At 100K, I had my 100K tuneup including a timing belt change. After serious issues, another mechanic let me know that my previous mechanic inserted a key incorrectly. The key rubbed down and fell out. My car had major problems at 130K miles. It had trouble getting through the first 3 gears. The previous mechanic paid for another mechanic to fix. Now I am curious, what problems should I expect from this error? I ran the car pretty hard for 40K miles. Thank you for your help.
If a timing belt is changed incorrectly, what problems to the engine should I expect?
i own a repair shop,and if the second mechanic corrected this ,you may not have any problems from it,but it would pay to be careful in it,i know running one and it out of time isn't good for it,about the only thing id be watching right now would be oil consumption,and any heat rising on it,i have gotten them that was run out of time,and sometimes later on you may get a burnt valve from it,but this is only sometimes,but keep a good eye on it,it can cause valve problems from it,and over heating problems with it,,not to mention the possibility of it maybe blowing a head gasket,but i wouldn't drive around worried about it right now,all you can do is drive it and see,good luck with it,maybe you,ll get lucky,and it will be alright from here on out,hope this help,s.
If a timing belt is changed incorrectly, what problems to the engine should I expect?
Car will run terrible, want to misfire, sound horrible.
It would not run well. Your timeing chain is exactly that it affects the timeing.
Well if the timing belt was change incorrectly it would not mess with your transmission. It would probalbly mess with the intake and exhaust valves on the top half of the engine. It can cause major problems with the engine. Some cases you will have to just readjust the valve timing, get a new top half of the engine, or take the head (top half of engine) to a machine shop and have them fix the problem.
I don't think that the key can be inserted incorrectly. It can only go in one way. If the belt fell off you wouldn't have to worry about shifting gears because the engine wouldn't start. Maybe you've misunderstood what your mechanic is saying. Without a timing belt your engine won't function at all.
If the current mechanic fixed it correctly you shouldn't have too many problems. The components that turn the timing belt may be damaged but if that was fixed then you have nothing to worry about. If the belt snapped while you were driving that would cause a lot worst problems.
Impossible to say from you description. If the engine is an interference fit and the key fell out the engine would crash, otherwise just stop running. If the keyway was worn the gear would need to be replaced or re-machined or if it was a key into the crankshaft that would have to be remachined or cleaned up to take a new key. If it were done right, no problem. Your belt might have jumped a notch out of alignment without anything to do with the key.
