Timing belt causes severe engine vibration

Tiny
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I have a 1984 Chrysler Lebaron, 2.2, 4cyl, turbo 175, ooo mi that I bought new. Car has had the best of care, and has always been a great ride. Recently, had a noise under the hood that sounded like fan belt rattle, mechanic said timing belt and replaced it, replaced the starter and valve cover gasket.I got the car back with a severe engine vibration, went back and fourth to the mechanic because, my car was tareing itself apart with the shaking, and it did !A broken motor mount, two broken turbo lines, three vacuum leaks, but the vibration wasn't fixed. All through this, they are saying that the "Timing Belt JOb had nothing to do with the vibration. They put some high tech engine cleaner through the car, told me to drive it for a few more days. It was vibrating so bad, that two days later I started for their shop, and the head gasket blew. So, now thats been sent off tp repair, and they now are saying, thats what the problem was. You have to know that the original work on my car was done in Feburary, so I'm still thinking the timing belt was the cause. The car has always run smooth, started easy and had a lot of pep even for an oldie. This whole thing has reall got me upset. Would really appreciate your input. Thanks
Monday, June 11th, 2007 AT 9:11 AM

6 Replies

Tiny
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According to my software that engine doesnt have a balance shaft, and if the intermediate shaft was off the engine wouldnt run. When you say vibration, was it like an engine misfire or was the engine hitting on all cyl's and just felt rough?Those little turbo's were rough on heads and head gaskets, so it is no real surprise that it needed a head gasket
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Monday, June 11th, 2007 AT 10:44 AM
Tiny
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Your reply didn't really address the problem that I am having with my 1984 Chrysler 2.2 4 cyl with turbo. It was not just the head gasket that I asked about. The car was fine untile they put a new timing belt on. When I got it back, it had a SEVERE engine vibration. Vibrating so bad that my dash board, windows, steering wheel and everything in my car was ratteling when just sitting ideling. The problem escalated from there, it was vibrating so bad that it broke a motor mount, broke two turbo lines and developed three vacuum leaks. When I got it back, drove it for two days, still vibrating, and it blew the head. They are repairing this, but I still maintain that something was misaligned or put back together wrong when the timing belt job was done. With the exception of a couple of small things, the car was running fine before the work. Thanks for your input.
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Monday, June 11th, 2007 AT 12:49 PM
Tiny
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Actually, it did. There is NO balance shaft in that engine. Therefore the timing belt was probably not the cause of the vibration, unless somehow the engine was turned with the belt off causing a valve to be slightly bent, assuming that is an interference engine which I dont think it is. This is why I asked if it felt like the engine was missing or just vibrating
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Monday, June 11th, 2007 AT 3:35 PM
Tiny
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No, I had the same thing. My '98 Honda Accord EX ran very smooth, you couldn't hear the car when it was on. I took it in for the timing belt to be replace, and when I picked my car up it began to have SEVERE vibration from the engine. Solution: Get the timing belt readjusted and sue the other shop.
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Saturday, March 26th, 2011 AT 6:41 PM
Tiny
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YES, Actually. That is due to the fact that your Accord engine DOES have a balance shaft, whereas the Chrysler engine doesnt.
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Thursday, March 31st, 2011 AT 12:55 PM
Tiny
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YES it does. When changing the timing belt there are other things you need to change as well. When I had mine done, the mechanic only replaced the TIMING BELT, ONLY. When he should of replaced the: Timing belt, balancer belt, A/C and Power belt(if needed), Tensioners (2or3(Idle, timing, and balancer tensioners)), and seals (valve cover gasket, camshaft, crankshaft, balance shaft, and etc.), And of course the water pump. What happen to me was one of the tensioners, loosen the the timing. Made oil leak all around the engine.
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Wednesday, April 6th, 2011 AT 3:05 AM

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