Yesterday I was working on a 2001 Mazda 626 charging the A/C. While I was filling the A/C, the car started rattling. This car was put together two weeks ago by a different mechanic. The longer the car ran, the louder it got and each time the A/C turned on, the car wanted to quit. I immediately shut it down thinking it may have given way to age and possibly spun a bearing. I pulled the valve cover to check the timing belt for excessive play. I discovered the harmonic balancer bolt was loose-extremely loose. I tightend the bolt down, checked the belt for play and found it to be ok. I then put the valve cover back and was going to start the car and raise it up to determine where the noise was coming from. I wanted to hear whether it was the engine or the A/C compressor. Once back together, I started it and the noise was gone. Apparently, the other mechanic had removed the balancer in order to put the engine in and forgot to tighten it back down.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 10:27:55 +0000