I got the VCT replaced on my zx2, I had the 1381P error for the past 2 months. Lately my car has been acting funny and I think it was something to do w/ the VCT (car would seem to lose power briefly time to time while going along highway, or normal driving… like a stutter)
Anyways, I payed basically $1000 cnd for the part which was +$600, and labour.
The guy at the dealership said it should have been a 2.5 hour job, but they had my car for 2 whole days.
So when I pay the guy the money for the repair, he says something to me about how the car has a rough idle but is running OK at higher rpm. He said his tech was looking at the car w/ diag computers and the engine was checking out OK.
I get in my car, turn it on and the car was running super shitty. It was really really rough idle. I thought the car would stall right then and there. When I would give it some gas, it had a slow response time.
I didnt even drive my car, I went right back into the dealership and told them this was unacceptable. My car was running beautiful before hand.
What do you guys think? I think they fokked up the timming somehow, and was just hoping I would accept the car, cus they was taking so long on the repair it was costing them money. I mean common, the guy said the mechanic looked at my spark plugs (which are brand new) and he couldnt figure out why the car was running rough.
I am just trying to think of things for them to check out tomorrow, cus I really dont think they have any clue what they are doing. I mean I brought my car to the dealership to get this work done, because I had faith they had/have replaced a VCT before.
since they replaced the VCT I would push the issue on the timing. reason? in order to replace the VCT you need to remove the timing belt and cam pulleys.
^agreed
The car was fine when it came in with the check engine light. It was the VCT and they fixed it, now it runs very rough? The problem wasn’t a rough idle to begin with.
My honest opinion, when it comes form a Ford Mechanic/Dealership. The car should run like new, not worse. They are the cerified mechanics for Ford so there should be nothing wrong with the vehicle when it leaves their ship.
I hate to say this in after the fact but you should have done the delete.
Yah they said they went and removed the cam/ belt. which is to be expected. But I have a feeling they didnt set the timing right, maybe forgot the bar to align the cams?
But yah, I wish I looked more into the delete. This is sorta a nightmare, but I’m sure they will be able to get it running perfect again. I was just suprised when they tried to push the crap on me, that the rough idle isnt anything to do with what they did… I was like, um YES it was, and I am not accepting the repairs until its fixxed.
I’ll let you know what happens tomorrow, hopefully I get my car back to the way it should be running.
In the mean time, they gave me a brand new 2006 focus w/ 100 km on it. I’ll say this much, it aint no zx2 lol. I hateZ it!
Since you did choose to go the repair route, Ford now has an obligation to warranty the repair. This includes returning the car the way it arrived to the shop. This should be covered under what you already payed. They screwed up, they need to fix it.
Dido. Plus you payed a hell of alot for that.
Yah my ass is hurting for sure, but the zx2 is running beautiful again.
Turns out on #4 cylinder the spark plug wire had somehow been pulled out enough from the boot to where it connects to the sparkplug, as to cause the cylinder to misfire/ until higher rpm. When higher rpm the voltage was high enough that it arched and the engine ran fine…
So I dunno how the hell they managed that, but it was a quick fix.
At least ford did a zillion diags on my car, and by all accounts i got a healthy engine :lol:
Cool you have one of those “Displacement on Demand” engines! Good gas saver!
(I know, very bad for the engine unless designed that way).
Now I’m up set, those wicked smart Ford mechanics couldn’t figure that one out? That seems like something I would have checked to begin with. Not so much directly to the sparkplug wire, but check every electrical connection and make sure it’s secure.