Perhaps erroneously, I’m basing this question on the assumption that dealerships cost more than independent mechanics, but it’s also because the indy mechanics use less costly parts. I have a Saab 2000 9-3 and the belt to the alternator(?) broke on my way into work causing my battery light to go on. This affects my water pump and my power steering (wow do my aching arms miss that already (last night’s workout didn’t help either)). The Saab dealership is like 10 mins (highway) away and I don’t want my car overheating. Conversely, my schedule is really tight this week, and I don’t have time to tool around waiting for a tow truck (I had to call a tow truck before and the minimum wait is like 45 minutes). I try to go to the dealership for all my repairs (mostly because I trust my dealer). Would it be better to go to the auto mechanic who specializes in foreign cars down the street?
Additionally, I have this exhaust plate(?) that has a hole in it. Basically, I think it helps diffuse exhaust down to the muffler. Other than emissions, I really don’t care about it. Should I have the dealer also work on this?
Any competent independent mechanic should be able to take care of the belt and the exhaust. For some other repairs, it would be important that the shop/mechanic be familiar with Saabs – they’re a specialty make, and not all “foreign car” facilities are equipped to deal with everything them and some of the other European cars.
As to whether it would be better to go the other shop, define “better.” It might be more convenient, and it might be less expensive. Or it might not. As it stands, you have a history and a relationship with the dealer, and that’s a plus.
This is part of the equation, though I don’t know that anyone has ever shown that aftermarket parts are always less costly because they’re lower in quality, there is often a significant retail markup when parts are sold via a dealership. The other half of the equation, in my experience, is that work from reputable independent mechanics is often done at a substantially lower per-hour labor rate than work done at dealerships.
Alternators and exhaust are two systems which are often best attended by non-dealership shops, because there are many mechanics which specialize specifically in alternator-battery-starter repairs and exhaust repairs and replacements. Much as a cardiologist can best diagnose and treat even the most common of heart problems, an alternator-belt replacement is best put into the hands of the guy who does ten of them each week as opposed to the guy who does perhaps ten a month interspersed with brake jobs, wheel alignments and so forth.
Let me make another recommendation – look online to see if there’s an Audi owner club or organization in your area. If there is, post to their forum/mailing list/bullet board to ask about reputable mechanics that members have used. That’s how I found the guy who does all of the non-warranty service on my Volvo, and I couldn’t be more pleased.
One caveat: beware of after-market/remanufactured starters and alternators. Many are cheaply rebuilt, and often the bearings fail prematurely. Some are as good as OEM, but you never can be sure. In any case, keep your receipt…these things have a way of failing at the wrong time.
While the principle you’re endorsing has some merit, in the specific case of an alternator belt it’s overkill. It’s a simple, basic repair, and any decent auto repair pro can handle it well. A nurse can take your pulse as well as a cardiologist can.
Cool. Thanks for the quick responses. I’m trying to clear my schedule now, because someone at work told me that if I don’t get it repaired soon, I will over heat my car (water pump is out, even though I can’t tell - just my batter light is on). Also, it is a pain to drive without power steering.
I agree with GaryT re: the alternator belt. Admitadly, newer cars are a pain to work on but any resonably competant mechanic (or me) can replace an alternator belt. That should get you back on the road untill you want to deal with the exhaust problem. Which really dosen’t sound like much of a problem. It sounds like you are descrbing a heat sheild with a hole in it.
Can you find the alternator on your car (it’s the unit with out the belt on it :))? Make sure it spins freely, and does not make any nasty sounds. Something caused the belt to break. Either wear and tear of the belt (4 year old car :dubious: time to be replaced anyway), a frozen power stearing pump, bad bearings in your alternator or a belt tensioniing pully. Hopefully, it’s just wear and tear on the belt.
I don’t know Saabs, but are you sure your water pump is out? It may be a direct drive from the engine. The pump has a pully, or pulleys on front of it that drive the other belts (alternator, PS). Or the pump has another belt that drives it.
Do you have a gage (on your dashboard) for engine temperature? Or is it a light?
You can tell if you have pump problems by idleing the car and watching the gage. If the heat continues to go up, past what you are used to seeing, the pump is not turning.
If your alternator is not working, you no longer are charging the battery. Do not use the radio, heat, AC, lights. Anything that uses electricity. You may only have 3-5 starts and 20 miles or so until you must get the alternator working again.
If this plate is diffusing exhaust how can you see that there is a hole in it? It would have to be inside your exhaust system. It sounds like you are describing a heat shield on the outside of the manifold but that’s just a WAG.
I would agree that both the problems are minor and you could safely go somewhere besides the dealer to get them fixed.
I would add that if you can still drive your car around at all, then the water pump is probably not affected. I don’t know anything particularly about Saabs, but from the few occasions that I have been in vehicles that lost belts, they overheated within a matter of minutes and automatically shut-off. The last time was my own 96 Explorer that lost the fan belt/tensioner on the highway. I knew when it happened because the steering immediately felt heavier, even at 50 mph–but the car engine slowed and shut off completely within 60 seconds, with the temperature gauge topped out. Other cars I have seen this happen to would be lucky to drive 2-3 miles across town in stop-and-go traffic before overheating, and after they overheat it takes 2-3 hours before they really cool off very much, and you can try again.
Also, normally–driving a vehicle until it overheats is not supposed to harm it. You might see a bit of coolant leakage from hose clamps and if you did this over and over again something real bad would probably happen, but having it happen once shouldn’t do any permanent damage. The only vehicle I have seen that did suffere was a friend’s 86 Mazda B2000 pickup, it overheated and the cylinder head warped to teh point that the engine would just barely run afterwards. And I don’t know what Mazda pickups are built like these days, but that one was a financial screw job on several occasions, for incidents that should have been minor–said friend refuses to buy Mazdas ever since.
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I don’t have an explanation for what you’ve described, but I can assure you it’s not the norm. While it doesn’t take long for an engine to overheat without its water pump working, I’ve never heard of one pegging the temp gauge in one minute. I’ve also never heard of an engine “automatically” shutting off after losing a belt, nor ever seen any reference to anything that would effect that.
This is unclear and could be misconstrued into really bad advice. Generally an engine can tolerate getting up to (NOT beyond) the “hot” mark on the gauge, but damage done is irrespective of how many times it gets hot. It’s quite possible, and not at all rare, to suffer major damage from a single overheating incident.
Regarding overheating, keep in mind that when you shut the car off, water is no longer coursing through it’s system and the fan turns off. Engines actually heat up further after shut down before cooling off.
On some models, yes. Even so, the coolant is not circulating through the engine and “heat soak” occurs, and the internal engine temperature does rise. It rises less if the radiator fan is running, but that only cools what’s in the radiator, and only convection through the coolant spreads that cooling effect into the engine.
Thanks everyone for the sage advise! My friend who knows Saabs like the back of his hand said that the alternator belt connected the power steering and the water pump. While I have no doubt that he can build a Saab blind-folded faster than I can pump gas, he was actually wrong about that. He called and later told me that what he said was true of the 9-5, and not the 9-3.
Anyway, the question of whether or not to go to the dealer is moot. My friend also told me to look for the pulley because the Saab people should’ve caught it the last time I had a check up. Unfortunately, I went to a dealership known for bad service (it was only an oil change, and I figure, how much harm can an oil change do?). That dealership told me about the exhaust plate - which I believe is a heat shield (there is a hole in it, and that is what is making the engine noisy). Since I am so busy at the office, I had to abuse my Admin to take my car to the dealer - a special shoutout goes to Ann! (who probably doesn’t read this board) - and she confirmed everything with the nearby dealer. She also confirmed that the pulley is a Saab dealership only part (what’s up with that?).
Anyway, a special thank you also goes to the makers of Saab. The belt that went out also controls/powers the sensors for things like: ABS, temp, battery, seatbelt, engine… Rather than shut my car down, the computer let me drive in safe mode: no radio, no power windows, limited acceleration, but Climate Control works :dubious:. Also, the 9-3 Linear they lent me is awesome to drive. The specs don’t look so hot, and when I got inside, it looked like Saab totally cheaped out on everything (the interior is nothing to behold). But the Saab Integrated Display is way cool, and it drives awesome, too, totally eats up the road!
It’s been my experience that every middle-sized aldn larger metropolitan area in the US has an independent repair garage specializing in Swedish cars. Usually they’re located in older, upper-middle income inner ring suburbs; just drive around a place like Evanston, Shaker Heights or Grosse Point Woods, and find an old gas station with a parking lot that is filled with Volvo bricks; it’s a trademark of such neighborhoods. Larger cities will often have one or two holdouts; someplace that specializes in the repair of French or Italian cars, for those eccentric college professors that still own them.