$3500 to fix a car that just won't stay running?

Long story, make it as short as I can -

1994 Bonneville SSEi

For the last 6 months my power windows have been through various states of working and non-working. They'll work as long as the car's been off for a few hours, work long enough for me to roll them down, then when I want to roll them up, nothing.

Skip ahead 5 months, left work one day, stuck the keys in the ignition, tried to fire up the car. It's going, but not turning over. Out of the blue I just can't get the damn thing started. About an hour later I get it started (just tried it, fired right up). Had it running about 3 minutes, went to roll down the windows, engine died. Couldn't get it started again. Left it sit in the parking lot over night. Went to work the next day, after work it fired right up. Drove it around the parking lot for a bit, seemed to be running fine. Went to park it, as soon as I pulled it into the parking spot the engine died, didn't even shift it into park yet. Left it sit in the parking lot over night.

Next day I fired it up and drove it to the bank about 5 minutes away, drove absolutely fine. Left the bank, started up perfectly fine. Parked it in front of the store, absolutely fine. After work I went to start it up again, fired right up, was running fine. Drove it around the parking lot, parked it, all was good. Next day I told my mother to take me to work, I'd be driving the Bonneville home. Called her after work, had her meet me at the store, just to be on the safe side I wanted to take the Bonneville to my mechanic, wanted her to follow me just in case. Got it to within 5 minutes of my mechanic (25 minutes from my store), and the engine died.

Had it towed the rest of the way. Mechanic had it for over 3 weeks, diagnosis didn't turn up anything. The last few times I had the car in there he told me the computer was going bad, I told him to go ahead and replace it this time, which he did.

Got a call last week "I'll be damned, the thing still is just dying off. We can't figure it out." He suggested I take it to the local Chevy/Pontiac dealer's service center. I go up to his garage to pick up the car, look at the gas tank, it's now empty. I asked "When it kept dying on you, did it sound like it was out of gas?" "Oh, well, let's put some gas in it." (mind you, had 1/4 tank when I dropped it off, the reason it was dying on me wasn't because it was out of gas) After putting 1/4 tank into the car it starts and keeps running, so I drive it home, all the while I'm hearing a small tapping in the engine bay (never made this sound before).

I leave it sit for a few days. Friend calls me on Saturday, needed help putting the top half of his Mustang motor back together, so I figure it's a good time to take the Bonne out for a test drive. As I'm driving this tapping in the engine bay keeps getting louder and progressively faster. I pull it to the side of the street, pop the hood, the damn alternator serpentine belt is shredding. I start the car up to try to get it back home, get 50 feet and the engine dies (belt still attached, very shredded though).

Make an appointment at the Chevy/Pontiac dealer. Dropped it off this morning, got a phone call around 4:30 this afternoon. "Well, we looked at your car, it's going to need some serious work." "Ahh shit, how serious are we talking?" "Well, your supercharger is falling apart, it needs to be replaced, your upper intake manifold is leaking" (knew that it was slowly leaking oil) "and both belts and belt tensioners need to be replaced. You're looking at about $3200." "Okay... that's pretty serious. I'll call you tomorrow with what I want to do."

Now, I'm no mechanic. But all the things they're fixing (aside from the belts) don't sound like they're what's causing my original problem. Or perhaps they are.

Experts, what's your take on my situation? Do you think I'm getting screwed pretty hardcore? Could what they're telling me is wrong with the car be the reason why it's randomly dying? When the car's running it's running perfectly fine (as perfectly as it has been the last two years or so), it's just the issue of getting and keeping it running. Think they'll pay off the rest of the $1800 owed on the Bonneville if I buy a new car off the lot?

Reply to
Chuck Whitby
Loading thread data ...

That's an interesting and long description of what happened but without you doing a bit of analysis and narrowing it down for us, all we can say is that the problem could be fuel, air, or electrical. The dealer could very well be correct. Superchargers are expensive.

Reply to
« Paul »

What you're trying to fix first is an intermittent no-start problem. I don't see how the supercharger could be involved, but then I don't have one. If any mechanic has the car at a moment where it won't start, that's what you need. From the sound of your problem, that should be quite easy to do. Fuel, air, spark. One will be absent at that moment. Testing all 3 is trivial.

Once you get it to start any time you want, you'll want to move up to the intermittent stalling. That is harder, much harder, to diagnose, because it won't happen when you're sitting still in the shop. With any luck, the starting fix will actually nail the problem and you won't get this far.

Reply to
Joe

Check you battery cables. My son was driving my 94 SSEi one night when the car just died while he was driving. Wouldn't restart. I went the next day to fix or retreive the car. Hooked up jumper cable, still would not start. Tightened battery cables on battery and it started perfectly. Been running good since then. We even had a broken post on a battery once that cause similar problems.

Reply to
buickman

Reply to
robert -wanda fox

The battery theory could also explain the power window problems.

Reply to
buickman

I like the battery cables answer too. It seems very likely, and it's free. And, the crank sensor crossed my mind, but I don't think it's intermittent in the right way. It should start cold and then fail to start when it's blazing hot, and he didn't describe it that way.

Reply to
Joe

"Joe" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

Little follow-up.

My original mechanic also thought it was the battery terminals, he replaced them with new terminals, still was stalling out.

Called the dealership this morning before I left for work, asked what the bare minimum would be to get the car at least running so I could get it back and forth to work. $900 He also told me I'd have to sign a waiver saying they're not responsible when the supercharge blows. So, I've just decided to buy a new car.

As much as everyone hates them, I'm gonna get a 2005 Aztek. Pontiac has a $3000 rebate on them, the company my dad works for gets a GM Supplier Discount (and they're doing a promotion that passes the discount onto friends and family too), and I have a few hundred bucks saved in GM Earnings on my GM card. Should whittle the price down to a bit under $20K.

Thanks for all the tips everyone. If anyone wants to buy the Bonne, it's yours for $1800. Black, leather interior, CD w/ EQ, sunroof, 1994 SSEi

8*)
Reply to
Chuck Whitby

where is it?

Reply to
Joseph Roche

"Joseph Roche" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.greennet.net:

It's in Fleetwood, PA. Little suburb town 'bout an hour north of Philly. E-mail me if you're interested. snipped-for-privacy@toomanygames.com I'm going to have it towed home from the dealership this week so I can take pics of it.

Reply to
Chuck Whitby

I have an SSEi as well. Leaving you electrical (windows problem aside which I don't think it relates to your problem) I can't see the supercharged unit is the cause of the problem because you can start the car and also ran normally during your test drive. However, your last description of the problem said the belt shredding suggest it is. I would remove the belt and spin it to see if it rotates freely yourself. GM dealer should explain the engine code to you so you can made a better assessment. If it is supercharged, check around, you can have them rebuilt (front half unit) or buy a new after market rebuilt for half of the price than have GM install it for you. Please keep this posted.

P.s . what is the mileage of your vehicle?

Reply to
news

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.