Hi all,

So I have a 2001 Montero XLS. Great car, etc. I took it in to get the timing belt replaced for maintenance purposes. Well they didn't align the timing right, so I get a call and they said that they started the engine and it was making noise. So there might be valve damage but they couldn't take in the engine shop because it was closed until Monday. This car has never had any engine problems and the engine sounds brand new.

So today (Monday) I call them to get an update, I talked to a different guy and he said everything is fine, and the car will be ready this afternoon and there was no damage, the timing was fixed and everything is fine. This sounds weird to me? First they are saying the engine was making noise and might have been damaged, now they are saying they fixed the timing and everything is fine.

I know enough about cars to know that if the timing is wrong and you start the car it can mess up the valves. So when my car is 'ready' how should I proceed? I am not sure if they took the engine heads to the engine shop to get them checked or not. I don't want to sign off on anything unless I know my car is ok. Even if the engine sounds okay, how will I know for sure? Should I request they do a compression check or something? Insightful advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

You have a right to be skeptical. Sounds like a cover up. If I were you, I would demand to see the shop manager, mechanic who did the work and whoever called you at the same time when you pick up the car. Between all of them they should be able to tell you exactly what happened. Dont let them off easy - really grill them about the call and what happened. You may go over there and listen to your truck for 5 sec and instally know if the valves are bent. I dont think there is anything that they could put in there to "mask" bent valves. Is it possible that they corrected the timing a few degrees and avoiding major catastrophic damage? I dont know... I would not trust this shop to give you a honest opinion on follow-on testing that they would do for you.
So this is what I would do:

1) Ask manager and mechanic about call - really grill them. How was prob
2) ask them to start car. If car sounds fine, rev motor to 2-3k rpms. Then go for a test ride with mechanic to take engine to redline. Listen for prblems, feel power - make sure you are driving
2) If anything sounds different, promptly return to shop.
3) Leave shop, call attorney. You eventually would want to take to 3rd party (dealer) to verify source of noise.
4) If everything sounds fine, yengine pulls OK, you may want to pay bill and write something on the invoice that you received call. Not sure what else you can do...

 

Dont forget that honest mistake could have happened as well - either the mechanic over reacted and it wasnt making noise, they got your car confused with another, it was slightly off timing and there was no damage. Either way, I would think a road test would verify if motor is not correct. If it sounds different, push back on shop and do not take delivery of vehicle. If they offer to fix motor, I would have trouble letting them do this. This could be big money to fix and you better have your cards in order!

Let us know how it works out.

 

Thank you both for your responses. I wish I had seen it before I got my car, lol. But I grilled them and so far it seems ok. I am driving it around to make sure it is ok.

Apparently what happened was they got the wrong specs for the timing. Which I believe, since Montero and Montero Sport gets mixed up all the time, this has happened to me when I try getting a part on my own. So they had to wait until Monday to get the specs from the dealer. I asked if they did a compression check and they said yes but I don't think they did. But the engine sounds fine.

I'll keep you posted, thanks.

 

Congrats! Hopefully there is no issue. When changing the belt, you set the motor at top dead center. That way if the cams rotate during timing belt removal, youll know how to set the cam pulleys back to where they should be. When doing the timing belt on my wifes montero I was thankful I set motor to TDC -both cams moved from TDC during belt removal. The cams at TDC are barely stable due and any slight movement will cause the cams to rotate with force. There is no timing adjustment...

Maybe the shop was not as careful and when changing the belt, the upper cams moved on them. They probably got it almost right but maybe off a tooth or something. All they did probably was bring it back into the shop, find TDC and get valve cams back where they belong.

Setting TDC is standard practice for timing belts on every car Ive worked on. However, the monty was the first where the cam actually moved while the belt was off. Scary knowing that if you dont put it together right, you will ruin the motor!!!

 

Thanks for the reply tj90!

I am, however having issues since I got the car back.


I am going back to the mechanic today. I've never had issues with this car. I took this car to the dealership (not the mechanic but the actual Mitsu dealership) the other week to get it checked out and everything was fine including the transmission. I took this car to the mechanic for preventative maintenance (new timing belt) and I get my car back and it is revving and acting crazy. I figured I'd give it a day to drive it around, but it’s been over a day now and it is still acting up.

To summarize the symptoms:
-engine is sluggish when in park or idle
-when not giving it enough gas, engine sometimes almost dies (Battery and A/T light come on at that point)
-when driving at highway speed, engine revs and sticks when shifting up (this car is an automatic and should shift smoothly)
-when driving at highway speed and decelerating engine revs and car slows down extremely fast (like down shifting two gears in a manual)
-when in drive or reverse, car hardly moves unless you give it gas
-engine can redline, this engine has never been able to hit past 6000RPM

Anyone have any ideas or advice? I really need help on this one. Thanks so much.

 

I had the exact same symptoms as you and the crank sensor indicator was broken off. It is the part for the timing. The dealership had to open it back up and replace it. I think they almost broke it and it then final gave the ghost about a month later. So it sounds like they broke the sensor when they did the timing belt. It was about $800 worth of work. I would have them check it and let them fix it for free and if not take it to court.

 

Thanks for the reply Rumplecat! Should I tell them that it is the crankshaft senor when I take it in or should I just tell them what the symptoms are?

 

Ok I took my car in this afternoon and they hooked it up to the computer and it said the issue was the EGR valve. Apparently they didn't reconnect it. So they reconnected it and it is better (doesn't seem to want to die, doesn't redline anymore) but the shifting still is rough--though not as bad. It will still rev for a second while shifting when going highway speed. Could it still be the crank senor indicator?

 

Im sorry I used the wrong terminolgy I got my invoice out and it was the cranshaft blade that broke off and they had to replace the blade, sprocket and Timing belt spacer. But it cleared up the problem. I would take it back and tell them it is not up to par and they need to make it right. Hope this helps.

James