Hi all, I've been having some trouble with my 'new' used car and no one has a clue what's going on. I see a lot of intelligent replies here so maybe you can help me.
I bought the car in April 2003 and it ran fine for the first two months while it was covered by the dealer's warranty (AC problems but that isn't relevant to this). Then on June 9th (Actually that is in the first 2 months! Ahhhhh! I should have taken it to the dealer!) anyways, June 9th I took the car into Sears cause I noticed the battery light was on while idling in the parking lot. I took it to them and they said it was the battery, they replaced it and it held for a month or so. On July 16th I had the dealer replace the alternator after it tested weak. Well the first one made a horrible high pitched sound so they put in another. That one burned out right away, the dealer figured the place he bought it from was selling bad parts so he ordered one from GM. That one burnt out as I pulled out of the parking lot after he test drove it for about 20 miles. So he got another one and put it in and this one held... for a while. I don't have any more records of repairs because I wasn't charged for any of it and it was done at another shop the dealer sent it to. Anyways probably around August 15th this alternator died and I had to drive the car back 15 miles with no battery. The brake lights didn't even work, I'm lucky it was running when it died. Anyways they sent it to another shop in their chain of dealerships, this one specialized in GM cars as opposed to Hondas. So they updated the computer and replaced the alternator and I had it back for about another month before the battery light came on again. I took it in and they sent it to the GM dealer again. They said the computer is screwed up again so they hooked the car to a computer and drove it around for an hour. They finally got the battery light to come on (it started out as an infrequent event that increased in frequency until the alternator finally died). So they determined that the ignition is corroded and replaced that. This was October
1st. The report said "Tech found L terminal of generator not switching. Tech replaced PCM under GM warranty." "Starter terminals shorted in solenoid due to corrosion. Tech replaced started good at this time."So anyways that lasted another month, it is now November 6th and last night my battery light came on again, this time it was solid. I decided to just drive home and deal with it the next day since it was too late to take it to the shop. By the time I made it home the check engine light was on. Now the Battery Light and Check Engine Light are on steady. I don't drive it but I've started it a couple of times in the hope that is will just work some how. I have an appointment today in a few hours to take it in and maybe the check engine light will help them analyze the situation and I will post any useful results here. Any help, speculations; anything would be VERY welcome. I just got this car 7 months ago, I shouldn't be dealing with this much frustration and $800 in bills already! Thanks for the help.