Need Advice "timing belt jumped one tooth"
07-28-2016, 09:34 PM
#1
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Need Advice "timing belt jumped one tooth"
Either had very bad luck or timing belt installed incorrectly.
I Have a 2006 Acura MDX ,had timing belt,water pump,tensioner ect on1-2-16 at a Acura Dealer (94,000 miles)
No problems noted until moving to Long Beach,Ca on 6-24-16 with a 6x12 Uhaul trailer. Car pulled well from Nashville until 2 hrs east of Albuquerque when car lost power,check engine light came on and coasted to a stop. Temperature gauge was in normal range but upon opening the hood I could smell burned rubber and engine felt really hot. Several great Truckers stopped to help and after cooling off some ,the coolant was full ,suspected vapor lock but car would turn over and occasionally hit but nothing else. Towed to Honda Dealership and next morning the service guys suspected a timing belt issue and recommended we trailer it to Long Beach.In Long Beach they noted high heat conditions of valve covers and 2 ignition coils were melted.We were told we would need a new engine because a spark plug exploded and damaged the engine.They installed a used engine and only after paying the bill and looking over the detailed service inspection I noticed the technician documented inspecting the timing belt and found it to be "off one tooth" . He corrected this but still noted failed cylinder leak down tests so proceeded with engine swap.I have showed the detailed paperwork from all 3 dealerships to several experienced mechanics and they tell me a timing belt would not jump one tooth and suspect it was probably installed incorrectly and was probably compensated by computer until engine stressed.
Any Thoughts?
I Have a 2006 Acura MDX ,had timing belt,water pump,tensioner ect on1-2-16 at a Acura Dealer (94,000 miles)
No problems noted until moving to Long Beach,Ca on 6-24-16 with a 6x12 Uhaul trailer. Car pulled well from Nashville until 2 hrs east of Albuquerque when car lost power,check engine light came on and coasted to a stop. Temperature gauge was in normal range but upon opening the hood I could smell burned rubber and engine felt really hot. Several great Truckers stopped to help and after cooling off some ,the coolant was full ,suspected vapor lock but car would turn over and occasionally hit but nothing else. Towed to Honda Dealership and next morning the service guys suspected a timing belt issue and recommended we trailer it to Long Beach.In Long Beach they noted high heat conditions of valve covers and 2 ignition coils were melted.We were told we would need a new engine because a spark plug exploded and damaged the engine.They installed a used engine and only after paying the bill and looking over the detailed service inspection I noticed the technician documented inspecting the timing belt and found it to be "off one tooth" . He corrected this but still noted failed cylinder leak down tests so proceeded with engine swap.I have showed the detailed paperwork from all 3 dealerships to several experienced mechanics and they tell me a timing belt would not jump one tooth and suspect it was probably installed incorrectly and was probably compensated by computer until engine stressed.
Any Thoughts?
07-29-2016, 06:16 AM
#2
i echo the experienced mechanics....quite a conicidence that you get the timing belt changed this year and 6 months later......
also, if the spark plugs WERE indeed stuck or melted, this would mean the spark plug tried to eject.
either from improper torque values or ECU shorting out and travelled through coil packs and melted coil packs. this is usually caused by A/C drain tube plugged up. I would check this tube to make sure a technician didnt plug it up and forget to take the plug out.....or it maybe full of debris (ie, leaves)
I dont agree on the used engine swap, unless it was SUPER SUPER cheap. (i swapped my blown motor for about $1200. $650 for used engine and $650 to mechanic.)
they could have just replaced the head, instead.
also, if the spark plugs WERE indeed stuck or melted, this would mean the spark plug tried to eject.
either from improper torque values or ECU shorting out and travelled through coil packs and melted coil packs. this is usually caused by A/C drain tube plugged up. I would check this tube to make sure a technician didnt plug it up and forget to take the plug out.....or it maybe full of debris (ie, leaves)
I dont agree on the used engine swap, unless it was SUPER SUPER cheap. (i swapped my blown motor for about $1200. $650 for used engine and $650 to mechanic.)
they could have just replaced the head, instead.
Last edited by justnspace; 07-29-2016 at 06:19 AM.
07-29-2016, 07:13 AM
#3
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Additional Info
My Son is the owner now and is picky and insisted on Acura Dealers work on his car(loves it). The engine swap was also done at a Acura dealer.The total bill was 5400.00. 8000 miles were put on the vehicle before it failed but the car was used for trips ect and no trailers.Original Acura dealer says this condition should have presented sooner than 8000 miles
07-29-2016, 08:48 AM
#4
Moderator
Not sure on the J-series, but jumping a tooth on timing can happen. My Civic did just this a few months ago. Quite some time (at least a year) since the timing belt was replaced, but only about 50k miles.
Luckily, no damage, aside from my wallet.
Luckily, no damage, aside from my wallet.
07-29-2016, 11:10 AM
#5
usually a timing belt that is old and has stretched would be prone to skipping a tooth... unless something happened with the tensioner causing it to release the belt for a second... it's hard to believe that a belt less than a year old would have done that... i lean towards improper installation of the replacement belt...
07-29-2016, 01:19 PM
#6
Moderator
usually a timing belt that is old and has stretched would be prone to skipping a tooth... unless something happened with the tensioner causing it to release the belt for a second... it's hard to believe that a belt less than a year old would have done that... i lean towards improper installation of the replacement belt...
On mine, the tensioner let go a bit & it jumped.
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08-02-2016, 12:36 AM
#8
Race Director
Meh, sounds like the classic J32 #2 and #5 plugs came loose. After #2 and #5 blew, the badly misfiring engine could have easily stressed the belt causing it to slip a tooth. The plugs came loose probably because the dealer that did the TB job didn't follow service manual procedures when torqueing the plugs. Did they replace the plugs? If they didn't , then they still probably pulled them to do the TB change.
Did they replace the ECU when they swapped in the new engine?
There was likely no need to replace the engine, just the heads. They stuck you for probably an extra $2.5K for no reason. (Well, yeah, the reason is GREED).
Did they replace the ECU when they swapped in the new engine?
There was likely no need to replace the engine, just the heads. They stuck you for probably an extra $2.5K for no reason. (Well, yeah, the reason is GREED).
Last edited by nfnsquared; 08-02-2016 at 12:38 AM.