The tremor is most likely a brake problem.... are you driving the car now? If so did the shop that did the work notice if the piston had been hit/dented at all? (I.E. a valve contacting it...)

As far as the customer service denying the claim that's normal, she's not going to be authorized to make repairs/claims for something that expensive, keep climbing the chain... Also, I don't know of any way to bend a valve besides something impacting it, for example have you ever seen a metal rod laying on the ground bend itself? not without a hammer or something hitting it.... And I wouldn't be suprised if you end up in full blown court over the issue, I think small claims is for items under $3000.00 in most states and a new motor/repairs is going to be well over that.... not to mention lawyer fees.... I don't suppose you have any videos laying around with the car running do you? Also, unless compression testing is something they do as a nice way of helping you out what lead them to believe AFTER they did the job that they needed to do a compression test? I bet they pulled the old belt off, turned it over by hand and smacked the valve.... then they started it up, noticed it sounded funky and said "oh we'd better do a compression test..." if you had a video of that motor running before you took it in they'd be hosed....

 

Make sure Honda takes pictures when they have the head off!
Also, Pepboys Corporate may be too far removed to know "the truth". I was thinking you need to find the Store manager or District manager for that particular Pepboys.

My only other question would be, if the car is in for repairs, and they're in the business of making repairs, why didn't they make you aware of the misfire (a potential problem and additional business) before doing what turned out to be un-necessary repairs?

They also seem to know a lot about the nature of the misfire - most shops will ask you for more diagnosis time before having a technician perform a compression check. Now did they gather so much useful information out of the goodness of their hearts? No - they wanted to know why it wouldn't run right after they fixed it.....

If the car ranfine before the repair, and the piston shows evidence of contact with the valve, you must look to the last people who worked on the timing belt....

 

I think that it's very suspicious that only ONE cylinderhas beenaffected. Anyone else think that?

If a timing belt were to break or slip badly while the engine is actually RUNNING, then I'd expect ALL cylinders to be affected equally. After all, the eingine would not stop instantly if the belt broke or slipped. I would expect it tocontinue at least a hundred revolutions before stopping and at least one valve in every cylinder would be struck by its piston.

If only one cylinder has been affected, to me that means that the engine was probably turned over either manually with a wrench, or very briefly by the starter, AFTER "maintenance" had been performed. The "technician"heard something go wrong as soon as the piston came up and struck the valve, and stopped what he was doing instantly to determine what was wrong (that he had done).

Also, if the problem is indeed a bent valve, and there is proof of it being that way because the piston struck it, how in the world does Pep Boys think that that happened if what they say is indeed true - that the valve was bentBEFORE the car was brought in?

Low compression due to a worn component is one thing. Low compression due to a piston hitting a valve is quite something else. The only thing I can think that might cause this is over-revving the engine to the point of "floating" the valves,and, even in thatcase, it's more than likely that, again, more than one valve would be affected.

 

I guess if the belt actually broke, it is conceivable that the cam might stop turning instantly and maybe only one valve in one cylinder might be struck. But I think that scenario isa long shot.

But in this case the car was running when it was broght in, so if the belt had slipped enough to cause the bent valve, likely others would have been bent, too.

 

I thought the same thing too.... it was probably turned by hand.... I wouldn't be suprised if the "tech" turned the crank by hand to get one of the pistons to TDC with the belt not installed and then he may not have even heard it... and if he did he probably just thought it was weird then installed the belt.... then he started the car and it had a problem so he runs a compression check and sure enough there was a problem.... so someone says didn't that car have a miss when it came in and the "tech" says yeah I think it did, let's write that down..... so they may not even realize they messed it up...

 

Here's something interesting though.... someone just had a belt snap while driving and only 1 valve got messed up.... bet ya can't guess which one!

https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/Tim...m_49263/tm.htm

 

Wow, I wouldn't be suprised if you are right on the turned by hand senerio! I will be faxing this entire thread to the store manager so he can ponder the possibilities. I have filed a small claims lawsuit, written a letter to the CEO and will be filling complaints with the Better Business beareau and The Rip Off Report. Since it will take months for this to get to court I also plan to create public awarness with flyers, news stories and perhaps even picketing....maybe they will come to their senses without the need for legal entanglements.

I will say this for them, they have been polite and professional about the entire arrangement (even though they have refused my requests), especially Tony Mineger the Retail manager.

Thanks Again!

 

Looks like much more than that got messed up, and it stands to reason.
https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/Eng...m_53114/tm.htm

So now we have a case in which a belt actually snapped and even though the cam probably slowed down PDQ, many other valves were damaged.

So this valuableexamplefurther reinforces the notion that if only one valve was damagedonhonda help'scar, it is almost certain that the damage occured while the car was being worked on at Pep, and NOT during normal operation prior to that.

Anybody ever heard of a single valve getting struck by a pistonin an engineinwhichthe timingbelt neither slipped nor broke? I certainly have not.

 

Hello All!

Pep boys conceded the mistake! And has agreed to pay for the damages!

Honsestly the advice and information posted here has been first rate, informative and very helpful. It allowed me to take decisive action and helped to persuade the regional manager to reconsider their position!

I owe everyone who posted a debt of gratitude!!! Thanks So MUCH!

 

Dude that's freaking awesome! Is someone at that particular pep boys getting canned?