Hi,
I changed my timing belt and water pump over the weekend and my car now feels sluggish a lil bit. I matched the timing marks exactly but it doesn't feel right. My car also makes a whining noise now, almost like it's supercharged. Any ideas?
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The super charged noise could just be break-in, but it sounds a bit too loud for that. Try re-tensioning the belt if it doesn't quiet down after a hundred miles or so. If you get it too tight it will whine for a while, then stretch or ruin your idler/tensioner pulleys. Bad times either way.
For the sluggishness, in my case, I think what happened is the timing jumped a tooth or two on the old belt, and the previous owner corrected the problem by adjusting the CAS. When I did the timing belt and realigned the marks correctly, I had to also readjust the CAS. So check the timing with a light and set it how you want it, it might be way off.
BluFalcon (11-15-2016)
When I pulled the belt off, the marks lined up too, so I'm unsure. I also changed the plugs, could it be an incorrectly gapped plug? Also , the whining, could it result from an over tightened drive/alternator belt?Originally Posted by Pyr0monk3y
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All of those things are possible. Also, did you change the plug wires?
You can have the timing marks line up and still have the timing off if your belt isn't installed correctly. There should be 19 belt teeth between the timing marks on the intake and exhaust cams.
Your ignition timing could also be off, which would require you check using a timing light and adjust it by rotating the CAS accordingly. Even then, you could have trouble if you have a bad crank pulley. When they age the rubber isolator ring dries and cracks and the outer pulley can slip relative to the inner portion, which would affect how your timing marks align relative to the pointer on the lower timing belt cover.
Have you verified that you followed all the steps in the tutorial correctly?
http://wiki.miata.net/tiki-index.php...ing+Belt+Steps
It's possible, although unlikely. Spark plug gap isn't super critical on a stock Miata. If you didn't measure the spark plug gap and adjust it to within spec, how would you know whether the gap was right or wrong? They don't come out of the box pre-gapped for your specific application. Sometimes they're close or even exactly what you need by mere luck of the draw. But you're supposed to always check and adjust gap if needed.
This is more likely. Too tight and you'll get whine from the excess load placed on the pulley bearing. Best fix it soon before you cause catastrophic damage to your alternator. Also, if you did not replace the timing belt idler and tensioner pulleys, or if you replaced them with poor quality aftermarket items, you can get noise from those bearings also.
Aki yuno (11-17-2016)
Cheers, I understand the plug gap thing, I wacked them in quickly as I was stuck for time. The cam/ pulley problem will have to be looked at. I will loosen the drive belt off and see if that fixes the issue, to be honest my mx5 is rusty as hell so I think a rebuild is in its futureYou can have the timing marks line up and still have the timing off if your belt isn't installed correctly. There should be 19 belt teeth between the timing marks on the intake and exhaust cams.
Your ignition timing could also be off, which would require you check using a timing light and adjust it by rotating the CAS accordingly. Even then, you could have trouble if you have a bad crank pulley. When they age the rubber isolator ring dries and cracks and the outer pulley can slip relative to the inner portion, which would affect how your timing marks align relative to the pointer on the lower timing belt cover.
Have you verified that you followed all the steps in the tutorial correctly?
http://wiki.miata.net/tiki-index.php...ing+Belt+Steps
It's possible, although unlikely. Spark plug gap isn't super critical on a stock Miata. If you didn't measure the spark plug gap and adjust it to within spec, how would you know whether the gap was right or wrong? They don't come out of the box pre-gapped for your specific application. Sometimes they're close or even exactly what you need by mere luck of the draw. But you're supposed to always check and adjust gap if needed.
This is more likely. Too tight and you'll get whine from the excess load placed on the pulley bearing. Best fix it soon before you cause catastrophic damage to your alternator. Also, if you did not replace the timing belt idler and tensioner pulleys, or if you replaced them with poor quality aftermarket items, you can get noise from those bearings also.
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It's easy to get the timing belt off the mark. It happened to me and as soon as I had it right engine came back alive. Lock those cams accordingly, I followed Revlimiter's thread on head replacement. Freedomgli is spot on those bearings need to be replace too. GL.
Life is short drive a Miata
I replaced the tensioners with the belt. I'm just worried.
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