Help!: Good mechanic in San Jose?
 

I'm visiting in San Jose, CA, and my SVX is making a knocking noise from the front of the engine while idling. I called my mechanic, and he thinks it could be that the oil pump is going since the noise seems to stop or lessen when I give it gas. Does anyone know of a reliable mechanic in this area?

Hi Brian,

Do not take your car to Stevens Creek Subaru (in Santa Clara). Their prices are high and they do not do good work. If you think you can make it 30 miles to Santa Cruz, head down to Subaru Santa Cruz. 831-420-1500 Mark, Bruce and Ben will treat you well.

Matt

Thanks, Matt, but I've already had to take action. My car completely broke down last night. There was a ping, and the engine shut off. Luckily I was close enough to coast to friend's driveway. I had it towed to an independent garage called Towsend's Automotive. It's on Coleman, near the airport. I'm there now, waiting for the diagnosis.

I just got the (partial diagnosis). It's really bad. The crank shaft is broken. There may be broken rods and other damage. It will be Monday before they can take a more in depth look, and the job probably won't be finished until the end of the week. So I'm stranded in San Jose till then. I don't even want to think about the cost.

That's the first I've ever heard of a crankshaft breaking on an SVX.

bad deal, brian. :(

I'd be a bit skeptical and get a second opinion.

And I'll second that skepticism. "Ping" and the engine stops strikes me as too meek for a major failure of internal engine parts. I'd think you'd get one hell of a shudder and death rattle if the crank or rods went.

(Surely they ruled-out a broken timing belt...)

dcb

Absolutely - not enough money in timing belt changing business, whole engine replacement is much more lucrative.

You guys may be right, but I'm in a real bind here. I already had AAA tow it to that garage. They generally only tow once per break down. Of course paying for a tow may be worth it. Townsend Automotive said the repair could cost as much as $2500 or maybe even more! (And I've just quit my job!) It may not even be done by Friday. Actually, since Monday's a holiday, they won't get around to starting it till Tuesday. Just for pulling the oil pan, checking the crankshaft, and replacing the seal, they've estimated the price at about $400. (That's planned for Tuesday.) If they find that there are broken rods, they'll have to take the head off and pull the engine. They said it is a too time-consuming job to charge an hourly labor rate.

The friend who I was staying with has a friend whose father or uncle is a mechanic at a Subaru dealership. Maybe that's worth checking out. My friend is now out of the county for weeks, so I don't know where I'll be staying, maybe I can stay with one of his friends. Even my access to the Internet is limited. I've rented a car and driven to visit friends in southern California for Labor Day weekend since nothing is being done to my SVX. I really wish I had a better option than leaving it where it is or towing it all the way to Santa Cruz, where I really don't know anyone.

My last car's death was due to the fact that it had thrown a rod. That made a similarly patterned sound, but much, much louder. I was able to drive that Sunbird for a couple of days after it was diagnosed before it's engine went. That was a very loud clatter and was acompanied with a big puff of smoke out the exhaust.

They did not even mention the timing belt. That occurred to me when it firt happened. I opened the hood, and did not see a broken belt haging there. Maybe the break could have been obscured from view. Since I was already thinking 'oil-pump', and it there wasn't much light, I didn't explore that as thoroughly as I could on my own.

Timing belt is hidden behind plastic belt covers, you can't see it until you take the covers off.

Stuck timing belt tensioner can make a lot of noise too. And it can make timing belt jump teeth and engine will quit...

Are there any error codes in the ECU by any chance?

Sorry, but I don't know what the ECU is or how to read the error codes. The only error codes I know about are for the A/C. Is the ECU the car's internal computer? If so, then I'm assuming it's something I ca't read. I don't have access to the car now anyways. It's at the mechanic's, which is closed for the holiday weekend.

Brian, do what you can on Tuesday to call Santa Cruz Subaru! They are fair and may have a solution to your tow question. Even if it is a major repair you can trust that dealership to do good work and what is required.

That's 2 votes for Santa Cruz! I'll call, but in the meantime my costs are mounting. First there was paying $130 for the rental car, and I'll probably have to extend the rental, especially if I go to Santa Cruz. Then, my rental was towed from the visitor lot at my friend's condo in southern CA, and I had to pay $245 to bail it out!