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So I had a dyno appointment yesterday and while it was on the dyno the tuner heard a noise coming from the timing belt side of the motor. His mechanical assistant took a look at it and didn't like the sound of it either. Needless to say we ended up taking the car of the dyno to check it out.
The mechanic popped the cam cover off and had me turn the car on. He immediately told me to turn it off and told me my timing was off. Specifically he told me my intake cam was 5 teeth off. He told me to get it checked out because there could be damage to the cam, valves, etc.
I got home and was bummed about everything. I just bought the car and the last thing anyone wants to hear is there is a problem with the engine.
I did some research on how to fix the problem (timing belt replacement, cam replacement, etc.). This morning I decided to check it out and check how many teeth the intake cam was off myself.
I put the car in gear and rocked it back and forth until the cam gear notch lined up with the notch on the valve cover (TDC). The funny thing is that both the intake and exhaust cams line up. I'm no mechanic but if the intake cam was 5 teeth off wouldn't it be off at TDC?? Here are some pics.
Exhaust Cam
Intake Cam
So now I'm here to ask you guys if this mechanic is right or not?? There is a squeaking sound coming from that side but it sounds more like a pulley or something to me. The person I bought the car from swapped out all the belts about a year ago but I don't know how many miles he put on it before he sold me the car. I've put about 200ish miles on the car since I bought it.
Here is a video of me starting her up (which sounds weird too) and the squeaking sound I'm talking about.
You really don't want to be rocking the car like that in gear, the engine should not be rotated backwards. The right way to do it is with a 1/2 inch ratchet on the crank. You need to be able to see the crank to know if you are at #1 TDC. See image below:
thats what a properly timed engine should look like. Now about the sound, is it coming more from the head area or from lower in the block area? If its coming from the head / top of the engine i would suggest pulling the valve cover and inspecting everything with special attention to the cam journals. If its coming from the lower area then it could be an idler/tensioner pulley. People tend to skip on the balance shaft belt stuff too, which also has an idler pulley and if the balance shaft belt fails it will take the timing belt with it.
An exhaust leak would have more of a hissing sound right?? I'm not saying you don't hear one, you may be right. But the sound I'm referring to is that off something rotating.
I'll look into that exhaust leak sound you think you hear. Thanks.
You really don't want to be rocking the car like that in gear, the engine should not be rotated backwards. The right way to do it is with a 1/2 inch ratchet on the crank. You need to be able to see the crank to know if you are at #1 TDC. See image below:
thats what a properly timed engine should look like. Now about the sound, is it coming more from the head area or from lower in the block area? If its coming from the head / top of the engine i would suggest pulling the valve cover and inspecting everything with special attention to the cam journals. If its coming from the lower area then it could be an idler/tensioner pulley. People tend to skip on the balance shaft belt stuff too, which also has an idler pulley and if the balance shaft belt fails it will take the timing belt with it.
I made sure when I rocked the car there was no backward rotation. Trust me it can be done. I didn't bother looking at the crankshaft and oil pump timing marks. I'll check into that.
As far as the sound it sounds lower in the block area to me. Originally the mechanic said it was the tensioner pulley but then when he popped the cam cover he said the intake cam was 5 teeth off. Is he out to lunch with that statement?? I don't know how good of a mechanic he is but like I said before if the intake cam was 5 teeth off wouldn't you be able to see it when the exhaust cam and valve cover timing marks are lined up?
Sounds like a bad pulley bearing to me. Take the lower timing cover off and check all the pulleys this includes the accessory pulleys. Check the timing as well. This is what my Mercedes sounds like when the belt tensioner pulley was bad. There was also a lot of bearing material/metal flying around from it. Don't start or drive it anymore til it is fixed. The problem can only get a lot worse from here.
Sounds like a bad pulley bearing to me. Take the lower timing cover off and check all the pulleys.
So I googled the location of the pulley bearing and you know what.....it really does sound like it's coming from there. Guess I'm gonna take it to a shop to get checked out. Hope it don't cost and arm and a leg.
If one cam is off five teeth so it the other. It wouldn't run like that.
Yeah I figured that much. That's what I was trying to tell the "mechanic".
Anyway I ended up taking the car to another mechanic. I told him the story and he was super pissed at the other "mechanic". He verified with me that my timing was good. He also let me know that it was a pulley of some sort. We just can't figure out which one.
I'm thinking idler pulley or tensioner pulley. Also thinking it could be the other idler pulley or drive belt auto-tensioner. Any suggestions?
Here is another video. You can hear the sound I'm talking about much better.
Jun 18, 2016, 04:30 PM
