Problems immediately after scheduled maintenance
 

Hello everybody, I mostly lurk around here but now have a question.

A little over a week ago, I took my '05 Kia Optima in for 60k miles service. Lots of things were done to it including changing the timing belt and a tuneup. Immediately after I got it back I noticed abnormal vibration esp in the 3k rpm range. I did some research on this and found that this car is normally "buzzy" esp in the 3k rpm range so I ignored it for a week. Then I started noticing yet _more_ vibration accompanied by new and exciting rattles and buzzes. I dropped it off at the shop to have it looked at and I got a call later in the day to learn that it was either the timing belt off by a tooth or a balance shaft issue.

Now, I'm no automotive savant - I just know the fundamentals, but it seems awfully suspicious that after a tuneup and new timing belt the engine runs like an adult battery operated toy. The mirrors are blurry, that's how much it vibrates. What recourse do I have if I want to, say, dispute the charges. They've had it for 2 days now so I can only imagine the lovely bill I'm going to get. It seems very much like they either screwed something up or just plain sabotaged it and I don't feel like paying for their mistake.

So what would you do? I've searched to see what other people do if their car is messed up straight out of the shop but found nothing. Please let me hear any advice you have.

Many thanks,
Rob

If it is indeed the result of something they did improperly, they have to fix it on their dime. If something else broke as the result of being a weak link in the chain, that's on you.

Depending on where the parts were sourced from, if a specific part failed, some suppliers will back their parts with labor guarantees, not just part guarantees.

You're not the first person to suffer such a problem immediately after servicing. Did you take it to the dealership??? Doesnt really matter, you cant trust any mechanic, so either learn to work on your own car, know a friend who can, or marry someone who can. You'd be surprised what you can do with a basic tool set, a haynes manual, multimeter, and a code reader.

With that said, a vibration like you have seems to suggest your timing is off. They probably replaced the belt, moved the crank or cam a little and got the timing off a notch or 2. If its back at the mechanic, you're at their mercy once again. If not, let me know the make & model and we'll go through the steps of checking your timing.

I'd say 95% chance they put the timing belt a couple notches off. Having worked in a garage, I'd never take my car to one unless I had recommendations from car-savvy friends.

I don't have any good advice other than to take it back to your mechanic and complain (as you seem to have done). My dealership tried to charge me for a mistake they made. I refused to pay. They then said, "OK, we will only charge you $90 for the diagnosis." I refused to pay that as well. They caved and I didn't pay a dime. I never went back there again.

I found what seems to be a good neighborhood mechanic where I live using Click and Clack's website: http://www.cartalk.com. They have a system to review mechanics.

Thanks for the replies everybody. If it is indeed the belt I'm going to try very hard to convince them of their errors. They are very well rated locally so I'm sure they value their reputation. I will let them know that many people will hear of my experience - good or bad.

Thanks again

from personal experience the belt being off by a notch or 2 won´t cause vibration. does the car have the same amount of power as before? does the engine respond the same? timing will affect these significantly. i´d lean more towards a balance shaft issue

Willing to bet they screwed up the t-belt. The car should also have other running or starting issues though. Good thing it's not an interference engine or you'd be looking for a lot of new parts. Many shops, including stealerships, use the mark & pray method instead of a dial gauge and proper tools to do these jobs. Prediction---they'll never acknowledge an error on their part. They should have noticed the engine being buzzy when they road tested it. A good facility will road test a car in as well as out so any differences should be obvious.

UPDATE
 

lotsofmagnets, it was a balance shaft issue - the engine output felt the same as before though it had trouble starting warm.

souzafone, it actually is an interference engine. That's is the reason I was so willing to drop $$$ to change the timing belt before any signs of trouble.

The end result is that I didn't even need to haggle with them; they told me flat out it wouldn't cost me anything because it's something they screwed up during the prior visit. Tell you what, that impressed the hell out of me. I didn't even care that my car was in the shop for 3 days because my free rental was a nice Audi with a sunroof. I think I found my shop:thumbsup:

http://www.communityautomotive.com/

In contrast to most of the other posters here, I don't think that every mechanic alive is actively trying to screw you. There are varying levels of competence, but that's not the same as malice.

Perhaps I'm just naive.

Glad it worked out for you, anyway.

This just goes to show its often difficult enough to diagnose an auto prob in the real world , let alone online. Good catch by lotsof magnets, a loss of power and/or hard starting would be a sign of a timing prob.

I recently replaced the AC/Heater blower in my grand prix, the old one died, blew out both fuses, hi is on a 30 amp, lower speeds on a 20 amp circuit. I started the car checked the new blower and it only worked on high....hmmmmm....turned it off then tried to restart it a couple of min later & the whole electrical system was dead. Nuttin, not even interior lights or anything. Wow, a total electrical system failure??? Not really, it turned out to be a bad battery but I've never seen one die so quickly, start one minute then completely dead the next. I also replaced the factory battery cables with thicker 2 ga wire since it is a rather long run, 6ft, and a new blower resistor fixed the lower speeds on the fan. Just an FYI, always replace the blower resistor when you install a new AC/Heater blower.

Glad it had a happy endidng.