Oh boi, what a road it has been thus far.

I am going to give the background first hopefully not too long but so everyone can get a good understanding and maybe provide some POSITIVE insight.

This is my dads car, I have recently had to take over his house/finances. He bought the car when it had about 70k on it for his gf, they broke up now my issue.

He paid a mechanic to change the struts, he only did one- this guy helped me once with an issue of no lights nothing no dead battery no start problem- just a short due to needing a motor mount or so he says. That seems to have been resolved.

NOW, the fan belt broke and i had someone come out to replace it and he tells me its the starter why it isn't starting- wrong, its almost turning over and 2 other mechanics told me it is NOT the starter OR alternator.

One mechanic says something could be stuck, water pump, compressor etc.- thats the one i cant get to come over here god knows why.

2 Mechanics come today and guarantee they will find the issue for $50. They say bad bettery- go, get it charged and tested its fine. Come back, they do more troubleshooting then do a compression test on the front 3 whatever they are, one is 120, the other 2 around 90- they tell me engine is done for and they get their $50 and waste almost 3 hours of my Saturday.

From what I read I do not think it is the compression. I still have 2 more mechanics lined up coming over for free, one tomorrow one monday who works for Chrysler.

I am at my wits end here, I need this car to take care of my dads house and his tenants and it is turning into a guessing game among certified mechanics. So far only $80 out of pocket though for diagnosing so thats not too bad i guess.

I just want this resolved i don't understand why this is such a guessing game.


Any ideas?

 

with out looking at it any one on here would be guessing as well.

 

Here's a guess for you. Why did the belt break? Seized compressor or idler pulley? If so, it might prevent cranking the engine.

The compression test is worrisome. "the front three" refers to the front three cylinders, which are easy to get to. You hope to get results that are better than that, but with 90 psi, the engine might still run. Are there any codes from the computer? If these ace mechanics didn't attach a code reader then they are wasting their time and yours.

 

Tre anough. I dd have oe guy tell me it could be something locked up.

I didn't even think of the computer.... I'm having it towed today to a shop so a guy who works @ Chrysler during the day can help me out and tell me definitely what the issue is.

I am out of options, worse yet thanks to these new car rental policies i cannot even rent a car!

 

The fact that it does crank indicates your battery and starter are ok, but repeated attempts to start it may result in the battery becoming discharged - if this happens during the diagnostic process simply charge it back up for 10 hours using a 10 amp charger or 3-4 hours using a 30 amp charger then continue the process.

 

had it towed today to a shop, he says start is bad after that he will figure it out.... i told him i really dont think its the starter. i need to make sure whatever is bought ican return!