'91 Century gets broken by shop

[Gvel]

So two weeks ago, I took my vehicle into a retailer/mechanic to get the battery replaced, and the starter checked. They replaced the battery, and said the starter was fine.

As the last two weeks went by, the starting issues became worse and worse, until last night where it just wouldn't turn over at all.

We paid to have it towed back to the same place again, and they replaced the starter and reduced the price to their cost plus labor.

The guy pulls our car out of the garage, and there's this horrible rattleing coming from under the hood. Sounds like someone left a wrench in there and it got caught in the belt. Wasn't doing that before!! he asks us what that noise is, and decides to take it back into the shop to take a look at it.

about another 30 minutes later, he tells us that they can't figure out what is making that noise, and that we took the car in to get the starter fixed and now the car starts, so it's fixed. He thinks it may be the water pump, but they don't do that kind of work there, so we have to find someplace else to get it fixed.

So we go out to the car, and there's this giant puddle of antifreeze. The car is old, and has been leaking antifreeze for a while, but not like that. There is never even a wet spot in the driveway after it's been parked for any amount of time. This antifreeze is pouring out. The noise is coming from right near the serpentine belt.

These people broke my car, and are obviously not willing to make it right, so I need some advice before I dump any more money into this car. I only need to drive it for another 1.5-3 weeks before we buy another vehicle.

The battery was about 100 bucks, and the starter was another 170. The car is old, has over 210,000 miles on it, and it's getting to be on its last legs, but I need it to last another two weeks.

Is it most likely the water pump?? Can I get them to pay for it to be fixed?? Is there a temporary solution that will make it last another two weeks??

There's a bunch of antifreeze sitting on the passenger side on top of the edge of the engine block, but no obvious place where it can be leaking from. I'm pretty mechanically inept, or I would have just done this all myself (except for the battery that was under the cross-brace of the frame).

P.S. The rattling seems to get better with speed. It goes away once you go faster than 5-10 mph.

[HotZ28]

Take the belt off and check the water pump shaft/pulley for play. Was the coolant coming from the bottom of the pump, if so, probably the front shaft seal is leaking. If it was leaking before you took it into the shop, it was likely bad anyway. I don't think the shop can be held liable.

[Gvel]

Thank you for the reply. I'll check it out tomorrow during daylight hours.

[HotZ28]

BTW, what engine does your car you have, the 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine, or 3.1-liter V6?

[Gvel]

It's a V6

[richtazz]

Regretfully, I don't think there is anything they could have done while replacing the starter that could have caused the water pump to fail. For an example, I just got done doing a head gasket job on my wifes minivan, and the alternator took a dump on me right after I started the van when the work was completed. I know I didn't do anything that could have damaged the alternator, it just picked a really nice moment to fail. Since the car was leaking coolant previously, I think it was a coincidence that it failed when it did. The water pump on your car is about as easy as one can be to change. The part should cost around $30-$40, and labor should be an hour at the most if you don't have the ability to change it yourself.