHateMyGalant]

Yeah, it's going to the dealer next week sometime. I'm getting tired of this. Imagine sticking a playing card in a fan, and that is the sound I hear when the engine goes over 2500rpms. I've lost a lot of power too. Everything points to the timing or balance belts being off a little. Maybe I just have a cheap belt. The kit was put out by Conti Tech which I thought was a big name company. Drove an RX-8 on Saturday and liked it, so maybe it's time for a change!

[rfpa1]

https://www.thegalantcenter.org/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif any updates.

[IHateMyGalant]

Yeah, the car just rolled out of the shop today. $392 later, it's fixed. It turns out that the oil shaft was 180 degrees off and causing the noise and vibration. Someone had mentioned that as a possibility a while back. $70 of that cost went to getting the A/C running again. So, I guess I'm off to the original mechanic to try to get my money back. This should be fun! :evil:

[manybrews]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IHateMyGalant)</div><div class='quotemain'>Yeah, the car just rolled out of the shop today. Â*$392 later, it's fixed. Â*It turns out that the oil shaft was 180 degrees off and causing the noise and vibration. Â*Someone had mentioned that as a possibility a while back. Â*$70 of that cost went to getting the A/C running again. Â*So, I guess I'm off to the original mechanic to try to get my money back. Â*This should be fun! :evil:</div>
the oil pump gear is also a balance shaft (there are 2 in these engines).
however, the oil pump balance shaft is geared on a 2 to 1 reduction, meaning you could have the timing marks lined up, but your balance shaft is one full rotation out of phase. there is a hole in the side of the enigne to verify whether or not its in proper phase.
basically, your original mechanic was a moron.
good luck getting money back.