Finally.... my VX craps out....

[WormGod]

Well, I may have one of the only VXs that has NEVER had to go back to the dealer for anything. Maintained and taken care of more than I take care of myself even. Hell, the dealers probably dont even know mine exists except for when it left the dealer about 5 years ago. Well, it did go back once when the antenna was hit my lightning, but that proved to be nothing more than a melted antenna, heh.

So.... she is finally off for some much needed work. I came out into my garage Sat morning to take her to get her emissions testing done, and there was a horrendous smell in the garage. I found a huge puddle of various liquids on the floor under the engine bay. I popped the hood and found something from a horror movie. The battery (OEM) had exploded and the battery acid had gone to town on nearly everything. Wire, hoses, belts, plastic covers, even the entire plastic composite top of the radiator had been melted away. It ate it's way through my passenger side headlight assembly and burned up the hood insulation. I seriously thought I was gonna cry. Needless to say, a few screams of profanities that could be heard throughout my neighborhood sufficed.

Now, check this out.... I called a local ISUZU dealer about me having it towed there for repairs and the shop manager said, and I kid you not, "Ah, a VehiCROSS.... I would check some other ISUZU dealers. I don't know that out techs are very familiar with them so I don't think we should do the work." WHAT?!?!?! Ah well, at least he was honest about his techs SUCKING before I found out on my own. Regardless of the real reason, they don't sound like the guys I want working on my VX anyways. So, I am gonna deal with the guys that do the work on my WRX. Trustworthy, but expensive. They already called about some of the major parts I know that are screwed and have them ordered. They said about 3-5 days for the headlight assembly and the radiator. The rest is gonn ahave to wait till I get the poor VX towed to them.

It was a very sad weekend for me indeed.

And no, my insurance (State Farm) said they will not cover that damage due to the fact that it is related to the battery. They told me to deal with the warranty concerning that. Funny.... a battery covered under warranty after almost 5 years? Ya.... right. They would give me a rental car though. Oh joy! Thanks, but I have a second car.Whatever.

So, my VX fun continues.

[etlsport]

OOOF thats rough, sorry man! id also avoid the isuzu dealer in frederick, i stopped in there to try and order a few parts, i told the parts guy i was looking for a roof rack for a VehiCross and he says a what? i say.. vehicross! and point out towards the parking lot, he says, we only deal with isuzu and audi.. i thanked him and left...

do you know what caused your battery to go byebye? is it the stock battery?
best of luck tracking down your parts.. (and if you happen to find a junkyard VX make sure to let us know!)

[VX4EJR]

I would try to get after the car battery manufacturer, provided nothing other than normal/oem use, conditions and wiring existed under the hood. In other words...no additional wiring, fuses, splicing, etc was added or present.

Get the battery manuf on the hook for fault or defects, to pay for repair and any alcohol consumption you endured after the event...because I know I'd be a basket case.

[Cyrk]

That SUCKS... good luck with it all.

[nfpgasmask]

Oh Wormy, that sucks! And I was just talking with Anita earlier today and we were both saying how much we love the look of your VX!

I'm curious about your battery too, was this the regular stock battery? I have never heard of a battery exploding like this....I installed an Optima Red Top after I bought it, I hope these types are devoid of this kind of problem!

I hope it all gets worked out for you.

Bart

[VehiX]

I feel sorry for you man. I don't know how I would have reacted to that situation at all!

That's so wierd, you had probably two of the most rare occurances that could ever happen to a vehicle happen to your VX! First, it gets struck by lightning and now your battery explodes. What are the chances of that?! :_wtf:

Note to self: Use caution if I ever hang out with Gary ;)

Seriously though, I hope it all works out for you in the end.

[Joe_Black]

That's nasty! Sorry to hear about it and hope you get it squared away with minimal stress.

I've seen the results of various automotive and industrial engine batteries exploding and it can be as minor as some cosmetic damage to as serious as major fire and even serious injuries. Using the Optima batteries virtually emlinates the chance for this to happen as the construction doesn't create the conditions needed for a common wet cell to explode.

[Triathlete]

Internal shorting will cause the battery to heat, expand and then explode. I have had a couple batteries get to the hot and expanding stage but have always caught them before they explode...usually because they stop holding a charge. They seem to be more prone to this here where the temps are extremely high in the summer.
Good luck!

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

Sorry for your troubles. Hopefully she'll be as good as new when their done with her!

Curious though about the availability of the hood insulation as I could use that myself. I had a problem with a red squirrel using my hood insulation for nesting material up in my factory air-box during the winter along with the O.E.M. filter (darn lucky my wiring and everything else was not touched!) so I had to remove the shredded up hood insulation and have run all summer without it. Wondering how necessary it really is...so far I've noticed no ill-effects but figure it was put their for a valid reason!

Another reason against living out in the country! Darn varmints! I was even kidded at work by the guys saying they saw a squirrel feeder at "Tractor Supply" and it looked identical to a VX!!!!!! :rolleyes:

[Chopper]

My original battery exploded the first trip home from the dealership. It happened in the driveway after the inital 30 mile drive to the house. I had insisted on doing the delivery cleanup myself, just stripped the white plastic wrap, cleaned the windows, and drove it home (I worked there at the time) Because of this, (plus the fact I was staring at it every two minutes) I noticed the problem pretty quick, and took a hose and baking soda to it . A bit of the hood blanket and some paint on the battery mount and frame were the only casualties. A little spray bomb paint and all was well. Isuzu cheerfully replaced the crappy stock battery, and I gave it to a painter at the shop and bought a red top. Stock tires and batteries are generaly the cheapest the manufacturer can get away with and are best replaced at the soonest opportunity, in my experience. Wayne

[etlsport]

very strange, ive never heard of a battery exploding just sitting in a car.. what kind of battery is stock? theres an energizer battery in mine now, and i wanna get a new one if its prone to exploding

[Joe_Black]

Any wet cell battery has the potential of exploding. Sulfuric acid, hydrogen gas, electricity, heat... It all comes together wrong and it's not a good thing.

You don't want that risk? Get an Optima.

[Ldub]

That's about an 11 on the suck-ometer...the only good thing is, that you WEREN'T adding washer fluid or doing something else under the hood when it let loose. :deadg: :waag:
Hope you get her back to par with as little hassle factor as possible.

[tbigity]

i think i respond for all of us when i say that as I was reading that I found myself saying "oh....no...not the...oh gawd, no! THE HUMANITY!"

I feel like we should all pass a card and mail it WG, that hard core sux man. You have had some pretty ruff VX luck here lately.

[Anita]

I guess the only thing you can say is that the damage could have been a lot worse. You keep your baby in such good shape...what a thing to happen.

[uncle_asa]

It's terrible. I really sorry.

The only good thing here is that new parts you install in replacemant are new parts. So you will not worry about they fail on the road.

Good luck to you with the rapair!

[Hotsauce]

Make sure you check the timing belt before its started again. If the belt cover shows any damage at all I'd want the belt replaced.

John C.

[WormGod]

After 100 phone calls yesterday, I ended up dealing with, get this, an Acura dealer. The shop I was gonna work with totally disrespected me and treated me like crap when I spoke with the owner yesterday evening, so they have lost my business. Their business, not mine, so screw em.

The Acura dealer was an interesting find. My friend Anne was the CFO there and told me to try them out. So, I called and they said they had a tech there that came from an ISUZU dealer and they would talk with him. They called me back and said sure, he can do it, and as a matter of fact, he loves to work on VehiCROSS's. So, sounds good to me. It's a very reputable Acura dealer. Today I get to hunt down a flatbed company to tow the VX there.... the whole 50 miles from my house. I know a guy that owns a company, so hopefully he will cut me a friendly deal.

As for the battery, it was the OEM, to the best of my knowledge. It was the original battery that i bought it with. The brand was Panasonic, which I have honestly never even heard of as far as batteries. Insurance and warranty are totally out the window on this one. This is an out-of-pocket pickup, unfortunately. I dropped a brand new Die-Hard in just to check electrical and all seems ok there, and the engine turns over instantly, but the risk of the damaged radiator leaves it sitting the driveway until a tow takes her to the shop. The acid did it's fair share of munching on anything plastic though. The battery sleeve is all but gone and the powder coating on the framework just below is meat. There will be a fair share of cleanup once she is back on her feet.

Just another one of those things.

[nfpgasmask]

eBay headlight (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1999-2000-ISUZU-VEHICROSS-OEM-R-HEADLIGHT-HEAD-LIGHT_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33710QQihZ010QQit emZ200022214117QQrdZ1)

[SPAZZ]

but, ISUZU won't cover any portion of your warranty that they can weisel out of.

They told me they wouldn't cover my VX at only 10,000 miles when it was bone stock due to the fact that I had changed the air filter to a K&N inside the air box. I still had the stock air box, but I didn't keep the stock brand of filter. Everything thing else was still stock. It was getting horrible mileage and they said they would not honor the warranty because I had "Moddified" the vehicle.

They said the same thing about the charging system and so on. Eventually I finally did "Moddify" my VX

I should have just parked across the Isuzu lot and spray painted "ISUZU LEMON" on it and seen how long it took for them to fix it.

That is why I'll never buy another Isuzu again. Sales department was AWESOME!!!! Service department sucks ***

[Joe_Black]

Be fair Spazz, you're talking about Isuzu America. ;)

[kpaske]

That is why I'll never buy another Isuzu again. Sales department was AWESOME!!!! Service department sucks ***Isn't that how it is with most stealerships? Once they've got the sale, they could care less if you're happy with their service. I'm already starting to see the same thing happen with my new VW.

[etlsport]

at least they recognized it as an isuzu, i went to a dealership in frederick md (avoid them wormgod!) to order some parts, when the guy asked what car i was ordering for i said vehicross, he says a what? i point to it in the parking lot.. he tells me 'um, we only deal with isuzus and audis'... i said "ohhh, sorry" and left.. i figured he didnt need my business

[WormGod]

Well, she is in the shop. The Acura dealer she was towed to is quite large and services/sells many makes, so she is actually in what is known as Gaithersburg Mazda. The best part about it is, the tech working on her has been anticipating working on her since I called. He even called yesterday asking when the tow truck was going to arrive because he was excited about working on a VX again. He apparently used to work for an ISUZU dealer and knows the VX quite well and has always been a fan of them. I am thinking my VX is in the right hands.

He should be calling today with a list of the damages. I guess you can tell that I am really looking forward to that call. As is my wallet.

[Catch77]

Sounds like she's in good hands. Anyone who's eager to work on it will treat the vehicle like their own. Keep that puppy on the road since you do have a great lookin' VX! :)

[kpaske]

I bought my VX at the Gaithersburg Mazda/Isuzu dealership. The service quickly declined soon after the sale was final and I haven't taken it to a dealer since (save ONE diagnostic test that only Isuzu's computers can perform). If you know the tech then you are probably safe, but I personally wouldn't ever bring my VX back to them. Let us know if the situation over there has improved and deserves reconsideration.

[WormGod]

kpaske, considering the are no longer dealing with ISUZU, something tells me there was a reason that service declined. Perhaps some dealers were getting rubbed the wrong way by IoA, the same way we owners are. Dunno, but it is interesting and I should probably ask "them" about it. See if I actually get an answer.

I actually don't know anyone at this dealer, but they took the job when no other ISUZU dealers would. The only person I knew there was the CFO and she isnt there anymore. She does work there come every tax time, but only for a few weeks, then she sits home and travels the world with her fat wallet, heh. I saw her last night and she said she stopped in on the dealer to look at my VX and to talk to them a bit. She told them that I was a very special friend and that my VX had better be treated with the utmost respect and care, heh. Good thing she knows them all well or that would have been taken as a threat, heh. But ya, she said the tech who will be working on it was pretty amped up about the job, so I wont be too worried. I also gave them the go-ahead to take their time. I have another car so I am in no hurry. I surely don't want a job that is pushed out the door to make room for another run-of-the-mill job.

So, the waiting game has begun and my garage is lonely. I don't even park the WRX in there. It is reserved for the VX, heh.

[VXIRONwoMAN]

that happened to my mom's truck only it exploded while she was getting out of the car and left some hefty dents in her hood...but she caught it before the acid ate away the truck she pushed it out of the garage and all was ok...sorry yours didn't go over well...go after the battery manufacturer. good luck.

[WormGod]

Spoke with the tech last Friday and it all sounds pretty good. He tore it down and went over the entire engine bay and other outlying areas. Electrical damage is very minimal (wiring) and only a couple wires need replacing. The majority of the damage is what I originally found; headlight, radiator, hood insulation, battery tray, and a few plastic clips. Pretty lucky considering the VX probably sat like this for about 2 days with battery blood all over. He estimated damages to be around $1500 and some change. Now comes the part of waiting for some parts to be put in. My garage is so empty and lonely.

[WormGod]

Well, picked up the VX on Saturday. The shop did a GREAT job with the repairs. Ended up sandblasting the frame area and repainting/undercoating it where the acid ate the paint off even.

Fixed/replaced:
-radiator
-battery tray
-battery harness/wiring cluster
-fuse box
-hood latch (by my request, just fixed, not replaced)
-fan shroud
-fan serpentine belt
-other various wires and hoses

Things untouched:
-passenger side headlight assembly (they were able to repair it but it still looks hideous.... said it would take a few weeks to get one in for $416 in any case)
-a particular radiator hose which is on "international backprder", which apparently means, good luck getting one. the one on there is ok, but with minor damage
-underhood insulation, also on international backorder

In all, it ran $1800. Most of it I could have done myself, but I refuse to play with the wiring. Better to let someone else be responsible for that, heh. I told them not to worry about the headlight, hose, and insulation. I will just try to hunt those down myself, even though they offered to keep their eye open for them. At least it is back on the road and drivable again.

[Joe_Black]

Glad to hear it came out so well! For the radiator hose did they try just sourcing one from a Trooper? Your local AutoZone may just have it!

I might be able to help you out on the under hood insulation, let me know if interested. Or, you could just apply a DynaMat Extreme underhood kit.

What part of the headlight assembly is damaged and how?

[Ldub]

I'm with Joe on the rad hose.
Before I went to Moab this spring, I went to Autozone & picked up spare upper & lower hoses, S/C & serpentine belts to have on hand.
They had everything in stock.

[WormGod]

Back side of the headlight is eaten up a bit and the bulb harness is shambled some. They secured the wires with some shrink tubing and applied some sort of epoxy resin to the back of the fixture to cover the holes. It works, but you know how it is just knowing how jerry-rigged something is on your car.... it just never sits right with you, heh. So, for the headlight; that is something I need to keep my eye open for. Brand new, those bastages are damned pricey. Especially since I need to get some new rubber on her by the ipcoming winter.

The hose is the least of my worries. The tech knew quite well that the Trooper was the big brother of the VX and mentioned to the shop manager that one from that might work ok. I just told the manager not to worry, I could manage one on my own. Not an issue to me.

Regardless, a fairly happy, yet expensive ending for a pretty strange event.

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

found this:

http://www.mmxpress.com/dynamat/images/hoodliner.gif

1 avg. hood coverage
The Hoodliner's "Sound Soaker" foam absorbs engine noise, delivering a quieter listening environment in your vehicle. In addition, the Hoodliner's 1 mil. reinforced aluminized skin creates a water/oil barrier that reflects up to 97% of radiant heat to protect the hood's paint finish. Contains one 32" x 54" piece of Dynaliner for under the hood of your vehicle. For best performance, use with Dynamat Xtreme

[tbigity]

WG, not sure what part of the head lamp assembly you are needing, but that price seemed rediculous to me. I went to isuzuparts.com and did the drill down and found that the right or left head lamp assemblies are $276.95. Seems a far cry from what they are asking. Here was my drill down:

input 2001 Isuzu Vehicross in the "BODY PARTS" box (box b)

then follow this pattern:
Front lamps >> Headlamp Components >> Headlamp Assembly

From there you can drill down further to the specific components you need, including the seal ($16.67)

GL man!

[Navigator]

I am glad to hear all turned out OK, but surprised you didn't allready have an Optima under the hood. I nearly choked when I heard the news, I don't get in here as often as I used to, so I missed the whole ordeal, but again I am glad all turned out OK. BTW, Wilkens Isuzu in Glen Burnie MD is very courteous, I've said this before, but for thos who may have missed the post, they'll do all they can for you and make you feel welcome.

Go Optima, you won't reget it.

[WormGod]

Looking at isuzuparts, I see it mentions "seal" in the assembly. Now, the diagram shows that as being the clear lense, but it is just a drawing. I imagine ordering the entire assembly means the rubber seal already ships on it.

*whips out the plastic*

Mo money, mo money....

[tbigity]

yes, since there are...3, I believe, different components under the "lamp assy" link, if you purchase that main directory you should get everything nested underneath it. These are, of course, assumptions. :cool: