I left my car at the shop a few days ago. Got it back, the airbag light came on straight away, didn't care and drove it home. Next day, the cooling fluid boiled, and there was a loud clonking noise at low speeds. Sounds like a belt has busted. So, it's 20 miles back to my usual shop and 2 miles to the nearest (but horrible) shop. What the H do I do?

This is not the x-mas gift I expected.

 

Ooh, sorry to hear that. From where does the clonking sound come? Have you called the shop and asked what the heck they'd really done?

 

Sorry to hear that bro. My advice would be to not send it to whatever shop created the mess in the first place . . . Who did this?

 

I don't think the shop is at fault unless they did something wrong during the job. The thing is...the shop is great, has always treated me great and they're a pleasure to deal with. The problems I've had has been solved without any argument. Now, if the car's F:ed, I can't really drive it to them, it'll cost me $80 to tow it there at least, but maybe they'll give me a discount. The BMW dealer is 2 miles away, but they were the ones offering me a loaner bike (a bicycle that is) and they're always rude Oh, and there's the standard $100 starting fee as well. I really don't want to take the car there, but I really don't want to tow it either.

 

That definitely sucks. It does sound like the shop is at fault though.

Ring upp och var oförskämd så kanske dom erbjuder sig att bogsera?

 

What was being done to/wrong with the car in the first place?

 

I upgraded my brakes to a more track friendly alternative, ie, discs, pads and fluid.

 

Geez, well that obvoiusly has nothing to do with the coolant. The only way the coolant is going to do that is there is either a leak or a air bubble.. if for some reason they drained it. The coolant may just need a "burp" to get it back to normal.

Best way to do that... is start the car cold, with the radiator cap off. When it starts to warm up it will start to steam (thermostat opening), turn the car off. Put the cap back on the radiator just enough not to fly off but also let the pressure out. Once its done steaming/cool down fill the radiator up with the coolant.

As far as the noises... thats hard to evaluate over the internet. p

Good Luck

 

The coolant was all out when I checked. Just a dried up tank. So I filled it up and I didn't see any leaks. My guess is that my engine fan is starting up again. just in a totally different way this time. Before, I've had troubles with it refusing to power off, going until the battery is drained.
Damn it, my next car's gonna be an Italian one, then atleast you expect trouble.

 

check the t-stat assembly... usually leaks coolant from there.. u can see from up top between the air box and engine oil cap... take a peek and see..

air bag lite... usually problems with the wire harnesses...

let us know how it goes..

 

So, I took the car to the closest of the two shops. Guess what? 3 weeks waiting time and they were terribly rude. So, I said F it and went to the next nearest BMW dealer, where they promised me to fix it within a week and a half.

 

Good luck buddy, sounds like huge PITA

 

Thanks Felix. Yes, it's quite an annoyance, having a tough exam in about week and a half. Then I need to put up with this as well. I've almost lost my enthusiasm, but since I just prepped it for next season, I'd be stupid selling it now. Oh well, who ever said owning and modding cars would be cheap?

 

Sucks man. Hope it's an easy fix.

Let me know if you want me to steal some parts off of Bronto's car for ya.

 

Haha thanks Jox. Problem is that Bronto's in gbg, which is actually closer for me than you and his car is the New Peugeot powered Mini, so no dice. But....I could use a loaner for a few weeks, how bout that old Merc ?

Since basically all Swedes on the forum's in this thread, where/when's the Swedish 6speed meet? Me and the Bronto could d to Sthlm or Felix could ride shotgun in your soccer mom mobile down here.