when good days turn bad

[yetipolice]

re:They initially priced the Jeep at least $700 over blue book, yet when I brought it to a mechanic to inspect before purchase,
-------------------------------------------------------------------

There is your problem....don't blame the dealer...you need a new mechanic. Sorry!

Not unless the whole problem stemmed from the serp belt... as stated earlier, the dealer replaced the serp belt as part of the purchase, they used their own in house mechanic for that, not mine. But I don't know if that indeed caused the failure.

[flowtron]

Whne all else fails, bring in the Troubleshooter: Tom Martino.

[Big E]

Not unless the whole problem stemmed from the serp belt... as stated earlier, the dealer replaced the serp belt as part of the purchase, they used their own in house mechanic for that, not mine. But I don't know if that indeed caused the failure.

Could have easily done it. Same serp belt usually drives the water pump and the PS pump. I don't know if someone would be able to tell if one of the pumps seized and that threw the belt off, or if the belt went off first, leading to loss of power steering and waterpump.

edit - If one of the pumps seized, I'd expect lots of screeching from the belt.

[yetipolice]

edit - If one of the pumps seized, I'd expect lots of screeching from the belt.

no screeching, just suddenly power steering was gone... I heard a faint quick noise, hard to describe the sound but would be closer to the sound of something snapping or cracking, but no other sounds after that. but definitely no screeching.

edit: and when the power steering went, felt like steering through quicksand, but other than that nothing felt weird about the car... no shaking, no noises, nothing but steering.

[Nitro]

You probably already checked this, but many used car dealers give a 500-600 mile warranty on a used car? Maybe not for one that old. I would say, if you can trace the failure to the serpentine belt, and that failure caused the chain reaction of problems, then the mechanic that installed the Serpentine Belt is at fault. All you need is documentation from a few mechanics proving the same conclusion and...I agree..go to the dealer first and then go to the local paper. I agree, if the dealership is reputable, and you can prove that their mechanic was at fault, then it would be in their best interest to take care of the motor.

FYI, if your car is at Berthoud Motors in GWS, those guys are very good and have always been very reputable. I would trust their diagnosis.

[MTT]

Hey,

I don't want to beat it to death. BUT yea an incorrectly installed serpentine belt would cause the exact problem you had.

It seems you did all the right things buying the car. You paid TOP DOLLAR for a 1997 Jeep Cherokee. (I own a 1996 and like it)

You had a mechanic check the car over, had the dealer replace brakes and Serpintine belt.

I think the dealer should pay to tow the Jeep back to Steamboat. Look it over and make it right.

Its obvious your not rich, you came up with 4,000$ so you could have a dependable ride.

You really have nowhere else to turn. I would like to hear that the dealer makes this OK for you. Much easier for them to get you on the road than for you too suffer after just having purchased from them

I can’t help but think they will?

Have you talked to them about it yet?

BTW my water pump went out a couple months ago. It did not seize up, it just started dumping coolant on the ground and the engine overheated.

I could even see a bad mechanic wrecking the water pump when they put on the belt.

Good luck and good karma.

[yetipolice]

well talked to the mechanic and sounds like the water pump is the root of the problem. I guess the bearings on the water pump went out which causes the sepentine belt to have no tension. So I don't think I'm going to be able to get the dealer to cover anything if that is the case, but we'll see what they say.

[Nitro]

Let us know. I really hope the dealer takes care of it. I had a '97 jeep and that thing was bullet proof. Usually those jeeps have a poor transmission. Everything else is usually very reliable. Look forward to hearing about it. Hell..if you have to, take matters into your own hands and put the dealerships link and email on a thread. I think we can help pursuade a number of mountain folk to never go to that dealership.

[yetipolice]

bump for update and advice...

So dealership is helping somewhat. They're giving me essentially my purchase price towards a trade, so considering the car is basically worthless right now and they could have just told me tough sh*t, pretty okay deal. Now the question is which car to get as replacement...

2 options: 2000 Outback, 84K, 5spd, brand new tires, looks and runs smooth, just having the mechanic check a "clicking" noise that sounds like it's coming from the belts. $12K (basically bluebook, so maybe can talk them down a bit)

or 2001 Jeep Cherokee Sport, 69K, auto...$10K... suspension felt kind of rough, but other than that felt fine.

Leaning heavily towards the Outback unless someone convinces me otherwise.

[Son1cdeth]

definitely the outback. Find out if the clutch is original or has been replaced, other than that the car should give you a ton of miles.

[pointedem]

u paid 4k for the car

so the subie would be 8k,
and the jeep 6k?

[gravitylover]

10 miles overheating OK? I wouldn't drive an overheating car one block but that's just me.

Heheh I ran my fan into the radiator four wheeling once, cut the upper hose too. No water at all and it was about 11 miles back to my buddys place. We made it but the engine wouldn't shut off until we ran the garden hose into the cut hose for about five minutes to cool the block down. There was water everywhere. He gave me a ride to Napa and we got a radiator and some hoses, hooked it all up and put an electric fan on the front of the new radiator. Took off the fan and pulleys for it so it would be kinda balanced. Started it up and ran it that way until I wrecked it a year and a half later, about 35,000 miles. I had to replace a few minor items too like motor mounts and a few wires that overheated but nothing too serious. The rig was a 1960 Willy's with a Buick 225ci V6 and all sortsa other goodies. It actually got slightly better mileage without the drag from the extra belt length and pulleys and the big fan.

Hijack over.

edit: Definitely the Outback. I have 147k on mine and it runs in and out of NYC five days a week.

[yetipolice]

definitely the outback. Find out if the clutch is original or has been replaced, other than that the car should give you a ton of miles.

Clutch was recently replaced... it had one owner, originally purchased from same dealership.

and yeah, paid $4K... they're giving me $3600 for trade-in (which is technically roughly what I paid before taxes/fees), good enough for me. So yes, around $8K for subie, $6K for Jeep.

[BLOOD SWEAT STEEL]

Nice to hear they're making things right. Guess there are a few honest car salesmen still out there.

Outback for sure. Regardless, make them check out that "clicking" and get it fixed before you buy or you'll be right back in the same boat. If it's no big deal, tell them to get it fixed first. No big deal.

(Although just about every EJ25 I've ever seen has some type of click or ticking.)

[INDY GS]

Subie For Sure. I have a 2000 Outback that I bought used with 54K on it, I now have 114K on it and the only things I have done are tires, brakes and routine maintenance. I just had to replace the stereo because the factory 6 disc changer went out.

Plus the outback gets better milage than the Cherokee, is more stable and will go all the same places as the jeep would have.

[iceman]

Plus the outback...will go all the same places as the jeep would have.

Outbacks have a low range now?

C'mon.

[INDY GS]

All the same places MOST people take them.

[iceman]

All the same places MOST people take them.

That's fair enough.

[yetipolice]

mechanic is checking out the Subie for me today... my biggest concern is the "clicking" noise as I've heard that could be an indicator of the head gasket problem common in Subies around that year.