Car stalled and engine knocking after service test

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That noise sounds pretty bad. If it wasn't doing that before you took it in I would demand they take care of it. It's hard to tell what it is. When you were in the car it sounded like a rod and when you were under the hood it sounded more like a valve train issue. But to be honest whatever it is its sounds major. Was it using coolant? Ever overheated?
 
First thing I would do would be to check all the plug wires, and make sure they are all installed properly. My '92 Buick Park Avenue Ultra with the S/C 3800 didn't sound like that, even with nearly 200k on it at the end.

The only problems with that car on a regular basis were the spark plug wires that would develop leaks after a year, and lose power on highway accel. New wires always cured the issue.

Well, that and everything attached to the body would fall apart.

BC.
 
You have a check engine light that is on too, start with pulling the codes. Hopefully you just have a bad miss rattling something in the engine compartment.
 
Yes, see what the CEL is first. Maybe something got knocked loose. Their diagnostic procedure sounds pretty sloppy, so it could be something simple that they were messing with. That would be the best case scenario.

Worst case, something did let go internally during the test drive. They obviously are afraid of this and are trying to wash their hands of the car as quickly as possible. They know it will be hard to prove they did anything wrong, unless you got hidden video of the tech driving the car like he stole it. They will just say "it came in with an internal engine problem, we said a tear down was needed to diagnose, and it left with the same internal engine problem."

Next step is to diagnose the knocking - either yourself, or with another shop who you can trust. Unfortunately, only the tech will know what really happened when he was driving the car, but a diagnosis will give you clues.

Good luck.
 
Originally Posted By: jacky
why try to repair a troublesome car? , trade it off let someone else worry about it


If you enjoy taking multi-thousand dollar hits each and every time a vehicle has its first problem, I guess you can follow this "advice"....
 
Originally Posted By: jacky
why try to repair a troublesome car? , trade it off let someone else worry about it


Well, at the moment, the car is probably suddenly worth much less than it was before it went in for the recall and diagnostic. A quiet, but weak car is easier to sell than a weak, knocking, shaking car. He needs to figure out if this was sabotage, sloppy work/diagnostics, abuse, or just a worn out part that happened to let go while in the dealership's hands to determine his next step. With an '04 model car sounding like that, he won't get $500 trading it in.
 
The original problem sounds like a plugged cat converter/exhaust pipe. I wonder if they threw a push rod wringing the neck of the poor engine.
Smoky
 
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Well, at the moment, the car is probably suddenly worth much less than it was before it went in for the recall and diagnostic. A quiet, but weak car is easier to sell than a weak, knocking, shaking car. He needs to figure out if this was sabotage, sloppy work/diagnostics, abuse, or just a worn out part that happened to let go while in the dealership's hands to determine his next step. With an '04 model car sounding like that, he won't get $500 trading it in.


It was definitely sabotage. The dealer is trying to scare the OP into a new engine.
 
Sounds like it could be a bunch of stuff. Bad bearings, valves, lifters, push rods, timing way off, out of oil, or who knows what.

Good luck with that
 
Originally Posted By: jacky
why try to repair a troublesome car? , trade it off let someone else worry about it


Right, at the first sign of trouble, which often proves to be easily and cheaply remedied, ditch the car.
This from a guy who has one of the least reliable modern cars in his sig.
 
I would say that the dealership ran the [censored] out of the car on it's last test drive and caused some engine damage. I would play hard ball with them and tell them it wasn't doing this when I brought it in and now it is.

Last year there was a video on the net of a guy who took his Mustang Gt to the dealer for some engine noise and he had an in car dash camera that the techs that drove it saw but obviously ignored because they drove the [censored] out of the car, taking it up to red line I think in first gear and driving it for an extended time period. This caused some additional problems but the dealer denied they did anything even with the camera footage.

This is why I find it hard to trust dealers, especially because I have the kind of car that people would love to hot rod.

Wayne
 
The motor is running is on 5 cylinders and one of the rocker arms is clattering like crazy. I can hear it plain as day. There is something broken on the failing cylinder. Rocker arm, pushrod, valve spring, maybe a bent valve. Find the failing cylinder, remove the valve cover and you will find the problem.

Now the problem, the dealer broke it, they must fix it. Does the car have comprehensive insurance coverage? If so, file a claim against the dealer. Another path, get an estimate for repairs, then file in small claims court for the money.

You are clearly being screwed over by the dealer. You can lay down and take it, or you can fight back. If it were me, I would be all over that dealer....

Good luck.
 
Now in all fairness, the car was done on power and not running properly when OP took the car in. OP declined additional diagnostics and now we're all guessing what is going on.

I think it's obvious the engine has a miss but until the cause is determined I don't think it is fair to blame the dealer.
 
Originally Posted By: millerbl00
Classic dealership string. You decline to fix. All of a sudden it dies. Call GM open a case...



Bingo....!

I just recently took my old Accord into the dealer to have the distributor oil seal issue fixed, (replace distributor and heater hose below it where oil was leaking onto it. I am VERY good about knowing exactly what needs to be done, where leaks are, ect. In my case ONLY ONE LEAK resulting from the oil seal in the dist, I get the car back and lo and behold I have oil leaking from the rear block! Go back and and tell them that before they worked on it I KNEW there was ONLY ONE LEAK AND IT WAS THE DIST OIL SEAL! They say we didn't cause it it's an old car. I responded true it is an old car but I know it was NOT leaking from ANYWHERE but the distributor....Tech shows me the mess, (outrageous I honestly do NOT know what they did to cause the oily mess on the back of the block,) and we ask well what do you think the problem is...he goes on to list things like rear main, HG, ect....I practically laugh and tell them to get it off the lift and hand me the keys. Tech also states he has "another one" just like mine on another lift! I said I bet you do. I tell the SW that I will not be getting anything else fixed and we will NOT return to the $tealer for ANY reason in the future including the purchase of a new car (my folks were considering the purchase of another new car from this store) My Dad actually composed a letter RRR addressed to the owner of the store informing him of the experience and letting him know that we will never return to the store, and will be contacting Honda Corporate as well informing them of our horrible experience.

JUST MORE PROOF THAT THE ENTIRE AUTO REPAIR AND SERVICE INDUSTRY IS MOSTLY CROOKS, AND HACKS.
 
Originally Posted By: Oldmoparguy1
The motor is running is on 5 cylinders and one of the rocker arms is clattering like crazy. I can hear it plain as day.


I agree!! All they did was pop the valve cover and back off one of the rocker arms. More than likely one of the rockers up front since it's easier to get too. Service manual would call it the Left bank. Right bank is by the firewall.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Originally Posted By: Oldmoparguy1
The motor is running is on 5 cylinders and one of the rocker arms is clattering like crazy. I can hear it plain as day.


I agree!! All they did was pop the valve cover and back off one of rocker arms. More than likely one of the rockers up front since it's easier to get too. Service manual would call it the left bank. Right bank is by the firewall.


My sarcasm meter is off the scale!
 
Originally Posted By: antiqueshell

JUST MORE PROOF THAT THE ENTIRE AUTO REPAIR AND SERVICE INDUSTRY IS MOSTLY CROOKS, AND HACKS.


I'll agree with you on the hacks part! A lot of hacks and some crooks.
 
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