Topic: What did you do to your car today?

[rrocket]

Got the Tiguan towed to the dealer. Wouldn't start even with a full battery. Maybe a starter motor issue.

Was it trying to turn over?   Had this with my pickup and thought the battery was pooched, turned out to be a seized alternator.

Just clicks once. Doesn't turn over.

Selenoid/relay/ground issue/ecu?

Could be darn near anything.

You checked battery voltage or try jumping it for the heck of it?

I know the battery was full, didn't have the time or the inclination to dig deeper. Called CAA and they took it. Could be a few things that the dealer probably has in stock anyway, no point me trying to figure it out.

Oh, my point was the battery can be full and seem "good", but once you put some amps to it....

But yea, given time constraints, looks like you you had to make the call.

Interested to see how it shakes out..

[draghon]

Got the Tiguan towed to the dealer. Wouldn't start even with a full battery. Maybe a starter motor issue.

Was it trying to turn over?   Had this with my pickup and thought the battery was pooched, turned out to be a seized alternator.

Just clicks once. Doesn't turn over.

Just went through this last week, turned out to be just a loose battery connection.

Got the Tiguan towed to the dealer. Wouldn't start even with a full battery. Maybe a starter motor issue.

Was it trying to turn over?   Had this with my pickup and thought the battery was pooched, turned out to be a seized alternator.

Just clicks once. Doesn't turn over.

Selenoid/relay/ground issue/ecu?

Could be darn near anything.

You checked battery voltage or try jumping it for the heck of it?

But yes, could be just about anything.

[Triple Bob]

Got the Tiguan towed to the dealer. Wouldn't start even with a full battery. Maybe a starter motor issue.

Was it trying to turn over?   Had this with my pickup and thought the battery was pooched, turned out to be a seized alternator.

Just clicks once. Doesn't turn over.

Selenoid/relay/ground issue/ecu?

Could be darn near anything.

You checked battery voltage or try jumping it for the heck of it?

I know the battery was full, didn't have the time or the inclination to dig deeper. Called CAA and they took it. Could be a few things that the dealer probably has in stock anyway, no point me trying to figure it out.

Yeah agreed, as much as we love troubleshooting here...sometimes it is best to toss the keys and say "fix it"

Looks like starter motor. New one is ~$600 ish, doh!

Not under warranty anymore, I think it's a 2015.

I did check the battery connections after reading your issues draghon, so thanks for the heads up.

I just need it to last one more year.. 

[rrocket]

Got the Tiguan towed to the dealer. Wouldn't start even with a full battery. Maybe a starter motor issue.

Was it trying to turn over?   Had this with my pickup and thought the battery was pooched, turned out to be a seized alternator.

Just clicks once. Doesn't turn over.

Selenoid/relay/ground issue/ecu?

Could be darn near anything.

You checked battery voltage or try jumping it for the heck of it?

I know the battery was full, didn't have the time or the inclination to dig deeper. Called CAA and they took it. Could be a few things that the dealer probably has in stock anyway, no point me trying to figure it out.

Yeah agreed, as much as we love troubleshooting here...sometimes it is best to toss the keys and say "fix it"

Looks like starter motor. New one is ~$600 ish, doh!

Not under warranty anymore, I think it's a 2015.

I did check the battery connections after reading your issues draghon, so thanks for the heads up.

I just need it to last one more year.. 

We have a local place that will rebuild for $100...anything like that out your way?  Or RockAuto?

Not sure if that's an option for you or not due to time.

[ArticSteve]

Looks like starter motor. New one is ~$600 ish, doh!

Not under warranty anymore, I think it's a 2015.


Highly irregular for a 2015 with even with high mileage.  The HOT wire connection from the battery to the starter solenoid is a likely point.  Failing that then the solenoid.  A click from the "starter" is almost always an issue of current input.

That's the risk of sending the vehicle to a dealer.  Tech sees a bad solenoid connection, but nobody makes any money from cleaning that and since customer will never be back (VW) so standard dealer operating procedure takes over that is to replace a part that makes good money.

[Railton]

^^This.
It's likely your connections are dirty.
Railton

[2JDM]

Swapped out my tires on Saturday.

[Firm]

I agree with the others - starter motors don't fail like they used to, especially not on a 5 year old car. That's the trade-off you make though when you 'send it to the dealer', if paying the $600 bill is worth the convenience to you, then it doesn't matter what the real cause is...you pay the money, you get your car back working.

I went out earlier and took the Escalade, just because I haven't driven it in awhile....No blower motor up front. Rear HVAC works fine, but the front blower doesn't come on regardless of setting. I recall taking the blower motor out (an easy 10 minute job) a few years ago to clear some debris from it, so maybe the motor has finally given out, or the resistor (which is actually more of an electronic control module in this case) is bad. Too cold and windy to investigate now so I'll check it out tomorrow. Luckily, both components are easy access under the passenger dash.

[Triple Bob]

I agree with the others - starter motors don't fail like they used to, especially not on a 5 year old car. That's the trade-off you make though when you 'send it to the dealer', if paying the $600 bill is worth the convenience to you, then it doesn't matter what the real cause is...you pay the money, you get your car back working.

This. I don't have the time to do stuff like this myself, I pay the man, get working car back. I'm fine with that.

[PJungnitsch]

Took advantage of the warm weather lately to do some tinkering. Last year I'd added a rear view camera to the CRV for the wife, with a seperate monitor as she liked the stock deck. Worked good except you had to turn the display on and off every time you use it. Figured out today I could wire the display to trigger off the reverse light, not just the rear camera:





Put up some tire storage:





Changed the battery on the Vibe as the old Costco one was ten years old and getting weak finally when tested:

[rrocket]

I like the storage idea...But I'd need a hoist to get my tires up there!

[Triple Bob]

Why?!? They are supposed to stand up! 

[PJungnitsch]

Standing up it turns out they just touch the garage door as the sections go around the corner. Could have rebolted it an inch higher, or maybe putting the bars closer together would have been enough, but loading them flat worked too

No way I'd lug the 20's from the RX up there, but the 16's off the Vibe are not that heavy

[aquadorhj]

Switched Lexus to winter tires.

My rotation schedule must be working well.  Got tire gauge to measure wear and they are all exactly 8/32 across the board.  These Michelin's are hard wearing tires...

[ChaosphereIX]

Looks like starter motor. New one is ~$600 ish, doh!

Not under warranty anymore, I think it's a 2015.


Highly irregular for a 2015 with even with high mileage.  The HOT wire connection from the battery to the starter solenoid is a likely point.  Failing that then the solenoid.  A click from the "starter" is almost always an issue of current input.

That's the risk of sending the vehicle to a dealer.  Tech sees a bad solenoid connection, but nobody makes any money from cleaning that and since customer will never be back (VW) so standard dealer operating procedure takes over that is to replace a part that makes good money.

Funny, our dealer doesnt work like that. We want you to be happy with the repair, and to come back next time something goes wrong or for service...customer pay jobs are most lucrative, but we dont go replacing parts if we don't have to.

[BWII]

...but we don't go replacing parts if we don't have to.

Welcome to Sunshine (IIRC) Toyota circa late 80's early 90's Wpg.  Knew a guy doing an internship there...service mgr would come around, not enough broken on this car, whip out a knife and cut a belt or a hose...yup, there's your problem!  Leaky belt and broken hose!  That'll be $ca-ching!!

[Blueprint]

Why?!? They are supposed to stand up! 

Empty tires may be fine when stored flat but with the weight of the rims you're going to create dents in the sidewalls of the two lower tires. The easy fix would be to cut a sheet of plywood to provide a flat & uniform surface for the tires, but the proper fix is to reinstall so you can store your tires vertically.

[bridgecity]

I’ve stored my tires stacked four high in my shed for the last 9 years and have never noticed anything different.

[Firm]

I’ve stored my tires stacked four high in my shed for the last 9 years and have never noticed anything different.

Same, I've heard it's not good for them, but I don't have the luxury of space to store them any differently. I've never had any issues though.

[Gurgie]

I’ve stored my tires stacked four high in my shed for the last 9 years and have never noticed anything different.

Same, I've heard it's not good for them, but I don't have the luxury of space to store them any differently. I've never had any issues though.

Same here, the ones from the Passport & JGC before it are just too big & heavy to put on a rack like that & I don't have the space anywhere to store them any other way.