Mechanic

[-neutrino.livejournal.com]

Does anyone know of a good mechanic (or, equally important, a bad one to avoid)? I have a strange sound with smoke problem, and don't want to get snowed. Any suggestions or reviews would be appreciated.
Thanks

Comments

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Describe the strange sound, and what color is the smoke, and under what conditions does this occur? Moving, stopped, braking, accelerating, idling? Is it worse at some times than at others?

tough to discribe in writing:

[-neutrino.livejournal.com]

I'll give it a go: the sound is kind of a rattle, with a steam/water-escaping-from-a-small-hole noise as an accompaniment.
The smoke only happened once, and I have not driven it since then, but it smelled like rubber. It was night at the time but it seemed light grey. The sound happens whenever the engine is running, and doesn't seem to be effected by much of anything else.
There you go - bring on the wild guesses! (Just kiding, maybe you know a lot about cars?)

Re: tough to discribe in writing:

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

It's tough to describe noises verbally, in general.

The smoke might be a coincidence, and not related to the noise. Although a smell of burning rubber from under the hood might indicate a belt that's slipping.

I'm tempted to say "bad water pump bearing." Have you noticed a loss of coolant?

Is the rattle dependent on engine speed?

Re: tough to discribe in writing:

[-neutrino.livejournal.com]

The rattle seems pretty constant, the car can be idling or zipping along, and it seems to rattle at about the same rate.

Re: tough to discribe in writing:

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

sorry it took me so long to respond.

That's a stumper. It's usually kind of hard to figure these things out from a written description, but I thought I'd do my best and give it a shot. Sorry.

Good luck getting it fixed.