Loss of power after cambelt change

[crouchingpigeon]

I bought an 04 plate Focus ST170 a couple of weeks ago from a garage and all was well. We agreed they'd get the car service as part of the purchase price and since then they agreed to get the cambelt done at 'trade price' ie. £230 rather than the £300+ I'd been quoted everywhere else. They are not the ones doing the work but they have a garage that they use.

So yesterday I dropped it off in the morning, picked it up in the evening and drove it home. On driving it home i noticed a distinct lack of power in the lower gears, normal revs but nowhere near the pull it had before. So I popped the bonnet when I got home and realised the air inlet pipe wasn't attached to the pipe it should be. Obviously a bit annoyed at the sloppy work but hoping it was an easy fix I bought a jubilee clip and sorted that today, but it's still not quite right.

There's also a little noise from the power steering now when at full lock and they didn't bother putting the wheel arch lining back properly on the drivers side so it was rubbing on the tyres. I've sorted this but again, shoddy work.

So the question is, is it likely that the cambelt change has affected the power output, if the timing was done incorrectly would this be the likely outcome?

They've agreed to take it to be looked at tomorrow and I'm going to push for a courtesy car but I want to have an idea of what they might have cocked up so I can push it a bit more.

Cheers

Dom

[BFG TERRANO]

If it a tooth out yes power loss will result

[anonymous-user]

Perhaps they put the belt on one tooth out.

[lemonslap]

Is the VCT solenoid electrical connector plugged in? Cambelt changed without slacking the cam pulleys would be my guess, you will know if the timing is off as you will get an engine management light within about 50 miles of driving. Having replaced the cam belt on my own ST170, the inlet cam pulley is a PITA to undo and re tighten (130nm ish torque).

[crouchingpigeon]

Can't see any connectors not plugged in. Hopefully they sort tomorrow, just a little fearful that it'll be a bodge job

[crouchingpigeon]

So, I managed to get the car looked at again yesterday, by the same 'ex-ford' mobile mech who did the cambelt the first time. He says he timed it all up the same as before but it feels much better this time in terms of power in the lower gears.

However, it now seems to be idling strangely, ticking over at nearly 2000 RPM at times and allowing me to drive it like an auto in 2nd gear without touching the throttle. I'm not prepared to take the car anywhere near them again as it's a 40 mile round trip and I'm pretty far from confident in the work that's been done. I'm thinking I'll take it somewhere else but don't know whether to mention the cambelt change as I don't want to automatically open myself up to another £300 bill already if it's something airflow related or otherwise. Any ideas?

The joy of buying and owning my first car in 5 years has very quickly worn off!!

[TheRealFingers99]

I think the timing may still be out.

Don't FORD do pre-pricing? Or find a local independent?

I'd mention the timing -- it's the obvious cause, you'll save whoever does it time (and yourself money) if you mention it.

[crouchingpigeon]

That's what I thought and didn't want to hear. The thing is, the parts for it were bought from a BMS. I called them an they said that they don't stock the tensioner for the ST170 but after digging a bit further said that they and the mechanic cross-referenced the part numbers and worked out they actually did have the right part. I basically have no comeback with the garage and the work won't be warrantied. It's been in for 2 separate days and has come back worse than I left it. I'm thinking that I'm going to have to suck it up and hand it over to somewhere else and pay the labour to have the whole thing done again and write off the cash I've already spent. Anyone got any indy recommendations in the South Manchester/Stockport area?!

[crouchingpigeon]

Oh, and I should definitely have noticed this when I bought the bloody thing but it appears the Engine Management Light has been removed at some point!

I'm guessing I have no comeback on this front though as I won't be able to prove when this happened?!

[Megaflow]

No EML you say, why would anybody do such a thing on a used car?

Get in plugged into diagnostics and you'll find out why it's got no power.

[lemonslap]

I bet the EML light was removed due to a faulty IMRC unit... £300 if you can't fix it. Shame you're not nearer OP I would of helped you out. Ask your mechanic how he performed the timing belt change, it MUST be done with the cam pulleys able to spin freely.

[crouchingpigeon]

Sounds damning, I've booked it in somewhere local although they charge £75 to do a diagnostic read! The garage I bought from have referred me to the mechanic again but he's currently not answering my calls. Keeping the Mrs calm over this one is proving to be an issue!

Just wondering if I have any comeback with the seller about the EML being removed or if it'll be a case of standard buyer beware.

[lemonslap]

crouchingpigeon said:

Sounds damning, I've booked it in somewhere local although they charge £75 to do a diagnostic read! The garage I bought from have referred me to the mechanic again but he's currently not answering my calls. Keeping the Mrs calm over this one is proving to be an issue!

Just wondering if I have any comeback with the seller about the EML being removed or if it'll be a case of standard buyer beware.

Did you buy from a dealer? Or was it a private sale?

[Campo]

lemonslap said:

Did you buy from a dealer? Or was it a private sale?

In the original post he says it was from a garage.

[lemonslap]

Campo said:

In the original post he says it was from a garage.

Well spotted, back it goes then...

[crouchingpigeon]

So insist on them remedying the issue rather than get it checked over indepenently?

[balls-out]

crouchingpigeon said:

So insist on them remedying the issue rather than get it checked over indepenently?

you can get it checked independently (at your cost), but you must give the seller a chance to fix it. If you decide to get it fix elsewhere without offering him an opportunity then its game over

[crouchingpigeon]

balls-out said:

crouchingpigeon said:

So insist on them remedying the issue rather than get it checked over indepenently?

you can get it checked independently (at your cost), but you must give the seller a chance to fix it. If you decide to get it fix elsewhere without offering him an opportunity then its game over

Thanks, I'll push it further with them. They MUST have known about the EML being taken out even if they didn't do it themselves.

[crouchingpigeon]

lemonslap said:

I bet the EML light was removed due to a faulty IMRC unit... £300 if you can't fix it. Shame you're not nearer OP I would of helped you out. Ask your mechanic how he performed the timing belt change, it MUST be done with the cam pulleys able to spin freely.

Thanks, I'll be sure to ask, the guy seems like a bit of a pr*ck. When I got the car back last weekend he said somewhat sarcastically , "Is this your delightful car?" inidcating that he'd been hard done to having to fix it when he'd ballsed it up the first time

[BFG TERRANO]

Did you not notice the EML light fail to illuminate with the ignition prior to starting it pre purchase?