Today, I got my timing belt and brake master cylinder replaced. When I went to pick up the car, the engine was making a lot of noise and revving up and down by itself. Also, the belts were squealing on and off. So the mechanic took the car back in the shop and when it was ready, it squealed for about a min. or so and started working fine after that. However, soon after that, the car started dragging, as if the brakes were engaged and engine was working hard to drive the car. After driving for a bit, I stopped and found that the driver's side rear wheel was very hot (because of the pedals seizing, maybe???).
Does this have anything to do with the master cylinder replacement? What do I need to do now?
Thanks in advance for any reply.

 

When Master Cylinder (MC) is replaced, you can run into a problem w/ gap adjustment between vacuum booster pushrod end and MC contact point. If gap is too small (new MC has slightly closer tolerance), the fluid will heat and cause the brakes to be actuated when no foot brake pressure is applied.

Fix is to adjust the gap larger. This requires going under the dash and adjusting the brake pedal- vacuum booster pushrod position. This is a real problem and requires a special tool to adjust the 12pt nut that adjusts the position. If you do a google search for "honda brake adjustment" you may find a link on this adjustment.

When I replaced MC, I bought a matching OEM MC to avoid having to adjust the gap.

good luck

 

take it back and tell then to install a Honda brake master cylinder

I have experienced the problem that you are having when customers want to use a cheap brake master cylinder to save a few dollars , which sounds like that is exactly what this shop installed on your car

But Tex is correct , if you want to keep the same master cylinder that have to adjust the push rod properly

Also engine should not squeal when you start it ,, belts might still be slightly loose ,,I would advice to ask them to look into it

 

I took the car back into the shop. The caliper on the driver-rear side was seized. They pushed the piston back in, greased parts, and changed the pads. The car is driving fine now. No squealing, no brake issues. However, the car seems to drive a little rough. Also, seems to have less power than before the work. Anything to do with the brake master cylinder, pads or is it because the belts are new and need a bit of driving before things work smooth? Also, I got oil changed and they changed the air filter as well as PCV valve. The car still drives a bit rough and feels dragged. Feels like there is a loss of power. Makes louder noise in low gears even at 2500-3500 RPM. Even in the first gear, the car has picked up barely any speed although RPM is over 3500.

I have already poured a load of money into this car and it sucks that it still does not drive better than how it was before the work was done.

I am going on a long drive (6-8 hrs straight) and will cross a few mountains. I am worried about the health of the car. Please advise.

 

I'll bet the engine power difference is due to the Timing belt is one tooth off.
I've seen that movie.

 

i would not this car on a long trip especially up in the mountains the way that the car runs..........
I have to agree with Dude ,, have the shop recheck the timing belt installation and also the balancer shaft , make sure that both belts are properly aligned

 

Seriously... the car does not run right after the shop worked on it: THEY need to fix it WITHOUT charging you for it. If they try to charge you, call the Better Business Bureau and file a complaint. And don't let them give you any BS and tell you something else is in need of replacement. if they tell you that, come here and tell us about it.

 

Well, when I sent the car back in the first time after timing belt replacement, he told me that the spring in the tensioner is a bit loose and so there is not enough (or less than required) tension in the belt. Will this affect the performance? Also, is replacing tensioner part of the timing belt replacement job?
Also, the low power is felt in gear 1 to 3 and also something vibrates or resonates exactly at 1500 RPM, somewhere in the car. Another thing I noticed since the job was that the car seems a bit more noisy in low gears 1-3.

Are these things connected and related to the timing belt job?

Which symptom should I talk about in order to ask him to check the timing belt job over again?

Thank you all for the replies and suggestions.

 

I hope your mechanic knows that the spring isn't supposed to provide the tension when the engine is running. It's only supposed to provide static tension. He's supposed to lock the tensioner pulley in place by tightening the tensioner bolt.

1) Engine turned off. Belt installed so all the timing marks are lined up.

2) Loosen the tensioner bolt just enough to allow the spring to take up the slack.

3) Turn the crankshaft pulley counterclockwise a few teeth, slowly & smoothly. This will tension the exhaust side of the belt, moving all the slack over to the intake slide where the tensioner takes it up.

4) While holding the crank pulley (don't let it slip backwards), tighten the tensioner bolt to lock the tensioner pulley in place. It's not supposed to be TIGHT like an alternator belt. But you should only just be able to twist the long (exhaust-side) span of the belt by 90 degrees.

5) Continue turning the crank pulley counterclockwise to bring #1 TDC back up. Verify the timing marks are still good.

 

You should print out JimBlake's instructions above and bring it to your mechanic.

Replacing tensioners is only part of the job if you ask them to do it. I didn't replace mine on my tbelt job. Probably will replace at 200k though...