Bad Car No Go II: Dark Territory

[FreddyKnuckles]

So if your transmission starts slipping can you drive on it forever?  Or is that something you should probably take care of?  How long do you have?

[C of heartbreak]

If you get it fixed now it'll cost $2000+. It can probably run several thousand more miles without doing anything--check the fluid every now and then to make sure it's not burning up, and try not to accelerate too quickly in low gears. After it burns up it'll cost maybe a few hundred more to fix than it would have initially (more if parts for your transmission are very expensive). Generally if you're not afraid of the inevitable break-down and tow, it's worth it to just ride it out.

Is this the car you bought from that sketchy dealer?

[FreddyKnuckles]

Yeah

Its an 05 Subaru Legacy. I will probably just deal with it now.

[FreddyKnuckles]

Will it take more than a day or two to fix? I crashed my car so we are down to one again.

[jebreject]

So I don't know jack about cars, figure I'd actually come in to the WCP forum for once and ask a question:

starting yesterday, my van has had difficulty turning over. What might be causing this? It is a bit overdue for an oil change, could that be the problem? What else might it be?

[dumbfish]

By "turning over," you mean it makes the whinnying sound and the motor won't fire up, right? That means spark + gas+ air aren't getting together as they should.
Not likely lack of oil. Check the oil level. if it's in the reasonable range, then definitely not. The "change oil every 3,000" thing is like the "get your teeth cleaned every six months" thing-- it's fine but way more frequent than you should actually need.
When was the last time the spark plugs and/or their wires were changed? Bad plugs, wires, or distributor caps can keep the spark from happening.
Bad fuel injectors/ carburetors/ sensors can all mess up your gas/air ratio such that the motor won't catch. Is it flooding?

If, on the other hand,you're saying that it's not cranking with its usual vigor, it's more likely to be a battery thing. If so, check and clean the connections and/ or get the battery's voltage tested. Ought to be over 10.5 V while cranking and near 14 while running. Buy a voltmeter or go to Autozone-type place. They'll do it for free.

[jebreject]

That was my first thought, that it was a spark plug or something like that. Thanks for the advice, I'll try to explore a little further.

[FreddyKnuckles]

I replaced the catalytic converter on my subaru legacy with an oem part in April 2010. It already needs to be replaced. Think there's a manufacturer or parts warranty on that sucker?

[Dick]

Did you replace it yourself or have a certified mechanic do it for you?

[FreddyKnuckles]

I bought the car real cheap from a real shady used car dealer. I took it to mechanic before I bought it and he said, yo someone reset the codes, which take a hundred miles to reset so there's a chance your check engine light will pop on.  In a week or so.  So we told the shady dealer that and he offered a discount and a warranty which is pretty good for a small time used car dealer.  Sure enough the check engine light popped on a week later with the code for the cat converter. So we took it back and dude had the shop around the corner swap it out.  I assume they were certified?

[Dick]

So this dude willingly shelled out for an OEM catalytic converter on an import?

Is your engine burning oil?

[FreddyKnuckles]

Yeah basically he knew that the cat was bad and was trying to hide it, so we made him give us a thousand mile warranty.

[Babar]

A feline's mischievousness can not be concealed. You did the right thing, Knucks.

[FreddyKnuckles]

So this dude willingly shelled out for an OEM catalytic converter on an import?

Is your engine burning oil?

This is the code they pulled

http://www.obd-codes.com/p0420

[Thermofusion]

My alternator/generator belt broke today. Already picked up the replacement belt for 4 bucks (left the car running while in the store of course) but....any of you guys got tips on replacing belts like that? Because it looks deceptively simple, like it'd take me 5 minutes. This ain't like one of them dumbass serpentine belts, this is a deal where I got a crankshaft controlling three drive belts and they're all very easily accessible. The alternator belt is the middle one on the crankshaft, so I'd have to take off one of the other belt to get to it. Mainly worried about getting the belts back on straight or accidentally snapping them or whatever.

[Dick]

It's a pretty simple bit of maintenance.  You won't snap the belts.  I'm assuming you know the mechanics of making the change (locate tensioner pulley, make sure belts match, replace belt, adjust tensioner pulley until there's like 1/4" of play in the belt, etc).  The one thing I would say is maybe snap a picture of the relevant belts before you pull them out.  You do need to put the belts back on pretty much exactly as they came off, but if you have a picture you can look at and make a couple notes to yourself you should be able to match them up no problem. 

If you want to do it OG shop class style you could draw a dimensional diagram on graph paper I suppose.

[El_Josharino]

If you want to do it OG shop class style you could draw a dimensional diagram on graph paper I suppose.

My dad did this for me when I broke the serpentine belt on one of my previous vehicles, and told me to stash it in the glove box in case I needed it again. I never did need it again, but it felt kinda badass to have it around.

[Thermofusion]

Man I couldn't budge the bolt on the tensioners at all, and it was kind of difficult to reach, so I ended up driving up to a service place and letting them take a compressor wrench to it. Got one belt off, turned out I'd bought the wrong replacement anyway. Walked to NAPA, got the right belt, let them slap it on, $35 altogether.  Just kinda hate I wasn't able to do it myself, but there's only so much torque my arm can provide.