Swamp Auto Repair

[The Sybian]

I would wager it isn’t the battery. But I have always confused the starter and alternator.

The way I understand it, the alternator charges the battery as you drive; otherwise the battery would run down while you were driving. So if a car isn't turning over, I think the immediate cause is likely to be the battery or the starter. But if it's the battery, that could be a result of a bad alternator, or a bad battery, or the battery being run down from lights or something else being left on.

This is my understanding. I've had issues with all 3 in the past. From my experience, if the clicking continues for 3 or 4 tries, it's the starter. If the battery doesn't have enough juice to start the car, it won't have enough juice to get the starter to make the clicking noise more than 2 or 3 times in a row. It could be the alternator not recharging the battery, or it could be an issue with the battery itself.

[rass]

The remote no longer unlocks doors so I guess the battery is somehow dead again.

[sancarlos]

The remote no longer unlocks doors so I guess the battery is somehow dead again.

Do you mean your car remote? My car key quit unlocking the doors, but luckily I just needed to change the little batteries.

[Steve of phpBB]

The remote no longer unlocks doors so I guess the battery is somehow dead again.

I think you can get a basic charger/starter for fifty bucks or less.

You can also remove the battery and take it to an auto parts store, and they can test it to see if the battery is still good. Hell, since it sounds new, I'd take it to the place you bought it from.

[sancarlos]

The remote no longer unlocks doors so I guess the battery is somehow dead again.

I think you can get a basic charger/starter for fifty bucks or less.

You can also remove the battery and take it to an auto parts store, and they can test it to see if the battery is still good. Hell, since it sounds new, I'd take it to the place you bought it from.

I'm a bit confused, now. The car battery has nothing to do with whether the remote works to unlock doors.

[A_B]

The remote no longer unlocks doors so I guess the battery is somehow dead again.

I think you can get a basic charger/starter for fifty bucks or less.

You can also remove the battery and take it to an auto parts store, and they can test it to see if the battery is still good. Hell, since it sounds new, I'd take it to the place you bought it from.

I'm a bit confused, now. The car battery has nothing to do with whether the remote works to unlock doors.

Well that depends on how the door locks get their power doesn't it? If the car is deader than a doornail they may not respond to the fob.

[Steve of phpBB]

The remote no longer unlocks doors so I guess the battery is somehow dead again.

I think you can get a basic charger/starter for fifty bucks or less.

You can also remove the battery and take it to an auto parts store, and they can test it to see if the battery is still good. Hell, since it sounds new, I'd take it to the place you bought it from.

I'm a bit confused, now. The car battery has nothing to do with whether the remote works to unlock doors.

Well that depends on how the door locks get their power doesn't it? If the car is deader than a doornail they may not respond to the fob.

This. I’ve had that happen. The issue isn’t the remote, it’s the power door locks.

[rass]

Yeah, the car is dead and not responding the fob.

Looked around once I got in the car and it looks like I must have hit the dome light in the cargo area while unpacking the car last weekend and left it at ON. As always:

[mister d]

PSH as either you or the battery works there.

[rass]

The battery was installed by AAA roadside assistance and is less than 3 months old, so I called them yesterday to check it out before doing anything with it. We were able to jump the car, and the tech just said take it “anywhere” to get it recharged.

I took it to a local shop yesterday and they said it wouldn’t take a charge. Took it to autozone this morning and they said the same.

Called AAA again today and a different tech came, said the same thing about the battery needing to be charged but said I needed to take it to an official AAA shop, and without paperwork from either the other two places he couldn’t help me out. He apologized for that and for the bad info from the previous tech. Thanks.

So now I need to drive a 1/2 plus tomorrow, hopefully get a working battery one way or another, and call membership services to try to get at least one of this weekend’s visits taken off my “4 assistance calls per year”.

[govmentchedda]

My low beam (regular) bulb was out on the driver's side, so I got a replacement bulb for it. When I went to replace it yesterday the bad/old bulb worked once it was taken out of the headlamp, yet still doesn't work when I put it back in the bulb casing (?). Gearhead father in law says maybe the filament has been broken, but accidentally turns on when held at a different angle. He generally knows his shit, but TS Sally is keeping me from trying again. Yinz have any thoughts?

[Steve of phpBB]

My low beam (regular) bulb was out on the driver's side, so I got a replacement bulb for it. When I went to replace it yesterday the bad/old bulb worked once it was taken out of the headlamp, yet still doesn't work when I put it back in the bulb casing (?). Gearhead father in law says maybe the filament has been broken, but accidentally turns on when held at a different angle. He generally knows his shit, but TS Sally is keeping me from trying again. Yinz have any thoughts?

I’m curious, how could you tell the bulb worked after you removed it? How do you test that?

What your father-in-law says makes sense, but more importantly, how much is the replacement bulb? If it’s cheap and works when you install it, I wouldn’t worry about it.

[govmentchedda]

So, the bulb was still connected to the power cable, but out of the big plastic headlamp, light reflector/refractor housing, and it was on. Not only was it on, but when it touched other stuff it was smoking a little. Might have been the mist from the rain.

[Steve of phpBB]

So, the bulb was still connected to the power cable, but out of the big plastic headlamp, light reflector/refractor housing, and it was on. Not only was it on, but when it touched other stuff it was smoking a little. Might have been the mist from the rain.

Ah, that makes sense.

[rass]

My car is a 2013 model and like your mom I’ve driven it hard, so when I heard a bit of a rattle after dropping my kid off at track this afternoon I worried about it for about as long as it took to turn the radio down and verify the noise was originating from my car.

A couple of hours later when I went to pick the kid up from track I didn’t hear anything so all done!

But when we got home there was a hunk of metal laying in the street down the block from my house, in the direction I had left just a bit earlier. I parked the car and went to look at it and it appeared to be something that could have fallen off the undercarriage of a car. I tried looking under the car and didn’t see an obvious spot where it looked like something is missing.

I don’t remember hearing something fall, it could just be a coincidence...

[Steve of phpBB]

My car is a 2013 model and like your mom I’ve driven it hard, so when I heard a bit of a rattle after dropping my kid off at track this afternoon I worried about it for about as long as it took to turn the radio down and verify the noise was originating from my car.

A couple of hours later when I went to pick the kid up from track I didn’t hear anything so all done!

But when we got home there was a hunk of metal laying in the street down the block from my house, in the direction I had left just a bit earlier. I parked the car and went to look at it and it appeared to be something that could have fallen off the undercarriage of a car. I tried looking under the car and didn’t see an obvious spot where it looked like something is missing.

I don’t remember hearing something fall, it could just be a coincidence...

How did you know how my mom drives?

(You're right though.)

[BSF21]

My car is a 2013 model and like your mom I’ve driven it hard, so when I heard a bit of a rattle after dropping my kid off at track this afternoon I worried about it for about as long as it took to turn the radio down and verify the noise was originating from my car.

A couple of hours later when I went to pick the kid up from track I didn’t hear anything so all done!

But when we got home there was a hunk of metal laying in the street down the block from my house, in the direction I had left just a bit earlier. I parked the car and went to look at it and it appeared to be something that could have fallen off the undercarriage of a car. I tried looking under the car and didn’t see an obvious spot where it looked like something is missing.

I don’t remember hearing something fall, it could just be a coincidence...

That's your Blufurbler. Gonna be 5 maybe 6K. Tell you what I've got one here I can send you just paypal me like 4 grand and I'll get it right out to you.

Signed,

BSF Very Serious Auto Technician

(Seriously though might have just been a skid plate that the screws rusted out of. Any other issues or nothing since the rattling stopped?

[Steve of phpBB]

My car is a 2013 model and like your mom I’ve driven it hard, so when I heard a bit of a rattle after dropping my kid off at track this afternoon I worried about it for about as long as it took to turn the radio down and verify the noise was originating from my car.

A couple of hours later when I went to pick the kid up from track I didn’t hear anything so all done!

But when we got home there was a hunk of metal laying in the street down the block from my house, in the direction I had left just a bit earlier. I parked the car and went to look at it and it appeared to be something that could have fallen off the undercarriage of a car. I tried looking under the car and didn’t see an obvious spot where it looked like something is missing.

I don’t remember hearing something fall, it could just be a coincidence...

That's your Blufurbler. Gonna be 5 maybe 6K. Tell you what I've got one here I can send you just paypal me like 4 grand and I'll get it right out to you.

Signed,

BSF Very Serious Auto Technician

(Seriously though might have just been a skid plate that the screws rusted out of. Any other issues or nothing since the rattling stopped?

More seriously, how big is the hunk of metal? If it's part of the heat shield for the catalytic converter, that could actually be a problem. And those heat shields are notorious for rattling.

So maybe take the car and the hunk of metal to the shop to see if they can tell if something is missing.

[mister d]

I hope you get shunned from the town Facebook page for stealing someone’s metal from the street.

[BSF21]

I wanna see the Yinzer Nextdoor post on that.

[rass]

Figured tossing it on a desk at a shop was gonna be the only way to get an answer

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[rass]

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[The Sybian]

Figured tossing it on a desk at a shop was gonna be the only way to get an answer


89FCB13D-777C-4CA1-B7C0-47499864D9CE.jpeg

Hey, is that a new floor? Looks great! Gus looks great, too. Rub his belly for me.

No idea about the piece or metal.

[Pruitt]

Gus is such a good looking boy!

And my son the car expert (ish) says that the part looks like a catalytic converter heat shield.

[A_B]

That will cause a shitloadnof noise, too. And it’s possible someone stole it. I’m not joking in the slightest.

[Steve of phpBB]

Gus is such a good looking boy!

And my son the car expert (ish) says that the part looks like a catalytic converter heat shield.

Yup on both accounts.

That piece looks a lot older than what I'd expect to see on a 2013 ... but maybe I've just forgotten how cars age back east.

[The Sybian]

Gus is such a good looking boy!

And my son the car expert (ish) says that the part looks like a catalytic converter heat shield.

Yup on both accounts.

That piece looks a lot older than what I'd expect to see on a 2013 ... but maybe I've just forgotten how cars age back east.

You think the car part aged poorly, Gus is only 3!

[The Sybian]

Eric the Car Guy with a really simple fix. Use a hose clamp to tie it back on! Might not know where it goes since it's completely off, assuming the part you picked up fell off of your car. It does seem like a catalytic convert shield after watching this video. I love watching Youtube videos and fixing stuff. I was able to repair my snow blower last week! Could have used it during the snow storm last week, though.

[Steve of phpBB]

Eric the Car Guy with a really simple fix. Use a hose clamp to tie it back on! Might not know where it goes since it's completely off, assuming the part you picked up fell off of your car. It does seem like a catalytic convert shield after watching this video. I love watching Youtube videos and fixing stuff. I was able to repair my snow blower last week! Could have used it during the snow storm last week, though.

Shit, I think I had to do that with one of my old cars.

We didn't have YouTube in those days of course.

And we wore onions on our belts, which was the style at the time.

[BSF21]

Eric the Car Guy with a really simple fix. Use a hose clamp to tie it back on! Might not know where it goes since it's completely off, assuming the part you picked up fell off of your car. It does seem like a catalytic convert shield after watching this video. I love watching Youtube videos and fixing stuff. I was able to repair my snow blower last week! Could have used it during the snow storm last week, though.

Shit, I think I had to do that with one of my old cars.

We didn't have YouTube in those days of course.

And we wore onions on our belts, which was the style at the time.

Steve’s jalopy got 45 rods to the hogshead and that’s the way he liked it by god.

[tennbengal]

Hi. It's me, the stupid lawyer and dumb consumer.

Have bought our cars at CarMax for a little over 20 years. No issues ever, I like the "price is the price" dealie and the ease of trade-ins.

But, they've now fucked me. Either vertantly or inadvertantly.

I splurged (pre-Jen losing her job) on a used 2016 inifinti QX50 w/ only 37,000 miles on it. Price was $22,000. This was May, during height of initial Covid. I didn't investigate that price in too much detail, but it seemed pretty fair from an SUV with that mileage from a quick glance at the 'net. Had the room I needed for four years of taking Q to college etc. Financed the car because, lol, I cannot stroke $20,000.00 checks.

About four months into ownership, check engine light comes on that persists. I take it to a trusted local shop and they do something with the oil pan. A few weeks later, light back on, this time I take to to Carmax and ask them to look at it. On that one I was able to use the "Maxcare Service Contract" that I had purchased (for $1800) for them to do a repair also around the oil pan I guess. Got a few days of free rental car.

Get it back, a few months pass, still a kinda burning oil smell but no engine light. Oil change reminder light comes on, so I take it to a good Jiffy Lube near me, and the very good person running the shop comes out and says, hey, you are a quart low, there is a leak in the pan, not huge, but definitely there, I can't in good conscience change the oil, you should take this somewhere and get it sourced.

So, a few weeks pass and this time I take it to an Inifiniti dealership figuring they will know what is up. What it turns out is up is...in 2018, Infiniti has a record on that car that the previous owner let the oil run down, got sludge, and ruined the original engine, and that what is in my car is a used engine of unknown provenance in terms of age etc. Inifinit can make the repair on this set of leaks (for $1700 - which, I guess, is not near as bad as it could have been but, yeah, with Jen's job situation, not great either), but they cannot guarantee me that other problems won't crop up with this unknown engine because, well, unknown engine. The Maxcare Service Contract I purchased won't respond to the repair because it is to the drive train, which should be under original warranty, except, well, it is NOT the original engine so they won't cover it.

So I have four years left of payments, a car with an engine that I will never be able to trust, and a sinking feeling over how dumb I am . I guess I should have called and gotten the service history on the car before purchase. I have never done that before, with any CarMax cars, but, is that on me? I guess it is. Arbitration provisions everywhere in the loan documentation. Not sure if I can avoid arbitration since a theoretical suit is over what CarMax knew when it sold me the car vs. what I should have done/what my responsbilities were. But , I fucked up, yeah? Or do you all think on those facts I should sue CarMax over the car and try and get them to take it back? I assume they won't take it back on the goodness of their hearts, but I have not yet gone to them with these facts to see if they will in light of 24 years of car payments to them for various cars.

It's okay to call me stupid. I am calling myself that.

Yay 2020.

[rass]

I sometimes enjoy driving but GD do I hate everything else about cars.

Sorry man.

[mister d]

I know this isn’t quite answering the question, but a lot of times the way to get results is slamming their social media. You post, we periodically amplify, and if someone happens to search Carmax on Twitter, they might see your post. Even if what they did was legal, it self-evidently wasn’t ethical and they knowingly used their advantage over the consumer.

[mister d]

I sometimes enjoy driving but GD do I hate everything else about cars.

Sorry man.

Yeah, cars suck just as much as home ownership and I wish it were plausible for me to opt out of both.

[tennbengal]

I know this isn’t quite answering the question, but a lot of times the way to get results is slamming their social media. You post, we periodically amplify, and if someone happens to search Carmax on Twitter, they might see your post. Even if what they did was legal, it self-evidently wasn’t ethical and they knowingly used their advantage over the consumer.

The "Camaro" route I will consider after I make an appt to go talk to them about the situation.

[A_B]

Having sold a car to car max there is a pretty good chance they didn’t know it wasn’t an original engine. So what seems likely to have happened is this dude found a buddy who could change his engine out with one from a junkyard so it probably never hit the car fax database. Not sure what kind of guarantees they have with buying a car there about inspections or the like.

[tennbengal]

Having sold a car to car max there is a pretty good chance they didn’t know it wasn’t an original engine. So what seems likely to have happened is this dude found a buddy who could change his engine out with one from a junkyard so it probably never hit the car fax database. Not sure what kind of guarantees they have with buying a car there about inspections or the like.

Well, Inifinit immediately had the record of the change out, so I am pretty sure it wasn't the situation you described. It was on Inifinit's radar from their vehicle history report.

[BSF21]

Having sold a car to car max there is a pretty good chance they didn’t know it wasn’t an original engine. So what seems likely to have happened is this dude found a buddy who could change his engine out with one from a junkyard so it probably never hit the car fax database. Not sure what kind of guarantees they have with buying a car there about inspections or the like.

Well, Inifinit immediately had the record of the change out, so I am pretty sure it wasn't the situation you described. It was on Inifinit's radar from their vehicle history report.

At the very least Carmax owes you the balance of the warranty they sold you that they won't honor since they didn't disclose that the engine didn't qualify.

[tennbengal]

Having sold a car to car max there is a pretty good chance they didn’t know it wasn’t an original engine. So what seems likely to have happened is this dude found a buddy who could change his engine out with one from a junkyard so it probably never hit the car fax database. Not sure what kind of guarantees they have with buying a car there about inspections or the like.

Well, Inifinit immediately had the record of the change out, so I am pretty sure it wasn't the situation you described. It was on Inifinit's radar from their vehicle history report.

At the very least Carmax owes you the balance of the warranty they sold you that they won't honor since they didn't disclose that the engine didn't qualify.

Yeah, I may start there.

[A_B]

Having sold a car to car max there is a pretty good chance they didn’t know it wasn’t an original engine. So what seems likely to have happened is this dude found a buddy who could change his engine out with one from a junkyard so it probably never hit the car fax database. Not sure what kind of guarantees they have with buying a car there about inspections or the like.

Well, Inifinit immediately had the record of the change out, so I am pretty sure it wasn't the situation you described. It was on Inifinit's radar from their vehicle history report.

Hmmm. I read it as “this isn’t the engine that I supposed to be in here” and they just figured it out from serial numbers or something. But I see now what you are saying.