Recently I had much of my 1995 Buick LeSabre's radiator repaired. A week after I got my car back, the check engine light came on. I noticed a rhythmic thumping noise from the passenger side that increased (and got louder) as I accelerated. It appears to be coming from something in/in front of the dash area on the passenger side (checked areas of engine with wooden stick). It's not the belt. The car also shut off twice in the last two weeks when switching from park to drive mode (dropping someone off) and had to be parked and restarted to operate. First two times check engine light came on (in first of three weeks since I went in), I was only traveling a short distance, and they went off and didn't come back on. The third time (today, two weeks later) I drove 200 miles, and noise and check engine light only noticed within the last 20 miles. I turned A/C/Heater "off" and noise is still there. Any ideas as to what this may be and whether it's safe to drive? (Car is at 110k).
Yes please keep me informed. It is odd that a big place like Goodyear would pull any nonsence. I would say more to the coinsidence theory on this one. Of course they hire sub contractors to do there mechanical stuff so who really knows. If the mechanic gets a salary and a commsion then anything is possible. You might grab the front of the water pump and shake it back and forth and see if there is any play in it. Your uncle will know where to do this. Its up by the fan on the engine. I am not saying you don't know to and i am not trying to insult your intelligence. Just making sure. The water pump should not move at all. If it is going out then under more pressure from the AC might cause it to make noise only sometimes. Just another thought. The Raz
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The shop was Goodyear, and after taking it for the radiator and getting VERY overcharged (~900), I won't be bringing it back for anything save tires. They basically replaced an expensive part that was cracked after a couple of hours of doing God knows what. But, it could just be a coincidence.
The car does make noise while idling. If you push on the accelerator while it's idling in park, the noise grows louder. It also seems that it only occurs after the car has been driven for quite a while (as it seems to have disappeared overnight, and yet yesterday it sounded like something was going to shoot out of the engine). We used a wood stick to 'listen' to different areas of the engine, and it seems to be coming from behind the power steering pump pulley, although we couldn't locate the exact spot. You can actually hear the noise better from within the car than outside of it.
My uncle took a look at it, and based on the six hours of researching online I did and his knowledge of parts, we think it may be related to the heating and a/c system. (I'm summing this up from my less-than-mechanical knowledge). I'm going to try driving with keeping the air off completely to see if the noise comes back so I can eliminate that system.
I'll keep you posted as to whether or not I see anything in the next week. And if anything rings and "Ah hah!" bell for you on this problem, I certainly appreciate your input!
Thank you for taking the time to reply!
Does the radiator place do only radiators? I mean was the place a regular mechanic shop or just a radiator shop. There are so many crooked mechanic shops out there and they will purposly do something to your car while your not looking to get more money out of you. Of coarse if it was strictly a radiator shop then there would be no need for them to mess with other stuff on purpose. If it was a regular mechanic shop then I would not take it back to them. What exactly did they do to your radiator? It could be just a quensidence that this happened a week later. Does it make noise while idling or just in gear and while moving? You need to listen under the hood while in park and the emergency break on and locate the source of the noise and listen under the dash with the heater on and off. See where the noise is loudest. Kepp me informed and I will try to help you out. The Raz
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