The Auto Repair Thread

Joeboo

Joeboo

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joeboo_sl said:
Any ideas on this?

So I had my alternator and battery replaced a couple weeks ago.

today I'm driving home from work and start to hear a horrible, loud squealing sound from my engine(like a rubber belt squealing). Then all of a sudden ALL the lights on my dash come on(check emissions, check engine, battery light, etc) then the car dies.

I coast to the shoulder, put it in park, turn it off, then try to start it again for the hell of it. It starts, but I have no AC and no power steering, and my check battery light is on.

I managed to drive it back home with no power steering(but I did have power brakes I guess, no change in breaking), since it was only a couple miles.

What are the odds that this is related to the new alternator/battery, or is this something completely unrelated that is probably going to cost me another grand?
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AC compressor has shot craps & locked up, thus shredding my serpentine belt and causing all the other crap I listed to stop functioning, because nothing attached to the serp belt/AC compressor would turn.

$1000 for replacement parts(compressor/expansion valve/receiver drier) and labor. Yeeehaw. Fucking vehicles. Nothing like $1900 in repairs in a 10 day period. Oh well, I hadn't had to do anything besides basic upkeep in 10 years, guess I was due.
 
opiate82

opiate82

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You might be able to get a smaller belt and bypass the AC if you are looking for a cheap quick fix in the mean time. When a similar thing happened to my Ford Exploder that is what I did. Cost to replace the AC compressor was nearly the value of the car, eff that.
 
chaos

chaos

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Mine turned out to be brake pads wearing thin. Apparently parking on an incline makes the brake fluid pool or something in such a way that it sets off the sensors making the car think the brakes are fucked, which wouldn't have been an issue except that the pads being thin and ready to be changed makes the brake fluid read low anyway. Everything I read said not to add brake fluid on my car, so I just took it in and I guess it was about time to change the pads anyway.
 
Deathwing

Deathwing

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Unrelated brake issue here. 2000 honda civic that has drum brakes in the rear. Any time I brake hard, I can hear a rotating noise coming from the back. No squealing or scratching or whining, just making a noise that it shouldn't be for only part of the rotation. Apply the parking brake as I'm braking the noise goes away immediately but will come back the next time I brake hard.

The brakes are less than 2 years old and I hardly put any miles on this car(92k), so it would make no sense if they were worn out.
 
Lejina

Lejina

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chaos_sl said:
Mine turned out to be brake pads wearing thin. Apparently parking on an incline makes the brake fluid pool or something in such a way that it sets off the sensors making the car think the brakes are fucked, which wouldn't have been an issue except that the pads being thin and ready to be changed makes the brake fluid read low anyway. Everything I read said not to add brake fluid on my car, so I just took it in and I guess it was about time to change the pads anyway.
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Figured. I've never seen any car that needed to have brake fluid added outside of when leaky hoses were involved or a cylinder was busted. As the pads wear the fluid level lowers, it's a normal thing. It comes right back up when you push in the cylinders to make room for the newer pads. If a car needs to have fluid added, you've got some problems.
 
Lejina

Lejina

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Deathwing_sl said:
Unrelated brake issue here. 2000 honda civic that has drum brakes in the rear. Any time I brake hard, I can hear a rotating noise coming from the back. No squealing or scratching or whining, just making a noise that it shouldn't be for only part of the rotation. Apply the parking brake as I'm braking the noise goes away immediately but will come back the next time I brake hard.

The brakes are less than 2 years old and I hardly put any miles on this car(92k), so it would make no sense if they were worn out.
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I'd suspect the drum itself. They probably changed shape and aren't round anymore, the pad goes from rubbing hard to little as it makes the round. Either get the drums turned or changed.

Is that noise from both wheels or only one side? If from only one side, does the sound stops if you turn while applying the brakes or makes no difference? (try turns in both directions)
 
Deathwing

Deathwing

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Lejina_sl said:
I'd suspect the drum itself. They probably changed shape and aren't round anymore, the pad goes from rubbing hard to little as it makes the round. Either get the drums turned or changed.

Is that noise from both wheels or only one side? If from only one side, does the sound stops if you turn while applying the brakes or makes no difference? (try turns in both directions)
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Back right. I'll try out the turning part, not a lot of hard braking turns.
 
Lejina

Lejina

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I'm asking about the turn because it could be the wheel bearing. In a turn you put extra load on it and that tighten it so to speak, stopping the noise.

Another way to check on it is to lift that corner, grab the tire firmly with both hands, one on top and the other bottom of the tire, and see if there's any wiggle. If the wheel is firm with no play at all, you're good, but if there's some play you may be in for a new bearing.

Odds are the issue is with the brake but it's easy enough to rule in/out the bearing, might as well check on it.
 
joz123

joz123

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I know this thread is old but I have been trying to find videos online to remove a rear inner door panel for a 2000 saturn SL2 and have found nothing. The rear driver's side window slowly falls down and I want to see if it is just off its track or its something else. I can't find anything online on how to remove it. Mine doesn't have the manual crank handle and any videos I saw online for a 2000 Saturn weren't the same style as mine.
 
joz123

joz123

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Ya I looked through his. The door panel vid he has isn't for the same as mine unfortunately.
 
Jorren

Jorren

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Here is a weird one. My Mother's car started having starter issues. Took it to the shop and they could not get the problem to happen again. They had it for a few days. Then her neighbor started having the same thing happen. Both cars are Mercurys of different type and year. Today I was by and started having the same issue Honda Civic Si, recently had maintenance and it has been running very well.

Could there be something in the area that could interfere with our starters? This all started a little over a week ago.
 
Lejina

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What's the car doing exactly?

First things that comes to mind with starter issues that are intermittent is weather related or shitty relay.
 
Jorren

Jorren

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Well the check everything indicators light up and at first it does not seem like the engine is getting anything or turning over (if that is the term). After a few tries, it finally does sound like it is turning over a few times and finally starts. We are in the St. Pete/Clearwater area of Florida. It has been mostly clear skies if that matters. Just so weird that it is 3 different cars all around the same time. Solar flares? Don Cheedle setting off an EMP bomb?
 
Lejina

Lejina

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Short of living next to a nuclear test facility or if Florida had some really cold weather lately i don't see what would affect multiple cars.

If you get a clicking sound coming from under the hood when no power goes to the engine, you need a new starter relay. It's usually a black box the size of a dice with three prongs.
 
Borzak

Borzak

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I don't know about new cars but the big thing for starters used to be the solenoid that moved the drive out to engage the flywheel and it would stick when it got hot. You could replace it or beat on it and it would go for a while till it stuck again one day when it got hot.
 
Fifey

Fifey

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Borzak_sl said:
I don't know about new cars but the big thing for starters used to be the solenoid that moved the drive out to engage the flywheel and it would stick when it got hot. You could replace it or beat on it and it would go for a while till it stuck again one day when it got hot.
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Solid piece of advice everyone needs to know. If your starter ever seizes, you can hammer on it lightly to unseize it enough to get it working again. Had my starter seize once on a road trip and that saved me from a very costly tow/mechanical bill.
 
Borzak

Borzak

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Old enough to remember when you would ream the inside of the solenoid to stop it from sticking. It's a $20 part.
 
lurker

lurker

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Jorren_sl said:
Well the check everything indicators light up and at first it does not seem like the engine is getting anything or turning over (if that is the term). After a few tries, it finally does sound like it is turning over a few times and finally starts. We are in the St. Pete/Clearwater area of Florida. It has been mostly clear skies if that matters. Just so weird that it is 3 different cars all around the same time. Solar flares? Don Cheedle setting off an EMP bomb?
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If the weather has been getting cold, I would suspect a weak battery. Go down and have the battery load-tested. It's free and most auto parts stores and even Walmart can do it. I'm not talking voltage test. I'm saying load-test. Not the same thing. Anyway, do the free things first before you start throwing parts at it. This is the perfect time of year for battery failure and that may be why all three of you are experiencing the same thing.
 
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