Just had my Water pump done on my '98 z24. Started it up after paying 800 bucks and now the idle lopes and the engine shakes and the exhaust farts. Garage said they'd look into it in the morning. Was runnin fine minus the pissing water pump before hand. Just curious if anyone has any ideas? Cause I'm damn sure the garage is gunna find another problem that "isnt there fault". Dammit Im fumin' right now.
Thanks for the help.
Gotta go with Rich here. I'd bet they're off a tooth on a cam gear or worse. I feel your pain. This is the second water pump calamity thread started today. It's sad, but shops don't see this repair often (less now that the engine's obsolete) and they generally learn how to do it on your car, at your expense. Most should be responsible, but some aren't. Good luck. - Mark
Not trying to threadjack, but I am having the same exact problem. I have a '97 Sunfire SE Convertible with the 2.4 that ran fine until I decided to replace the timing set and water pump as routine maintenance (134,000 miles). I also replaced the original spark plugs with autolites, which I thought may have caused this problem after reading that brands other than AC Delco may cause misfires, etc. However, after reading this post I am wondering if I set the timing wrong. When I start the car, the fan immediately kicks on now and stays on, the engine lopes badly and shakes quite a bit (brand new motor mount and dogbone), and the exhaust "farts", as Mr. Sperger said. If I punch the gas and then stop quickly, the engine dies (dash lights remain on). I can hear what sounds like chain rattle as well, even though I thought I set the tensioner. I have a check engine light with a Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire code. I set the timing the way I thought the Haynes manual said to, but it looks like I may not have done that correctly. Is there a decent tutorial, hopefully with pictures, that shows step-by-step how to correctly set the timing on the 2.4? I have searched all over this site and didn't find much information that I could use. Thanks!
I can't type in cursive!
A while back, someone posted a link to a great PDF file that has near step-by-step information on the entire LD9 engine. I searched for it and found it. Take a look and see if it might help you out. (It's a pretty big file, but well worth downloading and saving.) Good luck. - Mark
Look at this
Thanks for the reply. Actually, I already had that downloaded; I should have mentioned that. I am looking for any info I can find. Some of the tutorials people post on this site are excellent, and I was hoping to find one on timing to go along with that PDF. If nothing else, it looks like I will be using that file, though. Thanks again for your time and help!
I can't type in cursive!
I'm starting to think that as soon as you remove the aluminum cover holding the coil packs on these quad 4's a gremlin gets in there and messes up the idle.
Replace a water pump, head gasket, timing chain, spark plugs, anything that involves removing the coil packs.
Many crazy symptoms seem to arise and most have rough idles after that.
I'm going crazy on a quad four right now that ran fine before replacing a couple of bent valves.
Timing is right on and runs like a raped ape at anything over 12 or 1300 rpm.
Idles like crap!
lousy weak spark.
I know that the HEI systems on the Quad4/Twin Cams have a bad rep, but I've had numerous covers apart and haven't had any trouble. I just try and be careful with the boots, keep everything clean, use the recommended grease, and I've replaced the springs with aftermarkets that were offered for a long time by another forum member. That being said, there are coil conversions that you can try that use either Neon or 2.2 coils. The 2.2 version isn't difficult and has been used by many. (There are threads about both versions in the Performance forum.) If I was having relentless trouble I could reasonably attribute to the HEI, I'd try one of them too.
Well, the timing was off after all, and I was able to re-time it correctly. Thanks for the help! Funny thing is, now the car is just like it was before -- it runs great, and drips oil from the dogbone... just like when I first got it. I haven't degreased the motor yet, but it looks wet on top of the water pump. So now I am trying to figure out why/where it is leaking. I put in all new gaskets too! Any ideas, anyone?
I can't type in cursive!
