Hi Guys,

I need some advice. Last week I changed the timing belt on my '01 Galant. Unfortunately I made a mistake putting it on (tension wasn’t correct) and after turning it over I nicked a valve in the first cylinder and lost compression. I then took the head off and replaced the intake and exhaust value. I put everything back together but now the car is vibrating around 3k RPM and higher. It isn't that bad at low speeds but is especially apparent over 65. At that speed and higher, there are vibrations in the steering wheel, pedals, and shifter. Around 80 the whole car hums due to the vibration. It also vibrates pretty bad when I am accelerating. Does anyone know if my balance shaft may be off a tooth or did I f*** up something in the head? I will probably have to take it to a shop to get looked at but wanted to know if anyone had any ideas first.

Thanks for any info you might have.

 

Sounds like your balance shafts are off time. The left balance shaft (driven by the small belt) just needs to be aligned with the mark on the oil pump case for it to be properly timed. The right balance shaft (driven by the main timing belt) needs a special procedure to time it perfectly- you can't just line it up with the mark on the oil pump case and throw the belt around it. You'll need to time the left balance shaft properly to eliminate the vibration.

Joel, CA

 

Actually if he's got the 2.4L like in my '96, then he's almost home free: it has only one balancer. Maybe the balancer is installed backwards... It is supposedly very easy to do on that engine. But if it's a v6, I have no idea, sorry.