[pongool]

I just got my timing belt swapped out at 111K miles by a good independent mechanic who my family trusts and have been going to for years. He also replaced two motor mounts that the dealership (and he) saw as being torn. After I picked the truck back up, I noticed two things were different. The first is the AC isn't working. It won't blow cold air. It worked before I took it in, but now it only blows air the same temperature as the outside air.
The second thing is the steering has an odd "hitch" in it? Almost like a clunk when the wheel is being turned. Don't know how to explain it, but when I'm turning the wheel it makes a clicking noise, just once and it seems to be in the same place. Like I said, hard to explain.
Has anyone else had these issues and are they related to something that might have happened when everything was put back together?
Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[forbin404]

sounds like your mechanic forgot to reconnect some things.

 

[12BlueX]

Any reason why you wouldn't take it back to your mechanic to check it if you trust them?

For AC, the serpentine belt would have to come off to perform the timing belt. Since this is very obvious, I doubt this is the issue. You may want him have check if all the wires are connected to the AC condensor. This is very easy to check and you can even check for your self. Turn on the AC in your car, check under the hood to see if AC condensor is running (remember AC condensor turns on and off as needed).

Odd steering hitch may be coming from when he loosened something (subframe, etc.) during the engine mount replacement. There are ways to minimize what you have to take off but typicaly mechanic would think they would have to uninstall more to get access to the front engine mount.

Without looking, very difficult to diagnose.

 

[pongool]

I did end up taking it back to him. The steering wheel turned out to be a "rubber boot that wasn't seated correctly". He knew right away what that was when I told him about it over the phone.
The AC was solved by looking at it. Apparently when he put things back together, something grabbed and pulled the "plug" out of the compressor and it wouldn't kick on.
Thanks for the help all. Love the forum!