What is wrong with my car? Timing belt?

Question

Hello,

I am hoping someone here can give me some idea of what needs to be repaired on my car. I have an older vehicle, a 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera. When I'm driving, it sometimes feels like something is "skipping", like the engine is "catching" or something. It feels like there is a slight resistance, only intermittently, not all the time. This is noticeable when I'm idling at a red light as well. I can see the car's RPM's rising and dropping, even when the car is sitting still - it sometimes idles so low it feels like the car is just going to turn off.

Someone told me the timing belt or chain may need replacing. Does this seem correct? What would the approximate cost be for a new timing belt? Any ideas on what else it could be?

Thanks in advance for all advice!

This car seems to have had a lot of problems recently. I just had the muffler replaced, sparkplugs, and a new battery put in. These are not major repairs, but I really can't afford much so it's been a lot to handle already. I just don't know where to turn now - it will cost something for a mechanic to even look at the car and figure out the problem, never mind the cost to actually fix it. The car only has 130,000 kms on it, which is very low for an almost 20 yr old car...I'm hoping it will last me a while still, as a new car is not in the budget at all.

It seems like the consensus is that it's not a timing belt....any ideas on what the symptoms might be pointing to?

Answer 1

You need to check the plug wires, distributor cap & rotor. Sounds like a mis-fire. Your vehicle does not have a belt, but a chain & as long as you don't hear a noise from behind the timing cover, like a slapping noise it's fine.. When a chain starts to go the tensioner is usually the 1st so it gets slack and slaps the timing cover! also you might try doing a fuel filter & intake cleaning. Good luck

Answer 2

Take it to a mechanic and have them put it on an engine analyzer. This will tell them the problem. It could be that it just needs a tune up, it may be a bad sensor, a vacuum leak, almost anything EXCEPT the timing belt. If you were having timing belt problems this long, you would no longer have a working engine.

Take it to the mechanic. Hit-or-miss parts replacement is very expensive.

Answer 3

It would not be the timing belt if the problem is intermittent. I would first start with a tune-up (eg. spark plugs, dist. cap & rotor, ign. wires) if the problem still exists it would be more cost effective for you to have a technician diagnose the problem rather spending money on parts that may not fix your problem. When it come to problems with cars no one can tell you what the problem is without actually seeing the car.

Answer 4

You are not going to like this, but I have had two problems both with the discription you gave....

1) Carb. One of the stages started to fail. It would pulse and sometimes die. Unless you are good at rebuilding you need to have this done for you.. (New carb time)

2) Transmission: Check your fluid first maybe it is that simple.. but it could also be the tranny starting to go. It will slip in and out of gear and the resistance is the transmission coming up to match the engine (torque converter).

Maybe that will help........

Answer 5

I could be a myriad of things. Spark plugs, spark plug wires, dirty air filter, fuel delivery system. I'd take it to a competent mechanic and have them look at it. Much easier than trying to diagnose via long distance.

Answer 6

well u sure as hell better hope its not a timing belt cuz it cant be if it kept on skipping your timing would be off and the valves coud hit the pistons and wreck them so just to tell you its not a timeing belt i am not sure wut to tell you wut iswrong