I have been smelling some burning oil for almost a year. Rarely saw smoke from under the hood (twice-and once only after lifting hood up). Smells bad for a few miles, gets less smelly, never goes away. Local mechanic in New Orleans did not feel comfy doing a big engine job on this model car. At least he is honest!!!
(FWIW: I bought the car used in late 2008 with ~56k miles. Only about 78k miles now. I do not drive much here.
I am getting ready to move to the other LA as well. Not sure if I will put the car on a trailer or drive out west yet-they are paying for my move. It also needs about $600-1000 in body work - nasty feeling roof paint, door dings, big bumper/paint scrapes and a small missing turn light. I think spending 2-3K on the car is worth it, as it still drives and feels great otherwise. Yes, there are some still minor seat leather issues, etc., but after fix up the car should be almost like new. And way less expensive than buying a new one.)
Took it to the local dealer, where I had a mildly bad experience before Hurricane Katrina.
1. Valve cover gasket: 744.56 (parts and labor) plus tax, I told them to go ahead and do it. This was the suspected cause of my "burning oil" smell. I think it was hitting the ?manifold?
Local mechanic said to let them do it.
2. I told the dealer to put in new spark plugs too: 275 (p&l) plus tax, based on comments on this forum and other hints. Service mgr thought this was a good call on my part as he said oil can get to the plugs too. Never heard of that before though. He had not previously suggested doing the plugs too. My local mechanic had no comment on this.
So I gave my consent to have the above done, hopefully to be finished by tonight.
I presume the pricing is "reasonable". Not much choice locally anyhow.
They also inspect the car when they check it out for my original issue and noted some other issues. These are how the following items got noted. I never noted any problems with them. But then again, I am not sure you would note a problem, unless a "tire fell off", etc....
As for items 3-6, my main Qs are on items 5 and 6, as I really do not understand what they do, in layperson terminology. Dealer needed to order parts for all of these anyway, presumably to fix these next week, so no rush.
3. Drivers side rack boot is torn: 122.24 (p&l) plus tax. Do I understand it's purpose/importance? Well, sort of, but not really. ?keeps lube on rack (and what is a rack?)
4. Front brakes and ?remachine? rotors, ??no pads??: 249.95. My local mechanic said the parts alone would be 200, plus almost 100 in labor. I don't understand why "no pads" (assuming I understood the service mgr properly), my mechanic said to let the dealer do the rack boot and brakes and that these prices were good. Gee, a dealer charging less than the local guy. Seems to good to be true. Anyone else have any comments re: dealer prices for things like these?
5. Upper link (bad due to wear and tear/age). ?Front ?rear 621.40 for the pair (p&l) plus tax.
I think pair means right and left not front vs rear. He only had 1 in stock, the left one.
I have no idea what it's purpose is. I saw some comments about bushings ?8 in all at $20 each. $160 plus some labor seems a lot less than 621.40. Help-please....
6. Tension rod, passenger side: 271.20 (p&l) plus tax. Again, I am beyond clueless here per what it is, what it does and pricing.
Someone commented that 5 and 6 need to be replaced on ?newer Qs every 60,000 miles. Not sure why though.
I think I will get the brakes done next week. Kinda need to understand the problems before spending another 1K on stuff.
Thanks in advance for any comments/assistance from this noob who loves his old car.
Also, come visit New Orleans. Weather is great now. The food, the music......
What happens in NOLA stays in NOLA (if you bribe the cop the right amount)....
