So as the title suggests I took my car to a dealership to get the timing belt replaced (also had to take care of an SRS light) I got my car back today and I noticed when I take sharp turns at a low speed the steering wheel seems stiff and has a lot of resistance to it. Definitely not a smooth feel. Also there is some slight chirping/squealing noise. Most would say a bad accessory belt, but 1) the car made no noise before I took my car in and 2) the tech actually did say my power steering pump belt was in good shape.

I can replicate it easily by parking the car, putting it in reverse, turning sharply as you would when backing out of a space.

Any idea what this could be? Again, this happened after a timing belt/water pump replacement. What could they have possibly done to the steering? I plan to take my car back tomorrow and want to get some ideas of what it could be before I go.

 

Uuhhh, make, model and year of car?

 

Oh, I thought it was still
<---over there

03 CL-S

If I had to guess I'd say they didn't set the tension properly on the belt for the powersteering pulley. Although I'm sure someone else would have a better guess. I can't imagine how much they could fsck up the steering with a timing belt change.

 

The accessory drive belt tensioner sets the tension automatically. There is no adjustment that I'm aware of, at least not on the TL model. The issue here is, the car did not exhibit this problem prior to the timing belt change. The key here would be " there is some slight chirping/squealing noise", and the fact that you can easily duplicate and demonstrate the problem. Just take it back to the dealer, show them the problem, and see what they have to say.

 

frankjnjr, the older 2nd gen CL/TL models have a separate belt, from the accessory drive belt, that drives the PS pulley. Their are two methods of how to adjust this belt:
1) Belt tension gauge method
2) Deflection method

Both of which are attached.

 

Turns out it was the belt. I had the tech measure it and said it was way too loose.

Now I'm paranoid the tech that did the timing belt didn't do that properly either. The other accessory belt was fine, though.

 

Different car, but I remember it being very difficult to get sufficient tension in the power steering belt when I did the timing belt and water pump on my car. There was no tensioner, just a belt between the crank pulley and adjustable power steering pump. I had to heave on it much more than I thought to get enough tension in that belt.

The alternator's position is adjustable via a long bolt. Ratchet tight or loose to increase or decrease tension on the alternator belt. Was much easier.


My point is that you're right to expect no problems from a dealership job, but this is an easy mistake to make.

 

There certainly are items that can be done incorrectly on a timing belt job such as mis-mounting of the water pump, which may cause coolant leaking or being a complete derp and not torqueing down the components correctly. However, in terms of the belt itself, you'd likely notice a problem if the belt was installed incorrectly. Even one tooth off and you'd notice a difference in the way the engine idled and ran. Two teeth off and you'd have misfires, backfires or significantly decreased power or mileage.

 

Moderator Note: Moved to model-specific forum.

 

Hey Zeta, Tx. for the info. Didn't know there was a different system in the earlier 2G models.