There is a terrible, terrible smell coming from under my hood (not antifreeze, not electrical, not oil), there's some smoke from under the driver's side of the hood. When I am idling (with my foot on the brake) it does this lurch-y thing as if it might stall, and when I hit the gas it sputters, then is sputtering (for lack of a better word) the entire time I am driving. How I got to the office is nothing short of a miracle, and the tow truck is coming because no way am I driving it back home. It will go to my favorite shop and I am sure will cost me a small fortune (as always) to fix. Last month I sank $850 into it (rear wheel bearings and two front tie rod ends). Month before that it was like $1,300. Anyone want to buy her? I am pretty sure I've sunk over $7,000 worth of work into her by now, and I've only had her since Feb '09. I'm not kidding. All reasonable offers considered. Oh yes, and any ideas what might be be going on with her NOW???

 

DAMN i would have only charged you like 250 plus parts for that lol could the smell be the brakes as for the sputtering any codes to be read

 

When mine did that, it was because the Cat. Converter was clogged. It resulted in exhaust backing up into the engine and blowing out one of the gaskets/check valve things. The smoke I was seeing was the exhaust. So I replaced the Cat. Converter and it burnt up the air pump.

 

yep if someone else is doing the work then any car is going to cost to repair. it does sound like the shop is charging a bit much. is it a dealership? your problem could be a catalytic converter, what all work has been done to the car recently? does the exhaust have a hissing noise, sometimes a plugged cat will make the exhaust hiss.

 

It's the EGR valve. And talk about overcharging. $450ish w/ labor to take out the old EGR valve and replace it with the one? The part is about $100 at Advanced.

 

WOW you need a better mechanic

 

Wow. I wasn't even able to find one (EGR) for mine way back when.

 

I think they see dollar signs when that car rolls in...this is the last fix for me with this car, time to save some dough and buy a new car. Hopefully mid-October. Although the completely wrong thread for this--the offer to sell it still stands.

 

well think of it this way youve already replaced half the car its almost brand new lol
also replacing the egr is like 3 or 4 bolts and an electrical plug 45 min tops but more like 20