Houston, We Have A Problem. (possibly an engine?)

[Gadsden]

I have a 2008 H3, I5 engine, and a smidge under 150k miles. I don't drive all that much because I work from home, so I might actually get in the vehicle a couple of times a week.

Anyway, today I had to take my son to work about 3 miles away. About half way there, the vehicle started to make all sort of noises. Coming from the front passenger side, under the hood'ish. The noises ranged from me thinking there was a stick in the fan blade, to me thinking the whole thing was about to blow up...The noise would start, stop, start again. But in general, the vehicle was driving fine....Wasn't sputtering, wasn't trying to stall.

Dropped my son off, and headed home. By the time I was headed down my road, I lost my power steering, the temp was climbing rapidly, my AC OFF light came on, the red battery light came on, a dash light came on that said something about Service and maybe Charge?

I pulled it into the drive, jumped out...and looked under the front of the vehicle. Looks like radiator fluid running out.

I'm not a mechanic, but clearly this isn't good. Before I call someone to tow it and check it out, I'm interested in what your thoughts are on what it might be. Should I start looking for a new vehicle?

 

[Jeff V.]

This is gonna sound really obvious but....broken accessory drive belt?

 

[Gadsden]

This is gonna sound really obvious but....broken accessory drive belt?

I didn't have a chance to look when I came home. I was on a deadline for work, I wrapped things up and went and checked under the hood. Sure enough. The belt was off. Oddly, I just took it into the shop a few weeks ago and had all of the belts replaced.

But yes, you're 100% correct. Don't know if that's the only problem so far, but that's where I'm at.

 

[Jeff V.]

As long as you caught it before it got too hot for too long, the only other thing I'd be immediately worried about is the belt slapping around and physically breaking something.

I'd have some pretty strong words for that shop.

 

[alrock]

I'm thinking I'd start with a failed water pump that took out the belt. Grab the fan and see if there's back and forth movement - anything beyond the normal rotational movement. Your engine should be fine. But it could just be a belt that broke and then you overheated, forcing out coolant.

 

[scoreh3]

X2 on the water pump.

 

[Jeepwalker]

You should take it to your trusted mechanic, or dealer and see what they say. I get the impression from reading your account, that would be a good course of action. It's hard to say what the issue could be. Could be a bunch of things.

 

[720H]

I would wash the engine bay out of all coolant will be somewhat easier to see if you did have a leak when you get it going again. Was it sprayed up underside on the hood. Kinda of a good thing in a way. If your temp gage was rising has to have coolant in there. Better chance of the engine being OK. Also have to check out if the belt was thrashing around in there didnt knock a hole in the radiator

 

[Gadsden]

First, I want to thank you guys for your responses...and you were all correct more or less. I'm not a mechanic, I don't work on cars, and when I've tried in the past (other than routine maintenance) bad things happen..

So, I took it up to my mechanic, who's a really good guy. Luckily I was on my street as the engine finally started to heat up, so I only ended up going about a city block as the needle was climbing. As it turns out, my mechanic called me the following day, said I needed a new water pump. He said WP is about $290-$300 so I'm at $700 for the water pump.

He also asked if I was planning on keeping it. (I just dropped a smidge over $2k in front end work on it). I said, of course. He said, then while I've got it over here, I should change the radiator because this turd isn't going to get you through winter..So, another $700.

Thats where we're at. Thanks again guys, and nice diagnosis skills!

 

[720H]

OEM GM water pump are under a $100 on Rock Auto.

 

[alrock]

Bummer, but glad the issue wasn't catastrophic. You should get a new belt put on at the same time.

Unless you really like this guy, you may want to shop around for the next repairs. An AC Delco water pump is no more than $100; aftermarket is less than half that. Radiators are $250 for AC Delco and less than half that for aftermarket. He's got a lot of time booked for those repairs too.

But if you're good with this guy and you've had success with him, that goes a long way.

 

[ski.dive]

Find another mechanic-

Your mechanic is ripping you off big time charging you $300 for a water pump and $700 for a radiator

 

[Jeff V.]

You can get a brand new GM pump for $90. https://www.gmpartsgiant.com/parts/...year=2009&submodel=&extra1=&extra2=&filter=()

You can get off brand pumps under $40. $300 with labor is about right if he's buying GM parts. $700 is a blatant rip off. All Data says this is a ~2 hour job. I'd like to know what his hourly rate is.

 

[Jeepwalker]

Well, does that $700 include new hoses and a flush ..anything else? Also, maybe the new radiator comes from the dealer too. Then you have to figure labor. Shops don't keep the lights on by giving away work for free. But yeah, shops need to be competitive, right? If the guy is super-thorough and provides a good service, that may add value. (or not??).