I took my Subaru to the dealership to replace a power steering pump. Well, when I left I smelled smoke but I thought it was coming from outside. I drove home and I still smelled the smoke. I let it go. Later my wife and I went to eat and when we got into the garage the smoke was coming out of the hood scoop and through the front. It was quite a bit of it. I don't know if this is normal, that it takes a while for the pump to do work itself out of its newness. It wasn't smoking like this before I took it in for repair.

Now, I've got an appointment tomorrow for them to check it out and see what the problem is. It's still under warranty as the part is factory and that's the only way they'll give you a warranty. What I'm afraid of is that they'll take it, put it away in a corner and come back and tell me it needs this or that, (you know dealerships, they're not known for honesty, none of them) and then want me to pay more aside from the pump, and it WASN'T cheap at all.

I'm thinking that there might have been oil spilled on the engine and thus the smoke but I don't know. I'm sure that I'll be asking them if there's another charge for them to check it because well, they are a dealership and all dealerships are crooked and that's what they do.

So, my question to you is what is my recourse in this episode of "As My Subaru Turns?" Should I just wait for a few days to see if the smoke dissipates or what? I really need your advice. Another thing, I think it's Trumps fault.

(01-14-2020 09:05 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  I took my Subaru to the dealership to replace a power steering pump. Well, when I left I smelled smoke but I thought it was coming from outside. I drove home and I still smelled the smoke. I let it go. Later my wife and I went to eat and when we got into the garage the smoke was coming out of the hood scoop and through the front. It was quite a bit of it. I don't know if this is normal, that it takes a while for the pump to do work itself out of its newness. It wasn't smoking like this before I took it in for repair.

Now, I've got an appointment tomorrow for them to check it out and see what the problem is. It's still under warranty as the part is factory and that's the only way they'll give you a warranty. What I'm afraid of is that they'll take it, put it away in a corner and come back and tell me it needs this or that, (you know dealerships, they're not known for honesty, none of them) and then want me to pay more aside from the pump, and it WASN'T cheap at all.

I'm thinking that there might have been oil spilled on the engine and thus the smoke but I don't know. I'm sure that I'll be asking them if there's another charge for them to check it because well, they are a dealership and all dealerships are crooked and that's what they do.

So, my question to you is what is my recourse in this episode of "As My Subaru Turns?" Should I just wait for a few days to see if the smoke dissipates or what? I really need your advice. Another thing, I think it's Trumps fault.

First thing I would do is open the hood and see from where the smoke is coming.

Probably a seal leaking. They will fix it and apologize. See if you can get a couple of oil changes for your trouble. Schit happens unfortunately.

(01-14-2020 09:31 PM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  Probably a seal leaking. They will fix it and apologize. See if you can get a couple of oil changes for your trouble. Schit happens unfortunately.

Could be a faulty pump and leaking HF

Prolly a leak in the line or the seal on the pump. Best case is they spilled fluid and its burning off. Whatever it is, it's on them.

(01-14-2020 09:36 PM)shere khan Wrote:  Prolly a leak in the line or the seal on the pump. Best case is they spilled fluid and its burning off. Whatever it is, it's on them.

That's what I told my wife but she's worried it could catch fire which isn't an unlikely scenario, you know, oil+heat=fire. Something I learned in FD. What I'm afraid of is them trying to cheat me into some other maintenance, see?

(01-14-2020 09:56 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  

(01-14-2020 09:36 PM)shere khan Wrote:  Prolly a leak in the line or the seal on the pump. Best case is they spilled fluid and its burning off. Whatever it is, it's on them.

That's what I told my wife but she's worried it could catch fire which isn't an unlikely scenario, you know, oil+heat=fire. Something I learned in FD. What I'm afraid of is them trying to cheat me into some other maintenance, see?

You don't have much to be afraid of since it wasn't smoking before you went in for the power steering pump replacement and immediately upon leaving it was. You probably should have turned right around and drove it back to the dealer when you noticed the smoke, but no big deal there either.

Since they presumably did change your pump, the first thing I would do is check the power steering fluid level to see if it is at the full mark. If it is low - especially if it is significantly low - it would be an indication that you have a power steering fluid leak which could be in one of the lines or from the pump itself. The system is under pressure so even a small pin hole, crack in the line, or loose clamp can cause enough of a leak to create an issue. I would also look around under the hood to see if there is any indication of a leak while the engine is idling (have someone turn the steering wheel slowly all the way from one side to the other side and back while you are looking).

Check for what the smoke looks like, i.e. dark smoke, white smoke, and what it smells like, i.e. burning oil smell, burning rubber smell, and try to narrow it down as far as the location on the engine where it is coming from.

I always make the shop/mechanic actually bring me the part that was broken/changed. It's not fullproof, but it helps.

Oh gotta love cars sometimes. When I went down to Houston for Thanksgiving, we decided to buy an SUV given the fact that my car at the time did not have AWD. We knew that it would be cheaper to buy down there since not a lot of people use AWDs and it would be free of rust. We found one on Wednesday before Thanksgiving, test drove it, looked good, smelled good, drove good. Didnt notice anything wrong with it. Signed paperwork and all. Was supposed to have my buddy thats a mechanic down there take a look at it before we started to drive back up to Michigan. Didnt get a chance. Well, we loaded up the SUV, even bought a snowblower down there (let me know if you want to know this part of the story as well). Well once we decided to stop for the night, we started noticing some things that we didnt notice before. It would idle roughly when stopped at a stoplight, and it wasnt getting the full mpg that was advertised. We also started noticing that the lights inside the SUV would flicker when we would be stopped and had the car running and the door opened. We also noticed that the headlights would also blinker as well. Then my bluetooth wasnt working either. But wait, it gets better. A couple of days ago, after leaving work, I decided to turn the defrost on since it was in the low 30s here, drove about a block and started smelling gun powder/fireworks and the inside of my car started to get some smoke. In the middle of the intersection I decided to turn off the SUV, then I heard a crack, and saw a little bit of smoke come out of my windshield, right in front of me. Decided to start the car again and drive it another block to a parking lot so I can check out the engine. Popped the hood while the car was still running and did not notice anything. Closed the hood and I noticed a small crack on my windshield, like a rock had just hit it, and there was some melted plastic right under the windshield. Decided to drive it home like that, so then I noticed some cracks that started to form on my windshield coming out of the small crack. So needless to say that I have three huge cracks on my windshield, and have decided to take it in to the dealership to get everything checked out. My SUV is known for having a bad alternator, electrical problems and a bad idler pulley. So I am probably looking at a few hundred bucks, if not about $1000 to get everything fixed and repaired. Oh and one of my headlights went out in all of this too. With cars, you just have to make sure you take it to someone you trust and get it looked at. When I told my buddy about the rough idle problem, he knew exactly what it was after I told him the make and model of my SUV.

(01-14-2020 09:05 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  I took my Subaru to the dealership to replace a power steering pump. Well, when I left I smelled smoke but I thought it was coming from outside. I drove home and I still smelled the smoke. I let it go. Later my wife and I went to eat and when we got into the garage the smoke was coming out of the hood scoop and through the front. It was quite a bit of it. I don't know if this is normal, that it takes a while for the pump to do work itself out of its newness. It wasn't smoking like this before I took it in for repair.

Now, I've got an appointment tomorrow for them to check it out and see what the problem is. It's still under warranty as the part is factory and that's the only way they'll give you a warranty. What I'm afraid of is that they'll take it, put it away in a corner and come back and tell me it needs this or that, (you know dealerships, they're not known for honesty, none of them) and then want me to pay more aside from the pump, and it WASN'T cheap at all.

I'm thinking that there might have been oil spilled on the engine and thus the smoke but I don't know. I'm sure that I'll be asking them if there's another charge for them to check it because well, they are a dealership and all dealerships are crooked and that's what they do.

So, my question to you is what is my recourse in this episode of "As My Subaru Turns?" Should I just wait for a few days to see if the smoke dissipates or what? I really need your advice. Another thing, I think it's Trumps fault.

Your car sounds like a Democrat. Vote for another car next time.

(01-15-2020 11:36 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-14-2020 09:05 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  I took my Subaru to the dealership to replace a power steering pump. Well, when I left I smelled smoke but I thought it was coming from outside. I drove home and I still smelled the smoke. I let it go. Later my wife and I went to eat and when we got into the garage the smoke was coming out of the hood scoop and through the front. It was quite a bit of it. I don't know if this is normal, that it takes a while for the pump to do work itself out of its newness. It wasn't smoking like this before I took it in for repair.

Now, I've got an appointment tomorrow for them to check it out and see what the problem is. It's still under warranty as the part is factory and that's the only way they'll give you a warranty. What I'm afraid of is that they'll take it, put it away in a corner and come back and tell me it needs this or that, (you know dealerships, they're not known for honesty, none of them) and then want me to pay more aside from the pump, and it WASN'T cheap at all.

I'm thinking that there might have been oil spilled on the engine and thus the smoke but I don't know. I'm sure that I'll be asking them if there's another charge for them to check it because well, they are a dealership and all dealerships are crooked and that's what they do.

So, my question to you is what is my recourse in this episode of "As My Subaru Turns?" Should I just wait for a few days to see if the smoke dissipates or what? I really need your advice. Another thing, I think it's Trumps fault.

Your car sounds like a Democrat. Vote for another car next time.

I'd guess 75-80% of all Subaru Owners are Left Leaners.

I've looked at buying one and putting a MAGA sticker on it.

1. It's definitely trump's fault.
2. It's a Subaru. LOL
3. This guy knows cars. See below. This is for you UTSA. He also lives in Houston.

Hopefully you don't have an endless money pit.

(01-15-2020 11:36 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-14-2020 09:05 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  I took my Subaru to the dealership to replace a power steering pump. Well, when I left I smelled smoke but I thought it was coming from outside. I drove home and I still smelled the smoke. I let it go. Later my wife and I went to eat and when we got into the garage the smoke was coming out of the hood scoop and through the front. It was quite a bit of it. I don't know if this is normal, that it takes a while for the pump to do work itself out of its newness. It wasn't smoking like this before I took it in for repair.

Now, I've got an appointment tomorrow for them to check it out and see what the problem is. It's still under warranty as the part is factory and that's the only way they'll give you a warranty. What I'm afraid of is that they'll take it, put it away in a corner and come back and tell me it needs this or that, (you know dealerships, they're not known for honesty, none of them) and then want me to pay more aside from the pump, and it WASN'T cheap at all.

I'm thinking that there might have been oil spilled on the engine and thus the smoke but I don't know. I'm sure that I'll be asking them if there's another charge for them to check it because well, they are a dealership and all dealerships are crooked and that's what they do.

So, my question to you is what is my recourse in this episode of "As My Subaru Turns?" Should I just wait for a few days to see if the smoke dissipates or what? I really need your advice. Another thing, I think it's Trumps fault.

Your car sounds like a Democrat. Vote for another car next time.

+3

(01-15-2020 11:52 AM)TexanMark Wrote:  

(01-15-2020 11:36 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(01-14-2020 09:05 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  I took my Subaru to the dealership to replace a power steering pump. Well, when I left I smelled smoke but I thought it was coming from outside. I drove home and I still smelled the smoke. I let it go. Later my wife and I went to eat and when we got into the garage the smoke was coming out of the hood scoop and through the front. It was quite a bit of it. I don't know if this is normal, that it takes a while for the pump to do work itself out of its newness. It wasn't smoking like this before I took it in for repair.

Now, I've got an appointment tomorrow for them to check it out and see what the problem is. It's still under warranty as the part is factory and that's the only way they'll give you a warranty. What I'm afraid of is that they'll take it, put it away in a corner and come back and tell me it needs this or that, (you know dealerships, they're not known for honesty, none of them) and then want me to pay more aside from the pump, and it WASN'T cheap at all.

I'm thinking that there might have been oil spilled on the engine and thus the smoke but I don't know. I'm sure that I'll be asking them if there's another charge for them to check it because well, they are a dealership and all dealerships are crooked and that's what they do.

So, my question to you is what is my recourse in this episode of "As My Subaru Turns?" Should I just wait for a few days to see if the smoke dissipates or what? I really need your advice. Another thing, I think it's Trumps fault.

Your car sounds like a Democrat. Vote for another car next time.

I'd guess 75-80% of all Subaru Owners are Left Leaners.

I've looked at buying one and putting a MAGA sticker on it.

Thanks ODU, I'll continue to monitor the fluid.

Man, Marine, I thought I had problems. It would have driven me nuts you know like the way I feel towards those nice Demons trying to impeach Trump and there's nothing I can do.

Anyway, I took the car to the dealership and they checked it for free, (that was a surprise given how crooked they all are). Well, the mech said nothing was wrong and that it was what I suspected but being the pessimist that I am always look at the worst case scenario. The advisor told me that the mech cleaned it up as much as he could and it solved the problem for the most part as there's still residue probably but nothing like yesterdays surprise.

I actually ate a little crow by taking it to get re-checked. As I drove into the service area there was very little smoke so I guess most of the oil had been burned off. I was like those pilots in the Air Force when they would do their write ups telling us of certain problems with the airplane. Many times we would checked it out and the only repair we did was write as "Corrective Action Taken"-"could not duplicate". That's how I felt but thank God the problem proved minor.

How I wish I could find a really good and honest mechanic that I could take my car to when it has problems. Dealerships are way too expensive. But, like someone in Shakespeares stories where a certain king said, "a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse". I instead want a good mechanic and forget the kingdom.