DIY Auto Repairs Saved Me Thousands! - Part 1
On a recent road trip, we had some overheating issues going on with our vehicle, a 2002 GMC Envoy. The trip took twice as long as we expected, since we had to pull over three times to let the coolant and engine cool, before we could resume travelling. Stopping was really not an option, as we had a 2 year old and three dogs with us, and an obligation to pet sit for my wife's parents while they went on a trip of their own.
Luckily, we made it, but I was afraid that I may have caused some permanent damage to the engine. I had some theories as to what was the problem, but none of them seemed to be the case, so I stupidly took the vehicle to a mechanic while we were there. I should have known better, as I have truly never encountered an honest or reliable mechanic in my whole life.
Instead of diagnosing the overheating heating issue, as I basically pleaded with them to do, they just told me that they found oil mixed in the coolant, and told me I would need to replace the engine. They then "helpfully" offered to do it for me for a mere $7500. Well, I only paid $1500 for the truck in the first place, so obviously this wasn't going to happen...
Wow that's insane $7500!?!?! Craziness. I'm interested in the rest of the story to find out what you did. I heard that if your vehicle is overheating, it helps to turn on the heating. Not sure if that's a myth or something but I think it cools down the coolant by sucking the heat out of it to heat the air. It would be a temporary fix just to get you where you need to go to get it looked at. I've never tried myself though.
Yes, that is what I did. But if that doesn't make your gauge go down at least a little right away, that is an important clue as to what is wrong...often a bad water pump or too low on coolant. I made a few posts about this a while back: https://steemit.com/cars/@pinkspectre/why-is-my-vehicle-overheating & https://steemit.com/cars/@pinkspectre/why-is-my-vehicle-overheating-part-2 . On the first one, @howagain.com gives an insightful comment regarding this, and they seem much more knowledgeable than I am on the subject.
Okay I see. That's good to know.
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Man that's rough! An engine replacement should only cost 5k total! Glad you DIY it.
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