Posted on 02/24/2013 3:17:17 PM PST by Allen In Texas Hill Country
Hope no one minds if I shift gears from politics and bring up a car problem. Been buying used and new cars for near 48 years. Of the first 14 vehicles I never had a major failure such as what occurred Friday.
I live 60 miles northwest of San Antonio and was headed to SA. Got within 10 miles of destination when I smelled something and within a few seconds vehicles around me started beeping their horns. Billows of smoke was coming out and no power steering. The engine was still running and with emergency lights on I safely got off and parked where a tow vehicle could pick it up.
The dealer has had the car for nearly 2 days and still cannot detail what needs to be fixed. Or what still might be working. He hasn't yet mentioned the engine block or innards but near everything else under the hood is up for grabs.
The car is 4 1/2 years old with 35k miles. Due to unique circumstances I forgot to purchase extended coverage which I had on the car before this one. I screwed up and forgot. Do I have a question here???? I don't know, Anybody else have a car this relatively new fail so extensively? My 14 year old Tahoe has near 140k on it. Of course various this and that has been replaced but it still runs like a clock.
I wrote a letter that tries to explain my extreme frustration and maybe that is more of what I'm doing here, I'll mail it tomorrow. But its got only 35k and may be in the shop for 3, 4 or more days. What a PITA!!!! Now this is the 6th time I have bought this make so I thought, foolish me, that that I mean its not going to fail in 4 years.
First impression - check the serpentine belt.
Legal issues for stating the make/model of the car that blew up?
Knowing the make and model would be helpful.
if it was a fire under the hood, file a comprehensive claim on your auto insurance. Other than that, you are probably outta luck......red
Get your car to another shop.
I’ll go out on a limb and guess this is a Government Motors POS?
I can’t imagine any legal issues if you post the type of car.
And don’t feel too bad about nt buying the warranty...they don’t always work out.
You say you lost power steering and there was smoke...
My initial thought is losing a belt will drop power steering, but not account for the other symptoms.
If a steering pump or hose just completely blew, that would explan both the loss of steering and the smoke....
But the dealer should be able to find this immediately.
My guess is really that the dealer hasn’t even looked at the car yet, and some element of the steering system blew a major leak.
Sounds like a power steering line sprung a leak and sprayed fluid over the hot engine. Have them replace the line. It might be covered under the lemon laws in Texas.
Why do you think there’s a legal problem if you mention make and model? Don’t be silly. If your Chevy blew up, it blew up. If your Ford fell apart it fell apart. No one can sue you for simply stating what actually happened to your vehicle, regardless the make or model.
FWIW, my daughter has a 2001 Honda Civic. She parked it before going in to work. Shortly afterward, someone came in and said a car in the parking lot was on fire.
Something under the dashboard of her car had caught fire, melted the dashboard, and burnt a bit of the inside roof. She got it fixed, but the wires were too screwed up to tell which ones were responsible.
She says that a similar thing happened recently to a friend who has a Honda Accord.
I would guess a belt. Example: Your air conditioning compressor bearing/alternator bearing failed and the rotor won’t rotate . Your belt smoked. Or timing belt. Just a guess.
If the engine was running but you lost your power steering, I would think that one of the hoses on the power steering pump failed. That would explain the smoke as power steering fluid would then hit the exhaust pipes. Been there, done that.
I had a Buick catch fire around 30 miles from home. As luck would have it, I had a fire extinguisher with me for the first time ever.
I discovered the auto transmission was leaking fluid onto the exhaust.
I had the transmission rebuilt and after several days it came to me that my auto insurance might pay for it. I contacted my agent and sure enough, they paid for it.
I also first thought of the serpentine belt which someone else mentioned.
You will usually hear a loud whining noise if your power steering unit has drained, especially during turns.
Powertrain is routinely covered longer than bumper-to-bumper warranty, most often 100K mikes. You should be good, whatever it is, unless they can conceivably claim abuse or neglect. You performed all routine maintenance and can prove it, correct? Even if you didn’t keep receipts or go to the dealer for service, most shops will have a record of all your visits as well as service performed in their system, if you need it.
It's interesting that the vehicle has been in the dealer shop for 2 days without a finding....
Did the vehicle overheat? "Check Engine" light come on? Leaks anywhere under vehicle?
Did you have an actual fire under the hood? Or just smoke?
Smoke + smell + no power steering usually means that you blew a power steering hose and the fluid was spraying on your exhaust manifold. I’ve had that happen twice in the last 35 years.
Sounds like you lost your serpentine belt...the loss of power steering would be a tipoff. Or, I suppose, the power steering pump could have seized. Either is not a big deal. You should get a second opinion from another shop.
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