Lawnmower like sound

["Palatinus, Joe" <jopalatinus@xxxx>]

Hello list,
My daily driver has about 36,000 miles on its (new crate) engine (110,000 miles on the body, and it started to perform a little sluggish, so `I decided to change the plugs, wires, cap, coil, and o2 sensor. as well as the air filter. The car still sounds + smells lawnmower like. and when accelerating I here a ticking/sputtering sound. The performance is normal for the car however, its just the sound. A friend of mine thought that it sounded like it was gasping for air and was loosing compression, and that the timing was off. He was fairly convinced that incorrect belt tension caused this, which sounded a little funny to me, (Although my ac belt is not as tight as it should be)
I guess my main question out of alll this is, `If my timing is off and that is causing this noise, what can I do to fix it. Does this sound like a timing problem? Adjusting the timing in the PRV involves engine dissessmbly right? Would I be unwise to let this issue si, I am not vey comfortable with opening the engine past the intake manifold, the water pump is as deep as I would like to go.
Joe P.
VIN 17167 6808


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