Timing belt and water pump changed, now it runs like poop. 94 Camry

[jnb0111]

hi guys,

I have a 1994 Camry LE 4 cylinder with right about 260,000 miles on it. I took it to the dealer yesterday to get the timing belt and water pump replaced on it. There was nothing wrong with it prior, it was just a little overdue to have them replaced. It ran perfectly when I dropped it off. Smooth, like a Camry should be. I went to pick it up this evening, and the only way to say it is to say it runs like crap now. Vibrates at idle, a very obvious miss in the engine, etc. It's bad enough that I said "no way", and refused to pick the car up. The service manager was gone for the evening, so I intend to stop in there tomorrow morning. So that i'm armed with some idea of the issue, does that sound like anything particular? I'm thinking maybe the mechanic didn't set the timing right when he was done, but that's nothing more than an entirely uneducated guess. Shouldn't a toyota mechanic know how to change a timing belt and water pump?

Help! I KNOW the car was great beforehand, but what if they deny it?

[agni]

The timing is a tooth off. Most likely the belt skipped a tooth when tension was applied to it, and they were in too much of a hurry to check it - silly mistake. I would think a certified mechanic would recognize this mistake at once and fix it . . . post back if they don't

[bronzemaxell]

i have done timing belt on 93 4cyl and missed 1 tooth, i started up fine and idle fine until i drove it, shifted in 2nd or 3rd gear, it won't move faster than it used to, lack of power.

another time, i disconnected a small vaccuum hose, it ran like sh!t, vibrate on idle, and heard hissing noise.

[sam333]

Originally Posted by bronzemaxell

i have done timing belt on 93 4cyl and missed 1 tooth, i started up fine and idle fine until i drove it, shifted in 2nd or 3rd gear, it won't move faster than it used to, lack of power.

another time, i disconnected a small vaccuum hose, it ran like sh!t, vibrate on idle, and heard hissing noise.

+1 on the vacuum hose( could have knocked something loose while changing the belt), though they could have done a bad job on the belt itself. Dont take it until they get it right, they knew it was running badly when they tried to give it back to you( assholes).

[jnb0111]

So timing belt is a tooth off, or possibly a vacuum leak. Also, should I expect them to charge me to look into it? I know that if it's something they messed up, I don't think I should have to pay them, but at the same time, they kind of hold my car hostage, and if I tell them to figure out what's wrong, and they do that and determine it was a loose vacuum or timing belt was off, etc, and then charge me several hundred more dollars... Dealers aren't known for being the most conscientious of people...

[curry.style]

Dealers get a really bad rep. I used to work at a local GM/foreign dealer. Most service managers will hear you out and, as long as you are level headed and polite, try to help you out. Probably what happened is that the belt skipped a tooth. When I did the timing chain on my first 240SX I had it off by one tooth and it ran crappy. Easy enough for them to fix.

[jnb0111]

Ok, thanks for all the advice on my car. I went back in this morning, and had them check the car. The vacuum leak was correct. It was a hose that had slipped off. The tech that fixed it was an older guy, and seemed genuinely embarrassed about the mistake, so fine, no big deal. It's running right now.
However, he did give me some bad news, which i'm going to have to start a new thread about. Ugh... All I want is to get 300k. It's within sight.