Rep Power: 0

About a month ago I had a tune up and also replaced my entire distributor/spark plugs. (The work was not done professionally btw.) The car seemed to be running fine (minus a few very subtle incidents during start-up or at stop lights) until yesterday when it started shaking and rattling from the engine and sounds like its also coming from the muffler maybe. I had my Dad look at it today and he said it could be the timing needing to be reset.

But then I was wondering why it was running fine for a month if the timing needed reset? Is it common for it to start having issues a month AFTER having the work done? Or is this something completely separate?

Im asking for second opinions or seeing if any of you have had or have similar situations before I pay some one to look at it.

So please leave comments if anyone has answers! THANKS!

 
Rep Power: 812

did you use bad quality parts? cheap wires and plugs (non ngk/denso) almost always cause misfire issues which would cause the shaking. its very possible for this to happen a month later if bad parts were used and they are failing already. ive seen it so many times. could even be the wires are not fitting tight enough and have started to loosen. timing should not change unless you messed with the distributor. did you change the rotor and cap too?

 
Rep Power: 0

I used NKG plugs and premium wires. I had to have the entire distributor replaced so yes, the cap, the button, the part that attaches to the engine.. everything was messed with/moved. But it all seemed to work okay minus those few very subtle episodes during start up or at a stop light. So it just seems odd to me that its acting up now, and it wasn't then.

 
Rep Power: 812

okay did you have the ignition timing set? i bet thats the main issue.

 
Rep Power: 0

I did not have any timing set, I didn't know I needed to, I'm new to working on cars, as this is my first baby.

You think it could be that? and it took a month to be noticeable?

Thanks for your info

 
Rep Power: 812

yup ignition timing always needs to be set after removing the distributor. as soon as it moves, there is no way you guarantee it goes back in the exact same way. this is different than cam timing. and its not immediately noticable if the timing is off a bit. our accord would still drive fine, but occassionally we would get stumbling starts and it didnt feel like it was making an effort when driving. after setting the timing properly, it feels noticably faster and doesnt stall out on cold starts.

 
Rep Power: 0

Oh awesome Im glad you told me that, because Ive also noticed a lot of lag on the freeway when driving over 50.. sometimes it refuses to go faster than 65mph. I thought the speed was a different problem. Wow so all of that ties into timing. I had no idea, thanks.