CaKnuckelhead Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 I still cannot believe this happened to me but here goes; I finally got a weekend off, just due to where it fell on the calender, and came back to Saskatchewan. Friday night i went into Saskatoon which is about a 2 hour drive for me. I went out a few times over the weekend and the car ran beautifully both in stop n go traffic and on parkways at 80kmh (about 40mph). Sunday afternoon rolls around i decide to head home and offer to give a friends kid a ride as i was going right through the town she lives in. We hit Timmy's and then the highway. I was clipping along at about 103-105kmh for a few miles and came up on a car. I passed safely and went to wave to the other driver when i noticed huge clouds of white smoke billowing out off my cars rear end. I immediately turned off the key and signalled to pull over. I coasted for about a 1/4 mile and whipped into an approach. The temp guage was locked at the top and i smelled antifreeze. I popped the hood and was expecting a blown head or something but was surprised to find just a small amount of coolant on the top side of the rad where it couldn't get into the reservoire fast enough. However the stuff in the overflow was dark grey and I thought for sure i had oil in the coolant. I let it cool down for a long while and limped it back into the city by running it until the temp guage hit half then coasting with my 4-ways on. I turned the heat on full hot to help dissipate some of the heat but got only cold air. Took me forever it seemed. Back into the city i hit the Canadian Tire and coasted into the parking lot barely rolling. I stormed inside and asked the guy if they check and top the coolant during a full lube and service. He said yes and i informed him of what happened and also that they had just changed the oil over to royal purple and gave it a full service less than a month and 1000km ago including the fluid top up. He came out and looked at it with me and after a minute or less of looking he said it was just low on coolant and sold me another jug of pre-mix and refilled the jug with water and said good luck. I made it a block. The gauge was right through the roof again so i shut it off and pulled right back into the lot. I booked it in and he said Monday is soonest they would be able to look at it but called me late last night and told me he had a chance to test it and the thermostat was siezed so they would replace it in the morning and call me. I went down to look at around 8:30 and as a complete fluke just happened to notice an odd mark on the serpintine belt. The mark turned out to be the top of where a chunk the size of a dime was missing from the belt on the underside. So on goes a new serp belt and thermostat along with a full conditioning, flush and fill to the whole cooling system. Still heating up beyond safe limits so back in we go to find out more. The mechanic and i take the water pump off and he just about . He asked if i heard a thump or a sharp bang before the smokeshow. I said no, sorry. He then shows me that the pump spins perfectly........but the impeller pops off. It turns out that the impeller shaft somehow became unwelded or fastened or whatever to the impeller so the shaft was spinning free but not the impeller. New pump in and we refill the fluids. Everything is back to normal. The mechanic said he had never seen that happen on a GM usually only happens on asain cars. Bottom line was a $653 bill, a surprised mechanic and me actually feeling good about it because i thought it was running too hot and if that belt had gone at the wrong moment (like there's a right moment ) It could have been a whole lot worse of an ending. Now i know my cooling system is 100% again. Cost a few days pay but i take solice in knowing that the belt and cooling system are as new or new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990lumina Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 Sounds like typical Canadian Tire dude...shoulda contacted myself and nebosja_o we coulda met up!! Oh well, next time! Though I think Neb was replacing his monoleaf spring yesterday! Sucks about your problems, but hopefully everything turns out for the good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GutlessSupreme Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 maybe I missed something but how in god's name did a thermostat, a serpentine belt and waterpump warrent a $653 bill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaKnuckelhead Posted April 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 maybe I missed something but how in god's name did a thermostat, a serpentine belt and waterpump warrent a $653 bill? $150 for the pump, $72 for the belt and $41 for the stat, plus a buttload of labour and of course 14% tax. I wish i woulda been home with my own tools and garage but with a break like that i think it went smoother and faster via computer diagnostic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990lumina Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 maybe I missed something but how in god's name did a thermostat, a serpentine belt and waterpump warrent a $653 bill? If you lived in Canada, and I say these two words, you'd understand right away, and they are: Canadian Tire My family has never had good luck with them...hell they fucked up balancing my winter tires...how hard can it be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutty Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 damn they raped you with prices and labor then, when i did my wanter pump, thermostat, and belt. I think i spent like $50 in parts and did the rest myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 yeah they took you for double what it shoulda cost, but at that point i dont think you cared what it cost to get it up and running! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitaloutsider Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 Oh, wow.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted April 3, 2007 Report Share Posted April 3, 2007 Is that USD price or no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gp90se Posted April 5, 2007 Report Share Posted April 5, 2007 maybe I missed something but how in god's name did a thermostat, a serpentine belt and waterpump warrent a $653 bill? $150 for the pump, $72 for the belt and $41 for the stat, plus a buttload of labour and of course 14% tax. I wish i woulda been home with my own tools and garage but with a break like that i think it went smoother and faster via computer diagnostic My pump : $22.99 lifetime warrenty, $31 for the belt and $7 for the t-stat. Water pump should take about an hour, belt should take 10 minutes and t-stat is 1/2 hour. Cooling is additional but how do you get $650 from $60 in parts and 2-3 hours labor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfangd Posted April 6, 2007 Report Share Posted April 6, 2007 sorry but yu got screwed, my tstat only cost me 1.25. serp belt like 10 and wp like 74 and i did it all myself. I have never heard of that happening before though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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