Help! please :)

[Jack960]

Hey all. Was driving my mates G6E turbo tonight which I plan on buying off him in a months time when I heard an odd noise. All of a sudden the power steering cuts out and the battery is no longer changing and the temp starts to creep up. I drove it about 100 meters or so (I was literally 500m away from my house), looked down and the temp was almost at the highest point on the gauge so i pulled over immediately and switched it off.

Popped the bonnet and sure enough the belt has came off, obvious signs of wear. So its sitting round the block from me, I live in a pretty decent area so leaving it there isnt an issue. My question is, will it be possible to move it the 500m ish in the morning when its cold without a belt? and could this have caused any damage to the car?

Also, now I question buying the car. The owner is a good mate of mine and is usually rather pedantic about his cars. Its a 2009 G6E turbo with 150,000km. The last owner used it purely on the highway and so has my mate. Is it worth buying it?

[outside]

150k in 3 years seems alot of klms to me

[Jim Goose]

Originally Posted by Jack960

Also, now I question buying the car. The owner is a good mate of mine and is usually rather pedantic about his cars. Its a 2009 G6E turbo with 150,000km. The last owner used it purely on the highway and so has my mate. Is it worth buying it?

Pedantic? doesnt sound like it if the belt has failed....

Popped the bonnet and sure enough the belt has came off, obvious signs of wear.

And 150000 is VERY high milage for a 3 yr old car.

[grandpa_spec_F6]

What is everyone banging on about km for? I've put nearly 30,000km on mine in a year, my manager who lives up the coast has put 50,000 on his car the year just gone... Its not hard.

It does seem strange the belt let go so I would suggest getting someone like racq or racv to do a mechanical check.

Age kills cars faster than km in my experience.

[msman]

just wait 10-15 mins the temp will come down to about 1/4 and drive it home, make sure the belt is removed completely can get tangled up and do more damage.

the belt on the falcon won't just come off? what failed? is the belt broken?

[flappist]

150,000km on the highway is really not a lot in 3 years for anyone who lives outside a city and commutes.

150k per 3 years = 50k per year = 1000 per week = 200 per weekday = 100 each way = any one of the thousands of people who live on the Sunshine Coast or Gold Coast and work in Brisbane or 100km out of Sydney or whatever.

I know a number of people who do this and I did 84,000km in my GT-P in 20 months.

[kempy311]

Once its cool you should be fine with 500m but if its serviced regular why did they belt come off maybe the water pump is stuffed or something.

[Mickxr8]

Just my 2cs.

To chuck a belt sounds like belt stretch which should of been picked up if it`s been serviced properly , ( iirc there`s a indicator on the tensioner ),

[zilo]

150 thousand k's in 3 years is fine as long as you paid stuff all for it.

[Zedjay]

why not put a new belt on it before you move it???

its not hard to do!!

[Falcman0o7]

LOL! It will be fine! Drive it home and put a new belt on it sheesh! It's a 4.0 litre falcon 6! 500 meters won't kill it! I've cooked my ED to the point of oil crackling inside! Sounded like she was cooking hot chips! I've also broke a belt and it boiled.
Same block, head, ect being used 6 years later.

[Jack960]

yeah I was very surprised cause he bought it at 110, 000km and got mechanic to look at it and change most of the small things. I pulled the belt of and it's munted, one side of it just tore clean off the belt, must have got caught and pulled off.
yeah the car does Geelong and back 6 days a week hence the high km's. his asking 22k for it

[poppa smurf]

25,000 since I bought my BA.....not 12 months yet.....the Km's are fine particularly if it has been highway Km's

drive it home after it has cooled and put a new belt on.....check your idler pulley is free

[RAPID_BA]

how much are G6ET'S going for with reasonable km? Think of it when its time for you to sell it, people are gonna really choke you on price.

If its a mate, tell him to try sell it to someone else first to get a proper indication of market price, let them choke him, then come in after for a more realistic price.

[Ben73]

150,000 over 3 years isn't that much.
Work cars have over 300,000kms on them and are about 2 years old. They are turbo diesel though.
Still run as well as they did when new, the maintenance has been kept up to date.

[sarrge2001]

You can have my 2008 G6ET with 70K on it for 26K.......

[Jack960]

just went back to it and had a look at the pulleys (was too dark last night), it seems one of the pulleys is rooted. there's a small one just above and to the left of the driving pulley, coming off the block, that is really worn and pretty much destroyed.

[poppa smurf]

Originally Posted by Jack960

just went back to it and had a look at the pulleys (was too dark last night), it seems one of the pulleys is rooted. there's a small one just above and to the left of the driving pulley, coming off the block, that is really worn and pretty much destroyed.

that's the idler pulley that I mentioned....you will have to replace that as well...no big deal

that is what destroyed your belt.......replace the pulley before you fit a new belt or it will happen again

[Fiesta_Man69]

Simple. Don't buy it.

There are many others out there.

And 150K is a lot in 3 years, highway or otherwise. It's still 150K of wear and tear. Considering the average is 15K per year, any car with above 50K has higher than average milage. 150? Hey, it's your money.

Perhaps its better spent on sarrge2001's car with less than half the ks...

[Bud Bud]

The car is fine, just replace the parts and all should be ok but I don't agree that 150 k's in 3 years from new is not a consideration. The question is not if you can do 50k's a year because of course you can but rather if there is better value out there. There will be some with less than 100 k's or less for the same sort of money, if not a touch more. The average is around 15-20 k's a year so anything with around 60 – 100 k's for a 3 to 4 yo car would be better buying for similar money and remember, it is a buyers market.

Sarge2001's car would be a better buy imho and at least if you did, wouldn't it be a nice feeling when the car hits 150 k's in three years time!

Bud Bud

[flooded one]

150,000kms is not that much for a 3 year old falcon 6 cylinder!! it might seem high but if its been well looked after it should be fine. the falcon 6 cylinder can easily reach 400,000km or more when looked after. just because a car has low kilometres doesnt nessarily mean its the better buy either. it all comes down too how well its been looked after. replace the idler pulley then the belt and it should be fine

[TC200six]

Originally Posted by Jack960

just went back to it and had a look at the pulleys (was too dark last night), it seems one of the pulleys is rooted. there's a small one just above and to the left of the driving pulley, coming off the block, that is really worn and pretty much destroyed.

That doesn't sound unusual for the idler pulley to fail on an FG. Had a warranty job done earlier in the year because a weird noise started coming from the front and could even smell burning. It must have been the smell of the belt burning on the stiff pulley. Lucky it happened when it was still under warranty.

[tweeked]

People are really freaking over the k's!!!! I would take 50000 country ks up and and down the Princes hwy over 15000 around the city every day of the week. As long as the price reflects the km it is better than a car with short trips, stop start, more cold running etc. Just give it a good checK over.

[flooded one]

Originally Posted by tweeked

People are really freaking over the k's!!!! I would take 50000 country ks up and and down the Princes hwy over 15000 around the city every day of the week. As long as the price reflects the km it is better than a car with short trips, stop start, more cold running etc. Just give it a good checK over.

yes short trips and stop start driving harm a engine more then long highway trips!!

[Angeldust]

on a cold morning you should be able to do a few k's easily without the temp overheating etc.

[Jack960]

By the time I got up it was bout 30 degrees in Geelong so I didn't bother. Mate that owns the car has a tow truck so his coming to get it. Thanks for all the info guys

[mik]

i`m a bit of an old lady when it comes to seeing tempreture gauges up near red area(even for a short period), that would worry me, the other concern of whether it`s been looked after in the service area is another, 150,000 k`s and assuming it`s never had a belt change? my spidey senses would be tingling .

[Jack960]

Yeah thats exactly what I thought, I mean in a general service they check the belts generally, let alone the major service it should have had at 100,000km. My mate has the service history from when his had it, don't think its going back to them anytime soon. Plus, they told him that the car should be serviced every 5000km cause its a turbo.

How much you reckon its worth, assuming its in good nick? He said he will take 22k for it, I thought that wasnt bad seeing as most of them i see are high 20's

[mik]

would`nt have a clue of value, sorry, it does sound cheap though, i truly truly dislike buying 2nd hand cars(so many unknowns), it may be a bargain , or it might end up a pita, if in doubt , pay to have the car carefully checked over by a respected workshop, if your mate is a mate he won`t mind.

[Joshmcmillan]

Seems like you'd be better off saving for one with a few less k's... even though 150K isn't many, it's a lot closer to getting up to the mid 200's which on a turbo falcon can be considered quite a lot.... where as if you spent the bit more and got one with say, 80 you'd have a long way to go, and you could keep it maintained etc... so by the time you get it to 150 you know it's all been done properly.

To add another price comparison to the mix, my brother in law recently bought a 2008 G6E Turbo with 53,000 for $28K... which is a bit more but far less k's and it was extremely immaculately maintained by an elderly first owner. Even has two sets of mats to protect the original carpet and genuine mats haha