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Comments
A/C---I'd like to find out if there is a service bulletin that relates to the problem I experienced. I'm kinda POed at the dealer because I don't think they put their best effort into finding out what was wrong.
Wayyyy back in 1987 I purchased a 1988 Hyundai Excel. It was actually a great little car (hey, for $7,100!) and I drove it for Pizza Hut and put more than 110,000 miles on it in only four years. Only had one problem, which I'll get to now:
The warranty on the car expired at 36,000 miles. At 42,000 miles, I was driving down a neighborhood street when my transmission seized. Yep, seized. Both front wheels locked up and I came to a forceful halt. (Thank God I wasn't on the highway.) To shorten a long story, I was told my manual tranny had a very small amount of fluid in it, and it had overheated and seized. I raised holy hell -- I'd done all my recommended maintenance at the dealer, kept up with all maintenance, etc. -- so they agreed to go 50-50 with me on this $800 repair! Let me tell you, as a college student making car payments and helping pay for school, $400 did not come easily!
Anyway, I never had another problem with the car, and eventually traded it in on my first Protege, a '92 LX, in October 1991 ... and that was that.
A few years ago I was playing around on the web one day and found the following recall posted on the NHTSA site:
Vehicle: 1988 Hyundai Excel
Potential No. of Units Affected: 515,000
Defect Summary:
THE MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS MAY LOCK UP FROM INSUFFICIENT LUBRICATION OF THE GEARS IN THE TRANSMISSION CASE. THIS CAN CAUSE THE DRIVE WHEELS TO SEIZE AND THE VEHICLE TO COME TO A SUDDEN STOP.
Consequence Summary:
SUDDEN STOPS WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING CAN CAUSE VEHICLE OCCUPANTS TO BE THROWN AROUND IN THE CAR, AND CAUSE LOSS OF VEHICLE CONTROL WHICH COULD RESULT IN AN ACCIDENT.
Corrective Summary:
HYUNDAI WILL PERFORM A COST FREE TRANSMISSION OIL CHANGE.
But here's the part that made me BOIL!!!!!
Recall date: 10/25/1993
Hyundai issued this recall when the car was more than six years old, four years AFTER I PAID 400 LOUSY BUCKS FOR THEIR MISTAKE, and two years AFTER I'd sold it! Man, was I P-I-S-S-E-D!!!!
Meade
(BTW, before you say, "Well, what da heck did you expect from Hyundai -- especially back then?" Er, we just received a recall notice in the mail from GM -- problem with ignition switch fires in Chevrolet Cavaliers -- for my wife's 1995 Cavalier. Duh, 7 years after the car was built. (And ooops, we traded that Crapalier on a 2002 Protege5 three months ago!!!)
Anyway, let's cut this here...this will turn into one of the Dino vs. Synth arguments (ie. little true data, lots of opinion).
Meade
P.S. You ever seen those "solar shower" things they sell campers? You fill 'em with water, let them hang in the sun all day, and then you have a hot shower that evening? There's a reason the bag is BLACK ...
Draymond, C and L is where I got my 2k es at. I didn't have a trade and the sale went smoothly. They gave me my 5sp for 14k and I felt ok with that(2.9 apr loan for 36mo also). But their service dept. looked kind of shabby. Crowded, cluttered and small. Although I have had very few service related visits, I have gone to Bluegrass Motorsports on shelbyville road for them. A lot nicer layout and they just seem to be a more modern facility. The dealership being located in the east end has something to do with it I'm sure.
Meade
It is true that black absorbs solar radiation. However, it also re-radiates it. The air temperature surrounding the car will be less than the temperature of the paint, as you've said yourselves. Now, heat will move from the paint to the air.
Now you're probably asking yourself, "well, why wouldn't the heat go into the car then?" Well, I just explained my little greenhouse effect. It is well documented that the temperature inside of a car can be much higher than the external air temperature. Basic thermodynamics dictates that heat will move from an area of high temperature to lower temperature.
How's that?
It was a pretty quick little car. I wouldn't call it fast though. It had Toyota's 4AG 1.6L, the same engine as the MR2.
(I have an industrial-grade digital thermometer at home, and dark green and white Proteges. I CAN prove this observation.)
Meade
Wil posted info about MAPP3 on the protegemp3 forum, and we have confirmation of a VIVID YELLOW MP3 coming:
http://forum.protegemp3.com/vbb222/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3261
I also posted your email address Meade, so he can contact you also.
this MAPP should be the best one ever!
DON'T MAKE US THROW YOU IN THE SHENANDOAH RIVER WITH PAUL'S JETTA!!!
:-o
Meade
**** holds onto my own car with dear life ***
I guess that's why my beige-shingled roof is warranted to keep my house cooler and the shingles are guaranteed to last 10 years longer than the same ones in black. You're right. Black doesn't transmit heat. And this multi-million-dollar roofing products company doesn't know what the heck it's talking about.
Drop it. Sorry I was wrong.
Meade
I recd. a recall for my 1989 built Ford taurus last year(2001) for engine frame mounts......
Tell Wil he oughta be proud of us "senior" members (at age 37, lol), that we still appreciate the fun things in life that the Protege provides so perfectly.
Meade
MAPP III -- The Legacy Continues. In One Month.
Meade
"Ebony and Ivory,
Live together in perfect harmony ...
Side by side in my driveway,
Oh Lord, dear Lord, why don't we?"
(Sorry, Paul and Michael.)
Meade
P.S. I'm outta here for the day once again. It's 87 and sunny here in Richmond. Time to zoom!
Have fun!
"Broccoli and Ivory,
Park Together in Perfect Harmony,
Side by Side in my Driveway,
OK, Michael, You Happy?"
Hee hee, snicker guffaw ...
Meade
Broccoli..heheheheheheheh
"I had a problem with my A/C. I had taken a 5 hour road trip to northern Minnesota last summer and the A/C quit working about 3 hours into the trip. The fan barely blew any air (even on the "4" setting) and the air that it did blow was warm. I stopped to get something to eat and when I came back to the car, the A/C worked just fine. On the way back, it did it again about 2 hours into the trip. I parked the car, let it sit a while, and the A/C worked fine again. When I took it to the dealer, they said the could not duplicate the problem, therefore they could not fix it. Obviously, the reason why they could not duplicate the problem is because it only happens with extended A/C use which leads me to believe that something is freezing up (condensor, compressor, I dunno know) and when I park the car, the frozen part thaws out. I don't go on many road trips, so I don't know how I will ever be able to duplicate the problem and if I do, I will be far away from a Mazda dealer. IMO, they shouldn't have to duplicate the problem to be able to fix it. I am not about to let a dealer tech take my car on a road trip to diagnose it and I doubt the dealer would want to either. They already know the symptom, they just need to diagnose it. I guess as long as it's documented, I won't worry about it."
As I stated before, I have had exact cars in different colors and it makes a difference, a big difference.
I'd take it back and ask them to try keeping it and running it for a while - in other words, they should drive it around for hours to see if it will still work. Actually I'd try another service dept. if one is available, and see if they make that suggestion, and if they don't I'd suggest it to them. They'd probably want to keep it over night. Just my two cents.
If anyone finds a conciencious service dept., please let us all know. I'm still searching. Hopefully with the new Mazda I won't require their "service" - in quotes 'cause I'm not sure you really get much service.
Dinu
I'll try to check for you tomorrow Todd.
When a dealer replaces a part under warranty, the manufacturer can call the part back in for testing. If it's not bad, they will charge the dealer back for the part. The manufacturer does this because they don't want dealers become part swappers, but rather to have knowledgeable technicians all in the name of saving high warranty expenses.
Maybe they could add a premium for what they call superior service. For an additional $2,500 they will throw parts at your car for the term of the warranty if anything is less than flawless regardless if they can verify that there is in fact a problem.
I can picture it now:
Customer (C): Hi, I need my seats replaced.
Dealer (D): Ummm, ok, what seems to be the problem?
C: Well, it squeaks.
Oh...ok...hmmm, I don't hear it squeaking but I see that box cutter you carry in your back pocket did a number on the seat cover.
C: oh, that? uh, yeah...but the reason I want my seat replaced is for an intermittent squeak...really, it is.
yes sir mr. customer, we'll replace that right away along with the scratched...er....a....intermittently visable windsheild.
Just having fun with you guys. I'm not saying you'd ever do that Todd, but I know others would and do take advantage of that.