My car hates me and is trying to kill me

[bhskittykatt]

Could it be the fan belt? Those make a distinctive squeal when they start slipping. A very easy fix.

Nope, it was more of a metal-on-metal, and when the mechanic looked at that wheel, the bearing was in bits and pieces.

A slipped belt is something I call Hubs for, since I know how easy they are (or at least they were in my last car). (I do not know cars, but Hubby's pretty good with them and if he can't fix it he can usually at least know what's wrong. I can do basic things like bleed brakes and burp a coolant system and change a battery or a tire, and in my old car I could change spark-plugs too [this car needs a specialized tool we don't have though], so I'm not totally helpless with cars...just mostly useless.)

[Tyg3rW01f]

yeah... my 99 Subaru Legacy SUS is still possessed...
on it's FOURTH thermostat in TWO YEARS, (two after market, two OEM) its 3rd water pump, 2n intake cam pulley, third timing belt, second radiator...

...and it still overheats.

No water or coolant in the oil, far as I can tell... no white exhaust or extreme oil usage to indicate cracked heads... no overheats in traffic (so far as I can tell) to indicate fan failure... no leakage into the floorboards to indicate problems with the heater core...

...but she'll be puttin' out heat like she's trying to broil a steak, then the heater will just "I quit" start blowing cold, and the gauge will start climbing. I pull over, the reservoir is 3/4 full, the radiator and cap are cool to the touch, and the upper hose is HOT!!! I've never really paid too close attention to the fans, so I'm NOT certain it isn't them.

[bhskittykatt]

Latest car fun: a few weeks ago my car decided brakes should be optional. Took it in and the master cylinder was leaking, something else was leaking...$1k later and my brake system is completely new except for the physical brake lines themselves.

Car has been leaking coolant, too, but $30 new reservoir SHOULD fix that since that seems to be where it's leaking from. Have the part, just need to find time for Hubs to replace it.

[wolfie]

the heater will just "I quit" start blowing cold, and the gauge will start climbing. I pull over, the reservoir is 3/4 full, the radiator and cap are cool to the touch, and the upper hose is HOT!!! I've never really paid too close attention to the fans, so I'm NOT certain it isn't them.

Highly unlikely to be the fans. With the heater blowing cold, and the rad cold, but the upper hose being hot, it sounds like something stopped the coolant from circulating. With all the work you've had done, you've probably had the thermostat changed (and an intermittent problem doesn't sound like a bad thermostat - when they fail, they stay bad). My WAG is that there's a foreign object in the coolant passages of the engine block that sometimes gets into a "sole solution" passage and blocks it, then falls away after the engine's been shut off for a while.