QuestionI have a "zinging" noise when I accellerate. It seems to have happened when I took my car into a muffler shop to repair an exhaust leak. They said they replaced a flex pipe, now the car is ringing when I accellerate. I've brought it back twice and they say it's fixed, but it's not.
I was told it may be the oil pump sprocket is out of phase. The timing belt pulley is also wobbley and there is a ticking sound under the hood.
Can you tell me how to fix this?
AnswerRoss,
When you brought your car back twice to figure out the zining noise, and the mechanic said they fixed it, they should have told you what they actually fixed. It's possible your problem is caused by a loose exhaust sheild slightly rattling against your new down pipe, or your exhaust pipe bolts keep pulling out. When new sections of exhaust pipes are installed, usually the old flanges and pipes need to be cut off because of access rust. If the new bolts are not matched up well, they can become loose and work their way out.
If your problem is an out of phase oil pump sprocket, that could have been caused by a wobbly timing belt pulley (commonly referred to as the crackshaft pulley). Unless you have some special tools, lot of timing, energy, and all the required parts, you'll want a mechanic to replace the crankshaft pulley and reset the timing. It'll take a mechanic about 4-5 hours to do this job. It's pretty complicated, not a common do-it-yourself project.
Good luck!
