Hello,

I'm new here and asking for some advice! We have a 1997 Civic 1.5 LSi hatchback and two weeks ago had the cam belt changed by a local mechanic. When he returned the car to us it clearly wasn't running correctly (I'm surprised he bothered coming knowing it wasn't right) so he took it away again.

The following morning he returned it to us and it appeared to be OK. Since the work it's clearly not right and seems to be lacking any power at low revs. It is very sluggish until the revs rise above 3000rpm. Definitely not right and so different to how it was before the work. He is blaming the distributor and/or the gearbox oil but to me it's too coincidental that this has happened after the cam belt change.

Does anyone have any idea of what might be going on? Is it possible he mis-aligned things when he changed the belt? When you press the throttle in neutral (the car is an auto) the engine sounds smooth. All advice very much appreciated. Thank you!

Kind regards,

Monica

 

Check timing it may be off one degree or He may not have put the tension bearing in correctly. Also there is one spot for a bolt on the tensioner to hold it in the loose position. The bolt should be removed to allow the tensioner to work properly. Some people forget to remove that bolt.
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Thank you for that advice, I will go back and beat the mechanic.....

 

Please let us know how it turns out.