My car just died
At about 6:30, I drove my sister and her boyfriend back to his house. On the way, as I was speeding up from about 40 to 55, the car had trouble changing gears. It's an automatic transmission so I was really concerned. The car made two distinct 'clicking' noises, so I put on my emergencies and pulled off the road. (This really isn't safe as there are no streetlights in most NH towns).
I managed to get the car going again, and there were no signs of a problem. I got it all the way to her friend's house but spoke with his father as he is a mechanic.
He told me it didn't sound promising at all but at least I could drive it and get it checked out tomorrow.
So I got in the car and started it up. My sister had been in the car while I was talking and had the lights on in the car, as well as a mirror open. I'm not sure if this is releveant yet. Any way, I backed the car up down the hill his driveway is on and got out into the main street. I shifted pack into drive and the car died. The computer shut down and I couldn't move. I frantically tried to start the car up again but it was totally dead. It turned over (to an extent) but wasn't working at all when I shifted gears. The car stopped turning over after a few tries.
Thankfully, there weren't very many cars out and I was able to put it in neutral and get it off of the road and into their other driveway.
I'm really pissed now. I just got the car a few months ago and still owe a good amount of money on it. I've got no warranty on it any more either (it expired after 30 days).
I can get AAA to tow it, but I don't even know what to do yet. I guess I'll get an estimate of how much it's going to take to fix it up, but I doubt I have the money I'll need for the repairs.
My sister, who just turned 16, bought a car a few weeks ago, so we went and registered it tonight. My dad is going to let me drive the old van I used to have and he's going to drive her car (she doesn't even have her license yet, so she doesn't care).
In the meantime, I have no idea what I'm going to do with the Jeep. Yes, I owe money on it still, but do I go in deeper and try and get it fixed, or do I try and cut my losses, trade it in and hopefully get a better car for the future?
Tomorrow's going to be an interesting day, even without the election.
I managed to get the car going again, and there were no signs of a problem. I got it all the way to her friend's house but spoke with his father as he is a mechanic.
He told me it didn't sound promising at all but at least I could drive it and get it checked out tomorrow.
So I got in the car and started it up. My sister had been in the car while I was talking and had the lights on in the car, as well as a mirror open. I'm not sure if this is releveant yet. Any way, I backed the car up down the hill his driveway is on and got out into the main street. I shifted pack into drive and the car died. The computer shut down and I couldn't move. I frantically tried to start the car up again but it was totally dead. It turned over (to an extent) but wasn't working at all when I shifted gears. The car stopped turning over after a few tries.
Thankfully, there weren't very many cars out and I was able to put it in neutral and get it off of the road and into their other driveway.
I'm really pissed now. I just got the car a few months ago and still owe a good amount of money on it. I've got no warranty on it any more either (it expired after 30 days).
I can get AAA to tow it, but I don't even know what to do yet. I guess I'll get an estimate of how much it's going to take to fix it up, but I doubt I have the money I'll need for the repairs.
My sister, who just turned 16, bought a car a few weeks ago, so we went and registered it tonight. My dad is going to let me drive the old van I used to have and he's going to drive her car (she doesn't even have her license yet, so she doesn't care).
In the meantime, I have no idea what I'm going to do with the Jeep. Yes, I owe money on it still, but do I go in deeper and try and get it fixed, or do I try and cut my losses, trade it in and hopefully get a better car for the future?
Tomorrow's going to be an interesting day, even without the election.
Comments
It sucks to have to pay on a car that's dead.
I'm guessing the center of your problems deal with the transmission, which may be at failure due to the electrical systems. You did say the computer shut down. . .
Check the transmission for fluid. It could have leaked out. If this is the problem, than that's a best case scenario. Did you check any of the other fluids? Leaks happen.
You should inspect the engine bay and then look underneath the engine bay. Look for residue, which indicates a leak. Check your fluids, particularly the oil, coolant, and trans fluid. (You have automatic, right?) If there is a problem with the transmission, your wheels will not get power, and it has the potential to stall the engine, since the transmission is self lubricating. That is, the same fluid that acts to spin the drive impeller from the motion in the motor impeller lubricates all of the parts. No lube = stall, thus possible power cut off or surge. Since automatics aren't generally supposed to stall, the "stall" may well have been the cause of the tranmission problem.
Other possibilities:
Throttle body buildup - extremely unlikely on a new car
Fuel Pump/injectors
Air intake problem
But given the circumstances, I bet your trans is the big problem. It sounds like some blot or something was jarred loose inside, which sucks. No easy fix for that. If you can argue to the affect of the chysler powertrain warranty that I hear about way too much in advertising, that would probably help.
Red Sox suck, always have and always will.
The Newton is dead, let it rest in peace.
[ducks]
Oh, I have a car to drive and I can still get down there whenever I need to.
To be more specific, the car is a Jeep Cherokee and is a 95. It has about 150k miles on it.
The used car dealer I got it from put a 30 day warranty on it and I really took advantage of it and got the problems I knew about dealt with. Unfortunately, that warranty expired a few months ago.
It will hopefully get to a garage today to see how much it will cost to be fixed. I'm crossing my fingers.
Um... I think 2003 is really going to be the Sox's year! Reverse the curse! rah rah rah! Yankee's suck!
I also love my Newton 120. Really, it isn't sitting in the back of my closet collecting dust
Seriously though, next time you are in Boston, lemme know
I hope to know more this afternoon. Hopefully one of these 'cheaper' solutions turns out to be the one that works.
$1500 Transmssion rebuild.
It's at AAMCO now and they say there might be a problem with the engine and fuel pump as well. Dang it. I don't know what I'm going to do.
{Edit: two fscking words and I fsck it up}
[ 11-08-2002: Message edited by: Scott ]</p>
<strong>american car. this is a surprise to anyone...?</strong><hr></blockquote>
My moms used Honda that she just bought had the same thing. It was the second Honda she had where the tranny went bad.
<strong>american car. this is a surprise to anyone...?</strong><hr></blockquote>
It's got 150,000 miles on it for gods sake. Geesh!
Fran, did you find out what it was?
<strong>
It's got 150,000 miles on it for gods sake. Geesh!
</strong><hr></blockquote>
musta been a lemon.