Rock and a hard place :(

[Hellenia]

.. well i bring my 1994 "cevey corckia" (dont know the right spelling ).. in to the shop for a ouly change . and i asked them to look at my door . to find out . how much it well be to be fixed "" door wont open from the out side handle broke" and that it been eating antfreez. .. soo i droped it off .. dad drove me home .. waited some odd hr's and the called back and sadi we found some work that needs to be done on it .. i'm like ok ."windering " what did u find ...

thay said .. well in told it well be up And around $1.500 ... .. i about fell over .. . soo i asked ok .. what did u find.. thay said . we found . that u need a new" gasket /lower and upper hoes's all 6 sparkplugs . serp belt . and therm. ... .
thank god thay called me b4 doing this :P i told them just do the ole change i cant pay for the other stuff. (i know its been eating anteFrezz but i cant do any thing about it ) ..
i told my sis about this .. she knows some one that can "hopfully fix it" i just got to get the parts ,, i did look up on the parts and how much thay are .. it rounded out to $233.88 . but ..... with my job only working around 3 hr a day 5 days a week i'll ahve a hard time even coming up with that .. of coure i'll need to pay the man for fixing my car .. dont know what that well be yet.

i'm just in a rock and a hard pplace .. all rady looking for a nother jobe on top of the one i ahve now . grinding 2 jobes in one day Is not fun DX did that with the one i ahve now and K-fart "k_mart" .. (i Quit k-mart :P hated that jobe . "thats a nother "rant " )
soo if it is rolling the way it is and doesnt go bad i shold be ok if not i may ahve to stop playing once agin i dont know .. has not been a fun day ..

[Malaquion]

Ow. That is a lot of nasty stuff gone wrong... I'm honestly surprised all that only came to $1,500.

-hugs.- I wish you the best of luck and hope everything works out, here...

[Shian]

I wish you the best of luck. We dumped $800 in repairs in ours only to have it break down a month later for the problems we couldn't fix. Been without a car since Christmas. It was nice at first, but now we are both going a little stir crazy.

[Steelclaw]

Before dropping more money into the car, check around the classified ads, Craigslist and if you're brave, used car dealers*. You may very well be able to find a comparable, but otherwise working car for less than the cost of repairs.

Also, you might want to ask your sister's friend to look over the car first. A blown head gasket can cause antifreeze loss, but so can a leaking hose, dying water pump, leaking radiator, loose hose clamp... in short, a bunch of things that are easier to fix than a head gasket. Oddly enough, a head gasket should be about $16 (you might need two) -- and that's possibly the cheapest part, save for a loose clamp.

If you're really tight on coin, you can probably skip the spark plugs. The serpentine belt and radiator hoses need to be checked for wear (cracks on both, soft spots and bulging on the hoses, missing chunks on the belt). If they're not showing signs of wear, don't replace them. These parts are simple to replace and don't require a lot of time or special tools, which generally means a large profit margin and high incentive to push the work, even if it's not really needed.

If you absolutely can not afford repairs right now, you might be able to buy some time with a cooling system leak stop additive. I've had some success with the stuff, in that it stopped a slightly leaky head gasket... but in the two cars I used it in, both needed new water pumps after about a year. Maybe they were just old, though I'm betting that the particles in the sealer caused the seals in the pump to wear faster than normal.


* Watch out for questionable people who will try to screw you over. Anyone who tries to pressure you into a sale or balks at the idea of you having your mechanic check the car out is probably up to no good.

[C`gan]

Having personally changed a serpentine belt, you'll be happy to know you can do that one yourself. You'll need an extra set of hands and usually just a crowbar. Keep an eye out on where the belt travels on all the different pulleys. Usually on top, there's one piece that handles the tension on the belt. It's usually either a pair of pulleys on an arm (a tensioner) or the alternator. There are a couple screws you loosen (do not remove) and the tension falls right off (as does the belt). But I agree, check the belt first before doing this. If there are signs of cracking or pieces missing, you really should change it. The reason for the crowbar and extra hands is for putting the tension back on when you put a new belt on. A loose belt doesn't turn any pulleys at all. Also, a belt that's TOO tight can shred to ribbons in the process. You'll want to pluck the old belt and listen to it sing (like a stretched rubber band) and try to match that before removing the tension.

[awdz]

*serves Hellenia some delicious klava presented with a towel and a curtsy*
Wish I could do more to help you through the car trouble; stuff like that stinks to work through. Good luck!

[Hellenia]

thank you for the info . i asked my sis to ask her frind to look it over and see if i relly need all ..stuff done to it :P hoping not . . the she sadi her. worked fo nascar .. or some thing .. nascar . >_> Dont relly know <_< . Bahhh i dont trust the car place i took it to,,, that told me all this ..stuff .. thay Slpaed my step dad and said that the . "leavspring " on the 1999 blazer need to be replaced :P dont rember the $$ on that but .. i know it was a lot . *sigh* the funny thing is my first car was the same as this one i have now .. and u know what killed it and i had to sell it for 5oo$ :P still kicking my self for that .. DX the darn radeater crack . "bad " all most didnt get home :P. and now this one all most has the same dran stuff going on "antyfrezz " .. .. *cry* what luck i ahve with cars :P and i'l the batter driver than my sister :P she'll killed over 3 cars "bad driver ". and i work ... she doesnt :P not going to get in to it .. she helping me with fixing this car i have XD.. well hoping it can be fixed . hehe the car was and still is my step dads mom's car .. and when i when to go pick it up .. i know it was Siting in her driver way for well over 2 yr's :P heh i rember trynig to open the doors :P and truning it on .. a cloud of dust came out the vents .. "i about fell out of the car " that was umm 4 to 5 yr's ago i think... .. bahh , well i'll stop XD . it just .. i hop this all gos ok and i can get it fixed or .. try to find a new car .. cant sell it she had it toldeld do to hai,,"demples" :P

[Darkwing_Duck]

Awww! you with your car, me with my computer. *huggles*
think we both need a little good luck help ^^
Hope you can get it fixed! **** technology XD

[Spirit]

Serpentine belt? That's a new one on me... I think we call it a timing or cam belt over here in Blighty. I'm trying to get mine done right now! I realised it's overdue by nearly 4000 miles.

I can't fit it, and it looks like a horrid thing to do on my car, a Peugeot 406 diesel. I'm trying to get it booked into a garage without dooming myself to dry pasta for the next 3 weeks.

Good luck Hellenia! I hope you get your motor sorted.

Rakku

[C`gan]

Serpentine belt doesn't deal with timing. All it does is make sure that all things that spin are spinning. Things like the alternator, water pump, oil pump, etc. These aren't timed with anything in particular other than when the engine revs faster, these things have to put out faster as well.

[Hellenia]

yes i rember whne it snaped in my sister old Neon :P wasent fun . heh
but atm i may find my way out of the downut hole with bills and my car . i put in a app in buff.a "stuff are face " place . and when i trund it in thay asked me if i can come back in on monday .. soo i am Hoping it works out. heh i know grinding 2 jobs in one day wont be fun but ... if i must i well ..

beside my one job as a dish washer at a shoole is only 3 hr's out of the day. and summer is coing up . .. i dont know yet if i am going to get this one and what i'd be doing.

just hoping my car can live long enuff tell then . i relly dont whant to put any more money into it :P i know once i put more into it some thing elc well brak . now i am relly haveing a hard time getting it in to park :P it sems like it does whant to go past R .. >_< . i dont know .. bahhh i am hoping i can get this jobe and grind 2 jobes in one day and get my self out of the hell'ish downut hole of money. :P