Hi...a friend changed the water pump and timing belt...and it seemed like the engine ran ok.
The only issue I noticed was that the car hesitated a bit on starting from a stop.
I then drove the car 200 miles to Madison Wi where my daughter goes to school and when I calculated the gas mileage it was only 20mpg on the highway. In addition when my daughter drove it it stalled several times ....if you pumped the gas lightly you could avoid killing the engine.
She brought it to a CarX and they checked the fuel pressure and compression (both ok) then checked with a timing light (car has a distributor) and said the timing wasn't quite right and couldn't adjust with distributor. They suspect that the timing belt is off 1 or 2 teeth.
Does that seem likely based on the symptoms ?

Also, the check engine light does NOT flash for a few seconds when the car is turned on (it should right as a lamp test ??) ....so I suspect that it is bad.
Is there any other reason besides bad bulb that it would not light ?
Its an OBD1 system so if the check engine light should be on,I wouldnt know or be able to read the number of flashes....so the computer may be trying to say something with no luck.

Any experience and thoughts would be appreciated !

 

You are on the right track. To use a timing light you need to put the ECU jumper in, which will make the CEL come on steady when you start the engine. If it doesn't most likely the bulb is bad or has been removed. (The general rule is whenever something involving an incandescent bulb doesn't light up, always check the bulb first, then consider other possibilities)

The timing belt can be repositioned without taking everything apart. Take off the valve cover and upper plastic cover and pry out the plug in the lower cover so you can reach the tensioner bolt and release the tension.

 

Hi
are you suggesting that you have to jumper something for the check engine light to come on ...meaning there is not a lamp test for a few seconds on startup normally ?
Thanks

 

In normal mode (jumper not installed), when you turn the key to the on position but stop before the starter starts, the light should always come on for 2 seconds then go out. It may not come on if you turn the key all the way right away and start the engine immediately.

 

phew, the CAR-X guy did find that the timing belt was off by 2 teeth ....adjusted it and the car runs fine now according to them
My daughter will pick up and drive later today.
CarX is awesome, they spent probably 1-1/2 hours and only charged me $100 to fix. A dealership would have been significantly more.