zedicus said:

the 420a is a non interference motor idntit?
so even if the timing is way of and its making weird sounds simply correcting the timing should have you all fixed up

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Yoshi181313 said:

Good evening everyone! New guy here and did a search before making this thread. Well here goes.... I currently own a 1999 GS Mitsubishi Eclipse 2.0 Non-Turbo with about 122,000 Miles. Been my first car since I was 18 and have loved it and taken care of it by doing maintenance such as changing the oil, changing spark plugs, gas filter frequently and have also changed the clutch about 3 years ago and its still running smooth. Never raced it as I tend to want to keep my car as healthy as possible....well unfortunately I decided it was time to change the Timing Belt and hired a mechanic to come over and do the job. Guy bought Water Pump and the Timing Belt kit, turned the car on and that's when the problem arose.....RPM wasn't stable anymore as it kept revving up and down on its own, then it starts making a clunking sound sorta like a "knock" around either the Timing Belt or the engine. I'm not sure if its because the Timing Belt isn't aligned correctly therefore I have no idea if the engine is messed up which I'm really hoping its not. But if anyone knows a place I can go get my car fixed for cheap I would really appreciate it as I live in California by USC. Shops are really expensive here and I really cannot afford paying $2k to get it fixed.

......I'm a student so I'm really on a tight budget but will do anything to get my car up and running once again. Mechanic ended up bailing out on me saying that you can still ride it...but I sure as hell won't be driving it like that for 7hrs in 2 weeks when I move out to University. I would really appreciate it if someone has really good experience with these types of cars. I would be willing to pay someone for some knowledge on this beautiful vehicle. Sorry for long post as this is an emergency...thank you all and if I posted this on the wrong section then I am truly sorry about that.

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Panchoelkatch said:

So he "Installed" the timing belt and water pump? What happened, was he left mechanical timing WAY off and your valves are smacking your pistons. Timing belt job just turned into a complete head job.

Cheap work is not good and Good work is not cheap 99% of the time. I'd hold the "Mechanic" accountable since he can't do a simple timing job.

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Yoshi181313 said:

Ouch! So you're saying he basically ruined the engine? Would it be possible to re-time the belts correctly to fix the issue? Honestly I'm thinking about taking it to either the dealer or some mechanical shop. Currently I haven't paid the mechanic anything as of yet and the reason why I relied on this guy was because he fixed my clutch and left it really good a couple years ago.

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Chumpaumpalumpa said:

Same day cylinder head service in fullerton. I think its off raymond? I payed like $300 for a resurfacing which sealed with an MLS gasket just fine, valve job, valve stem seals and all the rest of it. I only needed exhaust valves which were swirl polished stainless that I picked up from RRE in Santa Fe springs for around $100. I pulled the head and everything myself which saved a ton. A new Felpro HG can be found at autozone for around $40. You'll also need intake and exhaust manifold gaskets and maybe a valve cover gasket set. Expect to pay around $600 all said and done if you pull and install everything yourself. Probably a bit less than that though. I'd say closer to $500.

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FalleN4ng31 said:

Assuming that the pistons have contacted the valves (And this is only an assumption) No. When pistons contact valves, very, very, very rarely do you escape without bent valves. Said valves are going to have to be replaced.

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Yoshi181313 said:

Thank you so much for a response and for your time on here. Appreciate your advise as what I feared the most were bent valves. By any chance do you know if the condition of the car will worsen if I decide to drive it to a shop or dealer?

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Drop Top Road Trip said:

My moto: If you want it done right...do it yourself.

You've learned a hard lesson here - no mechanic is ever going to give a sh*t about your car like you do. Take this time to dig in and start doing it yourself. You can start with the idle.

http://www.dsm.org/how-tos/tttt/tttt3.html
As for the knocking sounds...if you want a definitive answer on that you really should post a video with good audio (in stereo if possible) moving the camera to various angles. I'm not as convinced as everyone else that your valve timing is off...but I'm from Missouri, the Show Me state.

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Yoshi181313 said:

Well said! Just want to update on what happened after all this mess. The so called mechanic stopped answering my calls and also to my uncles call since he ended up messing up his BMW as well. Yes he deserves to get sued but I will be moving out about 8 hrs away from where i live less in than a week so I can't get into another mess at the moment.
....I ended up taking the car to the dealer and they diagnosed it saying that the timing belt teeth were not properly aligned and the tensioner was screwed up. So now the fix came up to be around $600 which includes parts and labor at the dealer. The engine is currently ok and nothing was screwed up inside........ (Thank GOD i didn't drive it around)......I personally have learned a huge lesson here. If my car f***s up then either I will do everything I can to fix it or take it someplace I know is a reliable place to go to. Thank you all for your input as it helped me understand just how active this community still is and how helpful you guys were.

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