I think she's a goner....

[Stanl3yX]

I'm at the 104k mark. Driving on the freeway and every time i try to accelerate it stays at 60mph. my Service Engine Light is flashing. And as soon as I get off the freeway and turn the corner it starts to really slow down. Steering wheel locks up, red lights flashing, and it just putters to a slow death. It starts back up, vibrates like hell, but dies once the gear shifts into drive. its at wendy's parking lot for now, where it receives its last meal before the lethal injection. :(


lol, i doubt its dead. but this is my first car, my first problem like this and im freaking out. getting it towed to the shop. i know the problems i have now is that my oil gasket was leaking (but at the moment i had plenty of oil). my muffler was rusted and i needed a tuneup. so much for "budgeting" car problems like Dave Ramsey says. i've learned you gotta take care of things ASAP!

[cherrington17]

its not dead! just replace the engine and tranny.. you'll be fine! :lol:


but seriously... sounds kinda rough. hope its not as bad as it sounds.

[misslindseysue]

When your MIL flashes it's a big problem - usually misfire. Could be as easy of a fix as plugs and wires. Not if you cooked the engine driving it like that, though.

Edit: Haha, I'm not at work - MIL = malfunction indicator light = check engine light.

[Headstrong2740]

wonder if it has somethign to do with his torque converter lock out or maybe somethign to do with ignition. find out what codes your throwing (autozone can tell you as well as the repair shops) i kinda want to know what you are dealing with......

[Stanl3yX]

i'll have an update tonight, but i might be $1000 poorer than now

[cherrington17]

honestly... w/ some of the problems our cars CAN have.. 1k isn't much in repair.

[number1alero]

^nope, hell id say its cheaper to have engine trouble then body work being done since its a unibody, i think ive had close to $8000 in body work done to my car

[p1mptress]

i had over that my car was $13 short of being totalled and it's a 2003 v6. That was with a ton of body work i needed done from a really bad accident 2 yrs ago.

[antichrysler]

i had over that my car was $13 short of being totalled and it's a 2003 v6. That was with a ton of body work i needed done from a really bad accident 2 yrs ago.

ditto.... had about $9000 done to mine 2 months after I got it... all body panels and junk... no structural

but to answer the original post... if it needs $1000 worth of work you should consider how long you plan on keeping the car and what you hope to get for it. If the cars not worth $6700 to you it's probably in your better interest to trade it in and buy something brand new. Of course that's using my 15% formula.

[misslindseysue]

Or if it's really dead and you just love Aleros, I'll sell you mine for $4,500. It even has two sets of wheels/tires - and I'll drive it down there. :)

[rustyballs_69]

$1000 ain't shit for repairs. When my LIM gaskets took a shit the dealer wanted $1085. If you take it to any shop they will rape you for what most people could do themselfs.

[cavaliers60]

$1000 ain't shit for repairs. When my LIM gaskets took a shit the dealer wanted $1085. If you take it to any shop they will rape you for what most people could do themselfs.

Only cost me $400 to get my LIM replaced. :rolleyes2:



Sounds like a really bad problem... You want my alero??? It runs great! I'm kinda trying to sell it.

[rustyballs_69]

Only cost me $400 to get my LIM replaced. :rolleyes2:


Thats why I did them myself. It only cost me less than $100:rolleyes2:

[cavaliers60]

Thats why I did them myself. It only cost me less than $100:rolleyes2:


I would have done it myself if I knew what to do and had the time.. I was down in Orlando on a college program with Disney.... No time and no place to do it... :( But holy poo! Less that $100! :eek:

[rustyballs_69]

I think the gaskets were only like 50 bucks and I use mobile one full synthedic which is around 40 bucks with a K&N filter.


I understand not knowing how to fix things, it took me awhile to get the balls to tear into it. But now I do any work that needs to be done on the car. I haven't payed anyone to work on it yet and I don't plan on starting to.

[cavaliers60]

something I need to start doing. lol I at least got the currage to change out the water pump... I'm glad I did... A little under $25 to replace it myself rather than a couple hundred to have someone take half a day too.... lol

[rustyballs_69]

Yep most stuff sounds alot harder than it really is.

[antichrysler]

^true... admittedly i'd be scared of breaking something on my car

but the same goes for anything, everything is easy to do if you can figure out how to do it... when you pay the premium at a mechanic you're paying for the knowledge and a guarantee it'll get done properly

[brim]

what was the end result here, heh

i would think with SES might be a failed crank sensor or cam sensor

steering wheel lock up makes no sense unless the belt was thrown or there was/is a power issue (same deal)

[Stanl3yX]

They found that 2 cylinders were not firing. It was the coil housing spark plugs and cam sensor, plug boots. (whatever that means)

parts and labor and tax costs $360

how do i prevent somethin like this in the future?


and my idle is still rough when its in the parking gear especially when parked uphill(had this problem for a while now). but when i pop the hood the vibration goes away. it seems like my engine is banging against the hood

[Til It Sleeps04]

how do you change the idling speed of the engine. I think my engine is idling low. Its idling at a tid bit above 750 RPM after about a min of running in park.

[rustyballs_69]

You can't change the idle speed, the idle speed is controlled by the IAC which is controlled by PCM. Unless you can tune you PCM to do it which I don't know. You would have to ask someone that knows about tuning.

[brim]

They found that 2 cylinders were not firing. It was the coil housing spark plugs and cam sensor, plug boots. (whatever that means)

parts and labor and tax costs $360

how do i prevent somethin like this in the future?


and my idle is still rough when its in the parking gear especially when parked uphill(had this problem for a while now). but when i pop the hood the vibration goes away. it seems like my engine is banging against the hood

I'd have to hear that one? lol

As far as prevention there isn't much just general tune up and maintenance, it's possible the cam sensor may have cause some hard misfires and carboned up the plugs a bit or something of the sort, I've seen those integrated ignition systems cook time and time again. Not entirely sure why it happens, then again I never looked into how it is constructed either.

[antichrysler]

how do i prevent somethin like this in the future?


don't drive your car

[Stanl3yX]

My car broke down again on the freeway. i had to get two 02 sensors and a new catalyst converter and towing totalling $715. and still the idle is rough...