ezone

And not knowing for sure why the belt jumped time yet....



Ok, go buy the one for $14.95 (that was knitted from an old scarf)......but don't come crying to us when you start to understand the cost of that cheap price.

$100 is damn cheap compared to buying a pile of valves. And towing.


Want to read about the cheap?? https://www.civicforums.com/forums/36-mechanical-problems-vehicle-issues-fix-forum/359578-i-am-stuck-side-road-what-happened.html

Don't miss clicking on the link in post 3 that takes you to the guys first posts about those 'too good to be true' cheapo parts. Posts 195, 197-199

Hillel

yeah you're right I suppose and thanks again for the advice. So the car is running again, but I've got a new issue that wasn't there before the timing jump. The car seems to drive normally except for significant hp loss. Really struggling going up hills and does not accelerate like it used to. I put in new plugs, new air filter. I checked and rechecked to make sure both cam and crank were at TDC. Any ideas where to start? Do you think the timing is like 1 tooth retarded... lol?

RIPSAW

Little confused. Did you redo the timing belt? When you had the cover off, where the timing marks off before you pulled it apart for the second time?
Are you following a service manual for proper rotating motor and alignment of pulley marks and setting and torquing tensioner? (unless your's is spring loaded of course)

ezone

You tell us if it is?

Was it running poorly before it skipped time and would not run at all?

Did driving it while it was running poorly damage the catalytic converter?

01-05 1.7 liter uses the spring loaded tensioner.

Hillel

It was running fine before it skipped time. I noticed the loss of power the first time I drove it, so the catalytic converter could be damaged now, but I don't believe it was before hand and if it is, it's probably not the main reason for the power loss. It feels to me like the timing is still a little off, but just not enough for the engine to shut down like it did before.

And FTR, even though I complained about the price doesn't mean I still considered or opted for the cheap one. I spent the money and got the NGK from the dealer.

ezone

Is this an EX or LX?
You could check backpressure to judge if there is a severe restriction, or use a vacuum gauge (google backpressure check using vacuum drop method), or if the cat is under the car you could disconnect it to see if normal power returns.

Hillel

It's an EX. I suspect it may have jumped time enough to cause some valve damage. I just did a compression test:

Compression test results

1- D: 157psi

2- D: 152psi

3- D: 166psi

4- D: 177psi

4 seems to be normal, but 2 is way off from that. Is that enough of a difference to assume a valve problem?

ezone

If you suspect a valve problem then a leakdown test is the next step to prove where leakage is occurring.

Also, check valve adjustments. If it bent any valves you would usually see it as a large increase in clearance.

The compression is good enough that I would not expect much of a change, they can't be bent a huge amount because they still seal some amount.
I'd actually be more expecting some random misfiring if it had only tweaked some valves, not a big power loss.

Did you recheck it yet?
It will run with the cam timing a tooth off or maybe two, but you lose efficiency and performance.
It probably can't run at all with the timing three teeth (or more) off due to the computer shutdown.

I think if it reaches 5 or more teeth out of time you could be in valve damage territory.

If an engine runs bad enough, even a brand new cat can be ruined in an extremely short time. Like it only takes a minute.
Ruined could mean setting an efficiency code, or it could mean clogging up and blocking flow.

Scout1

those compression readings, while not the greatest, are not that bad. I would look for something else.