What is wrong with my car??

Question

Can anyone tell me what may have happened to my car? I was driving down the road on my way to work this morning when I started to hear a squeaking noise. I have no idea what it was, I turned off the radio to listen but then I didn't hear it anymore. I though maybe it was the breaks, so I kept driving. I then noticed a faint smell of smoke, like exhaust or something, but I didn't see any smoke on my car, so I though it was maybe the car next to me putting off the smell. Then, my car started sputtering, like it does when it runs out of gas maybe and when I tried to press the gas to go, it would not accelerate. The gas just didn't work, and also it was smoking badly under the hood. I then pulled into a store parking lot and the steering wheel was extremely hard to turn. When I stopped and got out, it was smoking really really badly under the hood and I noticed a trail of fluid from the street to where I parked and there was a huge puddle under my car. Also the oil light came on as I was pulling in the parking lot. When I opened the hood, there was fluid everywhere, I'm not sure if it was oil or not. I have only had it for 3 months but I bought it from a used car dealership and there is no warranty. I was just wondering if anyone might know what happened to it? Thanks for all your help.

Answer 1

check to see if your fan belt has broke .

Answer 2

What was the fluid??? Antifreeze> Oil> ATF> The engine light came on as the engine quite> Sounds like a hose sprung a leak>

Answer 3

It sounds like you might have either simply broken a drive belt, or maybe a component such as the alternator or water pump has seized, also throwing the belt. Chances are not too much damage was done if you stopped quickly enough. It should be a simple matter for a certified mechanic to diagnose. Don't take it to any shade tree mechanics or you'll be sorry.

Answer 4

well it could be anything sorry you busted a hose broke a belt.... check all your fluids and see whats low would give you some ideal of what it is and where to look... best you not try and drive it but call a tow truck  

Answer 5

From your description, your engine or transmission has seized a bearing (s). Your Dodge is done for unless you are willing to spend a lot on a new engine/trans.  

Answer 6

I am so sorry... that does not sound good. If the oil light didn't come on, I was prepared to think it might have been the power steering pump failed, but I don't think that's the case.

It sounds like something broke & let the oil out of the engine onto the belts hence the squeaking and loss of power steering. The smoke could have been from the belts slipping or oil on the exhaust.

Sounds like catastrophic failure of some sort.

Again, very sorry.  

Answer 7

What color would you say the fluid was? Also have you had the oil changed on it since you purchased the car?

Answer 8

It sounds like you over heated your engine and the noise you heard could of been a pulley going such as the water pump.Plus if it was oil I'm sure you'd notice it far more then just seeing a liguid trail.

If a pulley did go on you or a pump seized up on you then you'd have a belt off forsure but if internally the water pump had problems it doesn't mean any belt for sure came off.

I'd start with checking out if the over flow container is in fact emphty bec that would tell you that the fluid was in fact antifreeze.The over flow container on those cars is to the left of you in the far upper corner under the hood when your standing at front of car.

Look for any leaks or signs that coolant leaked at the centre of the front of car around where you see hoses that are smaller then reg rad hoses and are for the water pump system and look at the pump to see if you can spot coolant, also look to see if the belts on the pump pulley.

Probably the engine over heated and you didn't notice the temperature gages levl or the over heating light indicator come on.But it's possible that the gage or lite isnt working right.

There are many possible reasons or causes for the engine to have over heated on you like that could be as simple as a rad leak or hose leak or bad temperature sensor or faulty fan or fan relay or faulty thermostat or failed water pump etc.

Oh by the way I own one of those cars but a later model and don't mind giving any help or advice that you ask for.

Hope that helps and best of luck.By the way the engine oil lite coming on is probably normal when the engine is over heating and I'd worry about it unless it was oil that came out and not coolant but traces of oil or coolant will be present and obvious.

Answer 9

did you change the oil when you first bought it?

what did the fluid look like. did it look dark brown (oil) in color or was it more of a red or green color (radiator fluid/coolant)

also what was the smell like. was it fuming making u almost want to cough like driving behind a really old truck (oil)

or was it kind of a sweet smell in that it wasnt really that bothersome for smoke (coolant)

if it was a dark brown(oil) then im sorry to say that you are pretty much screwed. what probably happened in the case of the oil is that your engine wasnt properly lubricating itself and it sounds like it through a seal on the crankshaft. repairs for this kind of damage would iclude pulling the engine out of the car and possibly reworking/replacing the crankshaft among other things. it will be in the multi thousand dollar range to fix

if it was a green or red fluid [coolant] (the red can sometimes look like a light brown rust color or a pink) then you are in slightly better shape but it can still get expensive. if this is the case there is a probability that you blew a head gasket in such a way that coolant was mixxing in with the oil and also leaking out of the engine. when the coolant mixxes with oil it will give you the sqeaking in the engine. if this is the case your engine head(s) need to be removed and gaskets replaced with a complete cooling system flush and oil (lubrication) system flushed. this will probably cost you in the range of about $1000-$1500 depending on your vehicle

let me emphesize that it is almost impossible to diagnose these kind of car problems without actually seeing it. but i did the best i could do for you

extra: in light of the new details i just saw. its sounding more like the first option. by the way if all this happened in the first few days after you bought the car you can return it and get your money back by lemon laws

Answer 10

You answered your own ? It's a Dodge what do you expect j/k. Seriously though Dodge intrepids aren't known for reliablity especially when they near or pass the 100,000 mile mark. I can't tell you what's wrong with it but from your description it's not going to be cheap to fix.  

Answer 11

Call the tow truck and have it taken to your mechanic.  Hopefully it died before too much damage was done to the engine.  You have a massive oil leak somewhere, oil was getting on the hot exhaust, that was the smoke you saw.

Out of curiosity, did you have your mechanic look at the car before you bought it?  A quick look then could have saved you hundreds of dollars now.

Without a warranty, repairs are on you.