Well this sucks

[Kartorbust]

So Memorial weekend I headed back up to Minnesota to visit my dad and grab some more of our stuff from his place. Left at 7pm Friday after work and came home to eat, then had my 6 hour ride (non-stop) there. Got up to his place at about 2am. Saturday morning, we worked at bit on my fiancee's Mountaineer, replaced the t-stat, did an oil change, replaced all 4 brakes (pads and rotors), and drove out to Wisconsin to visit my brother and my grandma.

Sunday morning, I was planning on leaving about 12pm to be back in Lincoln by 6 or 7pm. Well I had to run to the mall, because I had to pick up some stuff there that outside of buying online, is only available at Macy's. Drove to the mall and on my way there, noticed that the water temp gauge on the cluster was working again. So I thought great, it's working again and we fixed the problem. Got to the mall and went to look for the items I needed to get. Well no dice.

After about 20 minutes of looking around, I gave up and walked back to the vehicle. Got to it and saw a large puddle of coolant going from under the vehicle, down hill maybe 20 feet. I popped the hood and the coolant reservoir was empty. Didn't know why, so I drove back to my dad's place and the water gauge was back at the normal operating range. Once it got back, I stopped the vehicle and heard a gurgling sound (like boiling water) coming from under the hood. Popped the hood and coolant was coming from under the cap of the coolant reservoir (this vehicle does not have a radiator cap, just a coolant reservoir with the pressurized cap.

Well we pulled the new t-stat and put tried the old one in, same result, boiling over coolant. We picked up a new cap at Napa and put it on. (There's a bit more but trying to cut down on the story as much as I can). Monday night about 9:30pm after exhausting much of the day light, I topped off the coolant, burped the system for a good 45 minutes and left for Lincoln. Got back home at 4:51am and I had to be up for work by 9am. Got to work and coolant poured out of the coolant reservoir and onto the ground. Talked to my boss and he had someone work on the vehicle. All they did was just added more coolant and ran the engine for a while and holding the engine rpm at 2500 to burp it again. During this time, no one in the service department came to talk to me about the situation at all. Never told to go get some stuff at the parts store, nothing. Drove home and it leaked coolant out again.

I still had some more coolant and used the last of it to get to work. Drove it back and it did it again. So I talked to the guy that had it brought into the main shop to be worked on and they eventually brought it backed in and added more coolant, using one of my bottles I had (granted it was empty). So yet again they gave it back to me and said that I need to get a new cap and cylinder head temperature sensor (that sensor is what runs the water gauge on the dash). Well when you can't even feel comfortable to drive it home, let alone an auto parts store, you'd probably drive it home.

Well drove home and it leaked coolant again. Well I didn't have anymore coolant to add and I cannot afford to miss work. So I had really no other choice because I cannot afford to miss work so to work. Well on my way in, the temp gauge spiked to normal and then bottomed out, had a shudder and there was a rattling sound. Limped it to work and after I got it into a parking spot it died.

Had a service advisor come out and started it up, it was I guess back firing in the intake manifold (possibly timing chain got stretched and the engine is out of time). This started from Tuesday of last week until about Friday. Had to take a taxi to get to work on Saturday. So I have several options;

1. Okay my work to do a complete engine tear down and more or less rebuild and get a loan to do this.

2. Trade the vehicle in at my work for a different vehicle (they'll only offer $100).

3. Sell it as is and maybe get $500-1000 for it and use that for a down payment on a vehicle.

Right now they are trying me to push me to buy a 2013 Avenger (not a fan of the car) and I really do not want the car. Ride is rough and uncomfortable, and the 2.4L engine is under powered.

 

[landuse]

That sucks man!! I hate car troubles

 

[ezcome-ezgo]

I'll say this once, and never again: Do not buy a 2013 Avenger. This vehicle was designed and built to be a rental car (i.e. a disposable asset).

 

[supermanotorious]

yeah, dont let them take advantage of your emotions and stick you with something you end up hating

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Sorry for the bad luck.

Did you drill a little burp hole in the thermostat when you installed it?

I think there are 2 thermo plugs. One for the computer and one for the gauge.

I hope you didn't get it too hot and warp a head or blow a head gasket. That would suck!

And I'm also not a fan of the avenger.

 

[Kartorbust]

The problem I am having is, they more or less allowed our vehicle to destroy itself. Every time I grabbed it, they said it was fine to drive. On top of that, they are claiming that the head gaskets could have failed when they replaced the intake manifold and gasket several months ago. So in a sense they are blaming me for the engine failure, even though they said it was fine to drive. I told them that I did feel comfortable driving anywhere but home and work. I was hoping that they would just order whatever parts they needed to make the vehicle work. But at this point we are kind of stuck. This is our only vehicle we have and my drive to work is about 20 minutes. I've contemplated buying a bike and riding that to work, but it would be difficult to do so in the rain. Plenty of bike paths between here and my work.

I have been looking at other jobs, mostly because they do not care about employees one bit. It took 3 days before the intake manifold got replaced even though I had an appointment. Employees here are treated poorly when it comes to bringing in their own vehicle to work on. Even though tech's get paid the same amount.

I have been trying to talk with my bank to see if I can get a better loan deal than what the dealership will give me. They claim because of my lack of having a car loan, that it's hard for them to get me one. I know that is a load of bs, because my fiancee got one easily when she bought the Mountaineer 2 years ago.

With the experience I've had at this place, no one that I work with even feels remotely comfortable bringing their vehicle in to be worked on.

---------- Post added at 08:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:34 AM ----------

Sorry for the bad luck.

Did you drill a little burp hole in the thermostat when you installed it?

I think there are 2 thermo plugs. One for the computer and one for the gauge.

I hope you didn't get it too hot and warp a head or blow a head gasket. That would suck!

And I'm also not a fan of the avenger.

On Ford thermostats there is a small hole already on it. I also do not have a bleeder valve on the radiator hose like some vehicles have.


Oh I'm sure at this point it probably does have a warped head and/or blown head gasket, along with it being out of time.

 

[Kartorbust]

As far as I know, my bank has given me a loan for a vehicle, or i at least qualify for one. I'm more of a truck and suv person, as I need something utilitarian. I am more of a Ford fan than Chrysler. Even though MOPAR has generally been cheaper to repair than Motorcraft, and Ford vehicles tend to only work best with Motorcraft parts vs aftermarket...mostlg when it comes to electronics. If we go truck route, probably F150. SUV wise, could be an Explorer or maybe Escape.

Long as the next vehicle gets her approval, we are a go.

 

[TT540]

Wish I could have helped sooner. But a few tips for next time: you can use tap water. It actually cools better than antifreeze. If a system boils over it is is either a bad thermostat, a bad water pump, bad fan, or a "hole" somewhere such that the system is no longer under pressure when it heats up.

If you think the head is warped, look for white smoke out the exhaust. Next, check the disptick. Your oil should still look like it did when you did the oil change. If it looks like a milkshake you have radiator fluid in your oil pan.

The most import part of your whole story was this part here:

Well on my way in, the temp gauge spiked to normal and then bottomed out, had a shudder and there was a rattling sound. Limped it to work and after I got it into a parking spot it died.

Yet it was the hardest to interpret and missing details. Was the temp gauge never registering anything during the drive , and then all of a sudden showed normal, then it went to zero again?

What I think happened is that you had a small head gasket tear. That grew to be a large gap... then enough coolant got into the combustion chamber to called "hydro lock". Water does not compress so the connecting rod bent. A compression test and a leak down test should have been done by the shop.

I hate that it has cost you a vehicle and lead you to a new loan. If you know what your budget is I can suggest some options. I love the 07+ tahoes and then the 12+ f150 ecoboost.

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Yeah. I would have done a compression test and then anleak down, if the first wasn't conclusive.

Hope you can pin it on the shop.

 

[Kartorbust]

Yeah. I would have done a compression test and then anleak down, if the first wasn't conclusive.

Hope you can pin it on the shop.

They won't take responsibility for it. The reason they are giving about not doing any tests is because they didn't have the tools to do it. Supposedly Ford has their own stuff for it and being a dodge dealer, no one has the tools to do it. I call bs. They get every make and model and they are telling me they didn't have the tools to do that? Up side is, they won't charge me for the stuff they did to it. Down side is, they never did a freakin test to figure out the issues, rather just throw parts at it to maybe fix it.

 

[Denny]

Sounds like you work with a bunch of idiots and hacks. No special tools are needed.

Denny

 

[Kartorbust]

Sounds like you work with a bunch of idiots and hacks. No special tools are needed.

Denny

Well the guy assigned to my vehicle was younger than I am (and I'm only 25) and inexperienced.


We are looking at different vehicles, mostly trucks. Mostly in the $9000 and less area. Trying to find ones in the low 100k mile range. Few out there at least which is nice.

 

[TT540]

By not charging you there is no paper trial and thus no indemnification. So they can keep their nose clean. But, if you do pay for it, it could be just like burning money. water under the bridge at this point.

Do you have to have four doors? If so, I would go with a midsize SUV, possibly even an import. Something like a Toyota highlander would suit you well. the Ford and Chevy offering have horrible gas mileage compared to the imports. Also look into a Honda CR-V or a 2008 4runner. For those, you can come up on your mileage expectations and not be too worried about it. The 4 runner or even a Cherokee is only needed if you plan to tow something IMO. They don't tow well, but they'll pull a trailer across town to move furniture. Or a kart These are two close, but good examples for my area:
https://bham.craigslist.org/cto/d/2004-toyota-4runner-158k/6597313903.html
https://chattanooga.craigslist.org/cto/d/2005-toyota-4-runner/6586440075.html

Four door trucks in that price range with those miles do not exist, but you might get lucky, if so, be ready to jump on one when you find it.

 

[Kartorbust]

By not charging you there is no paper trial and thus no indemnification. So they can keep their nose clean. But, if you do pay for it, it could be just like burning money. water under the bridge at this point.

Do you have to have four doors? If so, I would go with a midsize SUV, possibly even an import. Something like a Toyota highlander would suit you well. the Ford and Chevy offering have horrible gas mileage compared to the imports. Also look into a Honda CR-V or a 2008 4runner. For those, you can come up on your mileage expectations and not be too worried about it. The 4 runner or even a Cherokee is only needed if you plan to tow something IMO. They don't tow well, but they'll pull a trailer across town to move furniture. Or a kart These are two close, but good examples for my area:
https://bham.craigslist.org/cto/d/2004-toyota-4runner-158k/6597313903.html
https://chattanooga.craigslist.org/cto/d/2005-toyota-4-runner/6586440075.html

Four door trucks in that price range with those miles do not exist, but you might get lucky, if so, be ready to jump on one when you find it.

I've looked at 4Runners before, mostly because I like it's still body on frame construction, which is ideal because when I go deer hunting, the trails become questionable for stuff that's unibody. We'll probably be inheriting my grandpa's bass boat off my dad when he can no longer tow it. It's about 16 feet, but weighs quite a bit because it's all fiberglass. Looking at trucks, there isn't much out there without a lot of miles in this price range. A 1997 Tacoma was going for $6200 but has 315k miles on it.

I've also looked a bit at the Nissan Xterra as well, not many of those floating around and I haven't heard much about longevity on those.

 

[ezcome-ezgo]

Nissan

 

[TT540]

Those Xterra's have some good trail credibility, but the interiors are very janky and if left in the sun the UV really kills the plastic pieces. If you find one that has not been offroaded and garage kept, then I would seriously consider it. Oh, and there where some transmission/radiator issues around 2005. Anytime you look to buy a used car do this google:

"car name transmission problem"
"car name engine problem"
"car name issues"
Include the year if you are looking at a specific car, else that search will usually present a range of years.

That will usually help to point toward some years/options that might be more problematic that others. Not an across the board thing, but it tells you what to look for and what questions to ask the seller.

 

[Kartorbust]

Those Xterra's have some good trail credibility, but the interiors are very janky and if left in the sun the UV really kills the plastic pieces. If you find one that has not been offroaded and garage kept, then I would seriously consider it. Oh, and there where some transmission/radiator issues around 2005. Anytime you look to buy a used car do this google:

"car name transmission problem"
"car name engine problem"
"car name issues"
Include the year if you are looking at a specific car, else that search will usually present a range of years.

That will usually help to point toward some years/options that might be more problematic that others. Not an across the board thing, but it tells you what to look for and what questions to ask the seller.

Sounds like the same issues the 2nd Gen Rams had. She seems to have her heart set on a 2003 Explorer. But I know that this one has issues with the timing chain cassettes, and I really do not want to have to go through that.

 

[Kartorbust]

After working on several first generation Titans, I would not be objected to buying one. 04-08/09 had leaf spring shackles that break off and punch the spring through the bed, but they made a revision to stop it. But they also have small brakes for the size of the truck.