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Car Problem

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.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Travel
KEYWORDS: cars
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To: doorgunner69

Looks like you were wrong, a Mazda.


61 posted on 02/24/2013 5:25:34 PM PST by nascarnation (Baraq's economic policy: trickle up poverty)
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To: Allen In Texas Hill Country

Looks like this is common with your car. Check out this discussion on Edmunds.com:

http://www.edmunds.com/mazda/cx-7/2008/consumer-discussions.html

Here’s one of several incidents like yours:

“Our 2008 Mazda CX-7 (Sport, AWD) had a compressor failure at just a hair over 30,000 miles. This occurred on our way back from vacation, through the hills of West Virginia. We started smelling burnt rubber. Shortly after that, I heard a loud bang - I lost power steering and all of my check engine lights came on. This was at 1AM. I was able to coast to an exit and find a hotel (had my wife, toddler, and infant). When I opened up the hood, the belts were shredded and coolant had sprayed everywhere.”


62 posted on 02/24/2013 5:30:45 PM PST by dinodino
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To: Allen In Texas Hill Country
Someone posted the link to this YouTube video just moments before you posted your thread:

Watch That Cadillac Burn - Elvis Presley

63 posted on 02/24/2013 5:31:41 PM PST by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: concerned about politics

I’ve made a hobby of breaking and fixing my cars...so I know what a serpentine belt is. I still don’t think ann overheated engine would smoke enough to annoy other drivers....I think he blew a hose. And at first I thought he said there were dash lights on...but if you re-read it he’s talking about turning on his flashers. So no alternator light either.


64 posted on 02/24/2013 5:39:11 PM PST by lacrew (Mr. Soetoro, we regret to inform you that your race card is over the credit limit.)
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To: Allen In Texas Hill Country
"But they suspected there were several/many(?) other side effects."

This is your cue to get out of there REALLY fast. It sounds to me like this happened fast enough that once the A/C pulley is spinning, three bucks of engine cleaning in a car wash is all you need.

65 posted on 02/24/2013 5:46:55 PM PST by norwaypinesavage (Galileo: In science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of one individual)
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To: Allen In Texas Hill Country
Power steering fluid leaked onto the catalytic converter..
66 posted on 02/24/2013 5:49:41 PM PST by vigilante2 (Re-elect nobody)
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To: Allen In Texas Hill Country

Sounds like you blew a power steering line (hose) and power steering fluid was squirting on the hot engine causing the smoke. have the car towed to your house and check it yourself.


67 posted on 02/24/2013 5:55:24 PM PST by 4yearlurker (I hate February.)
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To: Revolutionary
Sounds like a power steering line sprung a leak and sprayed fluid over the hot engine
That's possible, or the pump itself. Or maybe the idler pulley that maintains the proper tension on the serpentine belt seized up.
68 posted on 02/24/2013 6:45:39 PM PST by Impala64ssa (You call me an islamophobe like it's a bad thing.)
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To: dinodino

Damn, getting old is a pain. Used to use Edmunds for everything and I forgot to check. Thanks.


69 posted on 02/24/2013 7:25:45 PM PST by Allen In Texas Hill Country
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To: norwaypinesavage

This could be a big deal so it needs to be at the dealer its at. They have the best resources as far as I can tell. The Edmunds info is quite revealing. Thanks.


70 posted on 02/24/2013 7:40:25 PM PST by Allen In Texas Hill Country
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To: Revolutionary; Allen In Texas Hill Country

Agreed. Power steering line or possibly the power steering pump. Should be a fairly minor fix if there were no flames. And if the mechanic can’t find the problem, take it to someone competent.

Oh, and extended warranties are a rip-off.


71 posted on 02/24/2013 7:43:50 PM PST by PAR35
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To: Allen In Texas Hill Country
Actually if it smelled like rubber it was probably the serpentine belt burning up. I had oil leaking on mine causing it to slip off. If it smelled like oil then it was probably power steering fluid burning on the cat.
72 posted on 02/24/2013 10:46:37 PM PST by vigilante2 (Re-elect nobody)
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To: Allen In Texas Hill Country
I was probably too criptic in my analysis, so I'll expound. IF your A/C compressor pulley seized, and caused your engine compartment to spew smoke from the belt, and IF your power steering and alternator then stopped spinning due to the stalled belt, it's likely that your engine did not overheat, as you would have noticed the steering, and warning lights, and smoke quickly. In this event, there is likely no more damage than the A/C compressor bearing and belt. This is particulary true if you did not loose any coolant. If you lost more than a little coolant, all bets are off.

If the belt and A/C bearing get replaced and you carefully look for overheating and other problems within the first minutes of starting the engine, and find none, there are likely to be no further problems. On the other hand, a mechanic could also spend many hours and many more dollars looking for more problems, too. He might even be able to "find" some.

73 posted on 02/25/2013 8:28:49 AM PST by norwaypinesavage (Galileo: In science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of one individual)
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To: norwaypinesavage

We shall see said the blind man to his deaf daughter as he picked up his hammer and saw. :<((((

Thanks.


74 posted on 02/25/2013 10:21:20 AM PST by Allen In Texas Hill Country
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To: RegulatorCountry

I have a ‘96 626 with 180k miles that I have been trying to run into the ground for 4 years for an excuse to get something newer. Haven’t put a dime into it other than what it needs to pass inspection and it runs perfectly. I don’t even change the oil. Just got a new vehicle 2 weeks ago so now the Mazda is to be used as a spare, but that thing has been unbelievably reliable and easy for DIY work as well.


75 posted on 02/25/2013 10:54:08 AM PST by wolfman23601
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To: wolfman23601

My dad had an early eighties B2000 pickup that was the same, very basic, manual choke. Couldn’t kill it. The body rusted out from under it eventually, after about twenty years of hard use. Mechanically it was still servicable. Parted it out after the floorboards got scary, sold the remaining carcas for scrap.

Their early Wankel engines were a little more difficult, though,


76 posted on 02/25/2013 4:17:07 PM PST by RegulatorCountry
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