Woke up on Saturday morning and went to wash my car. It had been sitting since the previous Sunday. The car wouldn't start. Battery was dead. The car is about 16 months old with about 13,500 miles. This is at least the 10th time it has had to be jumped. Other times were after sitting for 5 days or so straight, or when having the power on, but not the engine, for as little as 10-15 minutes. It went to a dealer once for this and they could find nothing wrong. So, roadside assistance jumps the car and I go to the car wash...
All is well till later that night.
Drove the car for about 40 miles with no problems. Then notice a weird smell...think it is something outside of the car. After a few minutes I look down at the Temp gage and it was pegging H. Crap. Pull over and see the steam coming out. I pop the hood and, while there is steam, there was no other fluid coming out of the car. Slowly took the coolant cap off (that was exciting) to let it cool down and let the car sit for 20-30 minutes. Turned it back on, temp was in the middle...so I tried to limp it back to a friends house a few miles away. Made a quick stop at a gas station to buy more coolant, just in case, and when I got back to my car it was back at H. Wound up leaving it at the gas station for the night. The next day went back to the car and there was a very small amount of fluid under the car...not even sure if it was mine, since it was parked in a gas station, where all the cars there are busted. The coolant was a little low, but certainly not a ton. Probably more from the overheating steam and spitting a bit when I opened the coolant. I also checked the oil, just in case, and the level was fine.
So today it was towed back to the dealer. I'm pissed about both the overheating and the battery...but I understand that the fan or a pump or a belt may have broken and caused the car to overheat. I think I'm more pissed about the battery. I'm just worried that they'll say "couldn't find anything wrong with it", like the last service place did, in which case I'll have to expend more energy/time yelling at them, etc, etc..
I guess this was more of a rant/vent then me asking for input...thanks for reading!
I'll keep you posted.
All is well till later that night.
Drove the car for about 40 miles with no problems. Then notice a weird smell...think it is something outside of the car. After a few minutes I look down at the Temp gage and it was pegging H. Crap. Pull over and see the steam coming out. I pop the hood and, while there is steam, there was no other fluid coming out of the car. Slowly took the coolant cap off (that was exciting) to let it cool down and let the car sit for 20-30 minutes. Turned it back on, temp was in the middle...so I tried to limp it back to a friends house a few miles away. Made a quick stop at a gas station to buy more coolant, just in case, and when I got back to my car it was back at H. Wound up leaving it at the gas station for the night. The next day went back to the car and there was a very small amount of fluid under the car...not even sure if it was mine, since it was parked in a gas station, where all the cars there are busted. The coolant was a little low, but certainly not a ton. Probably more from the overheating steam and spitting a bit when I opened the coolant. I also checked the oil, just in case, and the level was fine.
So today it was towed back to the dealer. I'm pissed about both the overheating and the battery...but I understand that the fan or a pump or a belt may have broken and caused the car to overheat. I think I'm more pissed about the battery. I'm just worried that they'll say "couldn't find anything wrong with it", like the last service place did, in which case I'll have to expend more energy/time yelling at them, etc, etc..
I guess this was more of a rant/vent then me asking for input...thanks for reading!
I'll keep you posted.
