As some of you may recall, I just had my timing belt (and water pump and seals and thermostat etc...) replaced in my '91 SE. I got all the parts new from Coz at Ultimate Z (highly recommended, btw), and had my regular mechanic do all the work.

However, my baby no longer purrs the way she used to, idles kinda rough, and now I just noticed a constant whine. Dammit.

Now, my family has been going to this mechanic for over 10 years, and we trust both his abilities and his integrity. Are these little problems to be expected after doing this much work on an 11 year old car, or did my mechanic screw up a bit?

PLease help!!!!!

 

Having done this myself just recently and learned some
valuable lessons in the process, I can say that it sounds
like he missed something. Your car should sound just the
same as it did before, replacing all those things should
not have made the idle rough or give you a whining noise
if it was done properly.

I'd check your belts first and make sure they are properly
tightened and routed properly (probably hard to get the
routing incorrect on the accessory belts as they are
different lengths and he should be able to figure out how
they need to be routed pretty readily).

He could've gotten the timing belt a tooth off on one cam
or something, the timing marks are hard to see if you are
not looking closely (the timing marks on my '93 GXE cams
are small dimples on the rear timing cover and they are hard to spot since it's painted black). Of course if the
belt is a tooth off, you will notice that the car runs like
crap when you drive it, not just idle roughly. Could also
have something to do with the tensioner, the procedure for
setting that up is "interesting" to say the least. I did
not note how it was before I removed it and replaced it with
the new one and this caused me a few anxious moments until
I got it's setting clarified.

With the way the timing belt replacement is done, there are
marks on the belt itself, timing marks by both cams and on
the cam gears, and marks on the crank gear and lower lip
thingie by the crank gear. If you get everything lined up
and the tensioner set properly, it should run just fine. He
might have to tear it all down again, look for signs of
something not quite right, and recheck that all the timing
marks line up. Even the best mechanic has a bad day...

Oh and I agree with you on Coz at Ultimate Z, good guy to
work with; I've bought a bunch of stuff from him and saved
myself a bundle.

 

when I installed my ported heads + cams my car wouldn't idle very good either. It turned out to be my ignition timing was way off. This might not be the problem with your car but its worth a shot.

 

Nismo, please give more details. Is it running rough all the time, or only when it's cold, or only at idle, etc. Is it ok at higher RPMs or rough at all RPMs? I just occured to me that maybe if it's rough only when cold this could be due to the thermostat being installed improperly or even upside down. Theroetically if this is the case the car should start & run OK for the first few seconds then turn rough because the the engine thinks it's warming up but isn't because the thermostat is stuck diverting coolant to the rad. Or maybe it's the wrong temperature rated thermostat.

Dunno about the whine tho.

If it were me I'd simply take it back to the mechanic and ask him what's up and to check his work again. Who knows? Maybe he like swapped a couple plug wires or something...

PS, a friend of mine also had a long-trusted family mechanic.... that is until the WHEELS FELL OFF THEIR PATHFINDER. Pretty scary $hit. That's why I try to DIY.