SickBlueSedan

hey, over the past few months ive been having a lot of problems with my protege. it all started off with a loud knocking sound from the engine, 3 visits later to the dealer and they find out what is was.... the head was machined a very small amount off and this had the 4th cylinder spark plug sitting too low in the cylinder. the piston was hitting the spark plug and it closed the gap enough to shut off my car at certain points and throw a BLINKING CEL. now the whole head was replaced by the dealership under warrenty but the car is feeling a lot less powerful then before, what could this be?? do i need to break it in or is something wrong. The valvetrain is also a lot louder then it previously was. i think something is off... any suggestions would greatly be appreciated thanks!

Roddimus Prime

get a new car. Tell your dealership you want to lemon law it...use that exact phrase...LEMON LAW. Make sure tolh a tape recorder in front of them when you say it. Scare the crap out of them/

sage11x

I agree with Rod. In fact, I would go as far as to seek legal counsel.

macdaddyslomo

I'm in the auto industry...I have first hand knowledge of lemon law.....He can't lemon law it unless there have been 3 attempts by the dealer to fix the EXACT SAME PROBLEM, then a fourth attempt by the manufacturer..You think his car might have been more powerful before due to a machined head increasing compression???

SickBlueSedan

its really weird, my power is slowly starting to come back, i think they may have set the timing wrong when the put the cams back in because it drives like a turbo car. there is absoulutly no power in 3,4,5 gear under 3k rpms but one you hit 3700 it has more power then it did before. could this be a mis-tuned ecu or timing off, also what would cause the loud valve train?