Posted on 11/29/2004 1:59:05 PM PST by Clive
My fella and I were going out of town. He was driving his "super reliable" car into which he pours nothing less than premium gas and synthetic oil and which, incidentally, is so much better and safer than my car that the two can never even be compared.
To boot, his car just got a tune-up and that became the launching point for a lecture about car maintenance habits and how I do not have any.
He should know. He's been working on my car all weekend. So blah, blah, I never check my oil (I forget), my tire pressure (um, my tire pressure measuring stick is broken), my radiator fluid (as if I even know where my radiator fluid is ...) and so on and so forth.
In fact, my car is in such shoddy shape, I should not even drive it anymore. Instead, I should just drive his car (which I'll simply refer to as super reliable from now on) but I have to remember not to start it in second gear because that WRECKS HIS CLUTCH.
In passing, my car-savvy fella mentioned that during his tune-up, the mechanic told him to consider replacing an ignition module or something of that sort. The mechanic, my fella concludes, is probably wrong and there is no problem with the car.
You should listen to the mechanic, I said, using up all the car advice I felt authorized to give. With your luck (he has the worst luck of anyone I know) the car will break down in the middle of a road trip and you'll be stuck there forever.
About 45 minutes later we were sitting on the side of the highway with the hazard lights on waiting for a tow truck.
That's right, Mr. Awesome-car-care-premium-gas-guy was digging around under the hood swearing and, to make matters worse, we gave the tow truck the wrong directions and were stranded for almost two hours at sub-zero temperatures in a car that would not start.
Two hundred bucks later, super reliable was in the shop and is there still, waiting for several hundred bucks worth of parts and labour.
In the meantime, the car's owner is driving my car (the one that does not have enough radiator fluid, the back doors do not open and is, overall, totally unreliable) to work.
Before I point out why this episode confirmed my attitude towards vehicles, consider this.
A couple of years ago I was driving my super junky K-Car along Highway 2.
I was just past Leduc when my tire seemingly exploded.
I pulled over, stupidly, on the left side of the highway and immediately realized I was stuck in the middle of six lanes of whizzing highway traffic.
I got out of the car, examined the tire (yep, it was flat) and pondered what to do next. I decided to walk to Nisku and call someone.
But before the traffic subsided for long enough to cross to the other side of the highway, some guy had already pulled over, put on my spare and asked me out for coffee.
Now I know I should learn how to change a flat and check my air tire pressure, but where's my incentive?
Obviously obsessive car maintenance, synthetic oil and all, does not eliminate breaking down on the side of the road.
Furthermore, if all of a sudden I learned to care about my spark plugs or my air filter, then so many guys would be deprived of the car-related lectures and rescues in which they secretly delight.
Besides, not knowing anything about cars means I generally listen to my mechanic when he says something needs to be fixed.
And let's face it, if it had been me driving ol' super reliable when it broke down, I could have got a ride back to town, and probably coffee, instead of trying not to die from the frost while waiting for the tow truck.
Read the article again. She is talking about how stupid her boyfriend is.
Depends...What color is it?
Heh! What year was it?
~smiles~ The windshield will ~never~ defrost in winter. Ain't happening! I drove blind to school in college on icy days with my two room-mates hanging out the window telling me when to turn, when to stop turning, and when to stop.
My first car..age 17, in 1964, was a 57 VW beetle..a blast. Was working as a camp counselor in the Adirondacks..one night late..run out of gas..the first, and last time, I've ever done that...thought I had enough to make it back to camp.. so i'm stuck out in the woods, middle of nowhere..2 am..rummaging in the trunk..found a can of STP gas treatment...figured what the heck..poured it in....sucker started up...got me the rest of the way..
My Acura is a little bit of work, because I have to put a floor jack under it to make clearance. My Explorer, you just wheel under on your creeper.
My wife's Benz...uses synthetic oil (eight quarts) and costs about $100 at the dealer. They recommend use of a topsider to change the oil, and the filter is on top of the motor. I can change it in five minutes, without having to get under the car, for about $40.
It's one of the few things I like about the car.
I know you've told me this before, but I laugh every time. I just get such a great mental picture!
Remember, my Bug will have it's own bedroom...the shop! Got a heater and everything.
Slant 6 and push button transmission. Mine had 150K on it when I sold it and I saw it driving around town eight years after that. Great solid auto.
LOL.
It was a '71 I think. Maybe a '70.
I ended up tearing it apart and completely redoing the heating system so MY bug actually did defrost the windshield in winter. But that's all it would do.
I used PVC pipe and built a direct line straight from the heat exchangers to the windsheild with no provisions for heat to any other location. Then I insulated the PVC.
The problem with bug heaters is that the heat source is way in the back, practically under the rear bumpber. Then there are two steel tunnels that run under the car on either side. There is a vent at the back seat people's feet, then a vent at the front seat people's feet, then vents in the dash, and then FINALLY vents at the windsheild. well, as you can guess, by the time you get to the windsheild, there isn't much air left, it all got siphoned off at the last 3 stops. and the dampers on the vents don't close all the way, so theres really no way to turn off the heat to any one location. And on top of that, the hot air is running in a steel channel UNDER THE CAR! The outside is cold and the air in that channel loses temperature pretty fast, so much of the heat just gets wasted. One other tip is those pesky heat exchangers. They go bad pretty easily and they are really expensive to replace. I never did figure out a good way to fix the old ones. All I can say is you gotta bite the bullet and buy new ones or you won't get any heat no matter what you do.
I still had to wear long underwear and wool socks, but at least I didn't have to keep an ice scraper for the INSIDE of the windsheild
It sounds like you have an overload and not a direct short circuit.
Are you sure that the proper size fuse is being used?
Actually, give me the model and year, if it's a 1992 to 2002 I can look it up and tell you what size fuse it should be and everything that's on that circuit.
I have all the Ford/Lincoln/Mercury shop manuals and wiring diagrams for those years.
heh heh...
It's been years since Jiffy Lube only charged $20 for an oil change.
They're currently up to $30.
I found a receipt in the 1988 Ford Mustang GT that I bought used from Jiffy Lube in 1996 where they charged $24...
Hold on, I'll get the manual and tell you what I know...
Take-out's even easier :-)
"He was driving his "super reliable" car into which he pours nothing less than premium gas"
There's your first sign right there. High-octane really doesn't do any better in most cases than normal gasoline.
I had a water problem with one of the taillights on my old car, so I removed it from the car, took it to the sink, filled it up with water, noticed where water was leaking out, dried up the water and sealed the leaking seam up with silicone sealer. Then I put it in the oven on low heat for an hour or so to dry out the water inside and help the silicone cure faster.
...ask me directions to Louisiana, where his family was.
article this not sense make.
she thinks taking care of your car doesn't prevent breakdowns??? what? I wouldn't really call a flat tire a breakdown anyway
Ok, it's a Ford Aerostar XLT. 1996
Fuse location 8
It doesn't say this controls the shifting from first gear in my book, but when the car won't shift to second gear, the fuse blows...don't know if it's the cause or effect.
We're using a blue 15amp fuse.
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