seanhawn19

I have been meaning to ask. How can you varify that it is TDC by putting a dowel in the spark plug hole? I mean how far does the dowel go in. I have never tried. Is there a measurement from the top of the piston to the top of the hole or is it something more simple?





Thanks

187sks

It's simpler. Get a dowel small enough to go through the plug hole but long enough not to fall into the hole and get lost, then slowly rotate the crank until the dowel stops going up anymore and stop it right at the top of it's motion before it goes down. That's TDC. Piston 1 is the closest piston to the timing belt. All the timing stuff is for piston 1 to be at TDC.

seanhawn19

I figured it had to be something easy.

seanhawn19

I have been noticing the rattling or squeaking noise under the hood. I know it is coming from the belts pulleys or tensioners. However I can't remember if my car was making the noise before getting the timing belt replaced. I don't know if it is coming from the in the timing cover or from the other belts (noise travels) . When the timing belt was replaced I asked if the tensioner was good and was told it was fine. So is there a way of telling if it is the tensioner, if the belts to tight or loose or just how its suppose to sound and I am just paranoid because of all the probelms I ve had? If it is a problem with the power steering, a/c or drive belts I'll be less concerned. Besides being on the side of the road, no major damage. By the way, p/s, a/c and drive belts are all new. Can upload a sound file later if it will help. Don't have my car right now.

187sks

I always replace the tensioner and idler pulleys when doing the timing belt (also the water pump). I've had bad luck with them going out after changing just the belt. You can remove all the accessory belts and start it to see if it still makes noise. If not, replace the belts one by one and start it to see which accessory it is.

seanhawn19

I know now it is recommended that they should be changed but was told they are fine at the time. If it is the tensioner or pulley they will get louder as the bearings get worse? Right now it is a low noise, and doesn’t get worst as you pull on the throttle. Don’t know if that matters. If it over tight, could it cause noise? I know my a/c was going last summer, eventually I'm expecting it to seize. Maybe it is that.

Stocker

You can run your car for ~20 minutes on battery power.

Your car will run for a couple of minutes without the water pump running, without over heating ASSUMING YOU START WITH A DEAD COLD ENGINE.

You can do without power steering and air conditioning entirely.



Remove the drive belts from ALL the accessories. The only belt left connected will be the timing belt. Run the engine briefly. Shut down the engine. Did the noise go away? If so, it was a driven accessory. If not, your mechanic is looking less and less competent. ALWAYS replace tensioner and idler bearings when replacing the timing belt. They are too much work to get to, and too inexpensive, not to replace while you are in there. It is also possible that the timing belt is striking the covers. Pull the upper timing cover and see if the belt is showing signs of wear/fraying if the noise was still present with the accessories disconnected.



If the noise was gone when the engine was only turning itself, spin all the accessories by hand. Does the water pump spin smoothly and quietly? It should be very smooth and dead quiet aside from water sounds. The air conditioning tensioner, same. Air conditioning compressor, with A/C off, should not be excessively noisy from the pump or bearings. Alternator should spin with slight resistance. If the alternator makes any squeaky or grumbly noises, the bearings are going out. If it is hard to turn, or if it spins VERY easily, the bearings are going out. The power steering pump should not grumble or squeak when turned by hand, but you may hear squishing oil.



Are you sure it is not a fan noise you are hearing? Maybe the timing chain? Idle air bypass? I'm just trying to say you shouldn't rule out anything as a noise source until it is proven good.

seanhawn19

You mentioned something I can't believe I didn't think of. The noise for the timing chain. That was some of what I was hearing but still believe there is a problem with the pulley or tensioner. If a put my ear up the valve cover I can hear the noise. But guess it could stil be from another bearing. Don't have a garge and am waiting for nice weather to check. As the bearings get worst the noise will get loader? Usually happen before the snap or seize? I know the drive belt and p/s belt come off by loosening the p/s pump adjuster screw and the alternator adjuster screw but what about the a/c?

Thanks

seanhawn19

ok had the timing looked at and everything looked aligned. But still have the engine light. I took out the spark plugs I put in 4 or 5 weeks ago and they are black tipped. I know the car is running rich. I put in an octane booster to try and combat the carbon build up for now, with gas prices so high. However I got an oil change about a 1000 km ago and it smells like the octane booster. I know this is bad. First is this normal with running rich and should I do an oil change right now? What else should I do? Also what does used engine oil smell like? The smell of gas is also coming through my vents sometimes but got no gas line leak, injector leak, fuel rail leak. Could it be coming evaporating from the cylinder and out the head cover?



Thanks.



I am getting pissed with this problem.

Stocker

If everything is fine the light will go away on its own. If you can smell gas obviously something is wrong. Octane booster will not keep plugs clean when they run in an engine that makes them black.



Used engine oil does not smell like octane booster. How do you describe an unknown smell? Go to your local recycling center and ask to smell the odor from their used oil collection bin? Old oil smells like maybe soot and oil; like exhaust from a clean running car and oil. If it smells like gas or something you put in your gas, you may have a bigger problem than running rich. More easily conveyed on the internet is how the oil LOOKS. If you were to do an oil change, take a picture of the oil that comes out. Ideally you would want medium brown translucent. If you have dark brown/black and opaque so a light won't shine through it, and it smells like a fuel additive, after 1000 miles, that's possibly an indicator of a problem.



How are the plugs black? Dry sooty black? Gunky oily black? Wet with sooty dirty gas black? Google up a picture of examples on a 'how to read spark plugs' web page and compare.



If you are drawing outside air through your air conditioner and it smells the same as your engine does when you lift the hood and sniff around in the engine bay, that might not be too big a deal, except that your engine shouldn't smell like fuel.



Don't get pissed. Get it fixed. The car is a simple machine and the problem is simple.



Have you gone to hmatechservice.com and looked at



DTC > ACCENT(LC) >2004 > G 1.6 DOHC > Engine > Engine Control > P0340 CMP Sensor Circuit -MAL > General Information

DTC > ACCENT(LC) >2004 > G 1.6 DOHC > Engine > Engine Control > P0340 CMP Sensor Circuit -MAL > Inspection/Repair > W/Harness Inspection