The Axe Has Fallen
On Wednesday, October 13, the axe that I had been waiting on finally fell.
I left my Health class and went to get a bite to eat before going to the library to study. As I was rolling up to the Arby's drive thru, an unfamiliar dash light came on. I was pretty sure it was the temperature light and, to back that theory up, the temperature gauge was hovering around the "just under H" area. I cruised thru the drive thru and pulled into a parking space and shut the car off. I extracted my owners manual from the glove compartment to verify that, indeed, it was the temperature light. I knew there was an Advance Auto just up the road about a half mile and it was only about 8:00 so they should still have been open. I whispered a "God, please help me make it there with no trouble" and headed up the road. Just as I was turning into the Advance parking lot, the needle did a full-fledged jump up to "H", as in, HOT. I pulled up next to the door and shut the car off.
I went inside looking for some kind soul with knowledge of hot cars...and that would be temperature-wise, not stolen. I walked in the open door and out of one of the aisles came a young man that inquired as to whether he could help me. "If you know anything about overheating cars, you can," I said. He said he would start by taking a look at it. I popped the hood and he started peering around. I told him that I had noticed a puddle beginning to form in the garage under my car the past several days. I had tried--unsuccessfully, I might add--to identify the fluid but it had seemed very water-like in texture and smell. He looked for hoses that might be leaking, etc. but couldn't seem to find anything. He checked out the level of the coolant reservoir and it was a little low but not totally empty.
He recommended that we fill the reservoir and that I take it to the fix-it shop as soon as I could. I was already planning to leave early Friday morning for a wedding and was going to take my car to the fix-it shop on Thursday night. He thought that I might be able to make it home the way it was. We went inside to get a gallon of coolant and as he was ringing it up, he asked me, "Do you have a music class?"
"Huh?" I said, brilliantly.
"Do you have a music class?" he asked again. I must have been looking at him very blankly because he went on, "Music Appreciation with Mr. G at 3:30."
"Oh! Yes, I do!" I said, feeling very befuddled. "How do you know?" I knew that he wasn't a student in my class.
"I take his class at 5:00 and I see you sometimes," he said. Oh. Well, since I might possibly stand out from the crowd...I guess that might be understandable.
It was a great connecting point and gave me something to chat about while the wonderful man filled the reservoir and got me ready for the road (much better than standing around silently while he worked). We discussed the concerts that we had attended recently for extra credit and the bad attitudes of the just-out-of-high-school students. He's 26 and had been in the military and is now pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering. A very nice young man, made all the nicer by his helping a clueless female in distress far from home and father. (In reality, I could probably have bumbled my way thru what he did, but it would have taken me much longer and I would have had to consult the owners manual frequently.)
We said our good-byes and I got back on the road, with one eye fixed on the temperature gauge. I wasn't even out of sight of Advance and the temperature gauge was hovering just under "H". I stopped at the light just up from Advance and called home. Just my luck, Dad & Martin were both at church. I asked Mom if it would hurt the car if I drove it home the way it was. "If the light is on, it will," she said. "What you do is drive until it gets hot and then stop and let it cool off and then you go again." As I was talking, the light turned green and it just so happened that on the other side of that light was the Bowling Green location of O&S. I pulled into the lot and shut the car off to finish my conversation with mom. I could hear the juices bubbling and the car was steaming. I knew that it would take me all night to get home if I did the "drive 'til it's hot" method.
I decided that since I was at O&S and I did have a key for the office, I would just call AAA and then wait in the office if they took off with the car before Jolene came to get me. (With the previous nightmarish experience I had had riding with AAA when Kris's car was towed from Daviess County, IN, I was not about to take another ride with them if I could help it.) So I made the arrangements with AAA to come get the car and I proceeded to unload all of my books and other paraphernalia into the office so they could take the car when they got there. I called and Jolene (bless her) headed my way. I went into the office and sat down to do homework until they arrived.
The tow truck came and they loaded my car up and left with instructions to take it to the dealer in Franklin. I then got a call from an annoyed Jolene who couldn't find where I was. I gave her directions and figured out that she had gone too far. She turned around and, after another call or two, we figured out that she had gotten an impression from Mom that I was stranded by the road somewhere and she was looking for my car.
After she arrived, we went to the dealership so I could fill out the night paperwork and get any remaining items from the car. We then went to Mom's and she (bless her, too) allowed me to borrow the van for the following day.
The diagnosis: leaking water pump. And since they had to remove the timing belt to fix that, we decided that it would be a good idea to change it too. I'm a firm believer in changing timing belts. And while they were at it, I had them change the oil too. I also asked them to check out the transmission again, since it had just given me fits the other week. They could find nothing on that again. Total cost: $460.78. *sigh*
It could have been worse. I was grateful that they had it done in time for me to take the car to class that afternoon.
I left my Health class and went to get a bite to eat before going to the library to study. As I was rolling up to the Arby's drive thru, an unfamiliar dash light came on. I was pretty sure it was the temperature light and, to back that theory up, the temperature gauge was hovering around the "just under H" area. I cruised thru the drive thru and pulled into a parking space and shut the car off. I extracted my owners manual from the glove compartment to verify that, indeed, it was the temperature light. I knew there was an Advance Auto just up the road about a half mile and it was only about 8:00 so they should still have been open. I whispered a "God, please help me make it there with no trouble" and headed up the road. Just as I was turning into the Advance parking lot, the needle did a full-fledged jump up to "H", as in, HOT. I pulled up next to the door and shut the car off.
I went inside looking for some kind soul with knowledge of hot cars...and that would be temperature-wise, not stolen. I walked in the open door and out of one of the aisles came a young man that inquired as to whether he could help me. "If you know anything about overheating cars, you can," I said. He said he would start by taking a look at it. I popped the hood and he started peering around. I told him that I had noticed a puddle beginning to form in the garage under my car the past several days. I had tried--unsuccessfully, I might add--to identify the fluid but it had seemed very water-like in texture and smell. He looked for hoses that might be leaking, etc. but couldn't seem to find anything. He checked out the level of the coolant reservoir and it was a little low but not totally empty.
He recommended that we fill the reservoir and that I take it to the fix-it shop as soon as I could. I was already planning to leave early Friday morning for a wedding and was going to take my car to the fix-it shop on Thursday night. He thought that I might be able to make it home the way it was. We went inside to get a gallon of coolant and as he was ringing it up, he asked me, "Do you have a music class?"
"Huh?" I said, brilliantly.
"Do you have a music class?" he asked again. I must have been looking at him very blankly because he went on, "Music Appreciation with Mr. G at 3:30."
"Oh! Yes, I do!" I said, feeling very befuddled. "How do you know?" I knew that he wasn't a student in my class.
"I take his class at 5:00 and I see you sometimes," he said. Oh. Well, since I might possibly stand out from the crowd...I guess that might be understandable.
It was a great connecting point and gave me something to chat about while the wonderful man filled the reservoir and got me ready for the road (much better than standing around silently while he worked). We discussed the concerts that we had attended recently for extra credit and the bad attitudes of the just-out-of-high-school students. He's 26 and had been in the military and is now pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering. A very nice young man, made all the nicer by his helping a clueless female in distress far from home and father. (In reality, I could probably have bumbled my way thru what he did, but it would have taken me much longer and I would have had to consult the owners manual frequently.)
We said our good-byes and I got back on the road, with one eye fixed on the temperature gauge. I wasn't even out of sight of Advance and the temperature gauge was hovering just under "H". I stopped at the light just up from Advance and called home. Just my luck, Dad & Martin were both at church. I asked Mom if it would hurt the car if I drove it home the way it was. "If the light is on, it will," she said. "What you do is drive until it gets hot and then stop and let it cool off and then you go again." As I was talking, the light turned green and it just so happened that on the other side of that light was the Bowling Green location of O&S. I pulled into the lot and shut the car off to finish my conversation with mom. I could hear the juices bubbling and the car was steaming. I knew that it would take me all night to get home if I did the "drive 'til it's hot" method.
I decided that since I was at O&S and I did have a key for the office, I would just call AAA and then wait in the office if they took off with the car before Jolene came to get me. (With the previous nightmarish experience I had had riding with AAA when Kris's car was towed from Daviess County, IN, I was not about to take another ride with them if I could help it.) So I made the arrangements with AAA to come get the car and I proceeded to unload all of my books and other paraphernalia into the office so they could take the car when they got there. I called and Jolene (bless her) headed my way. I went into the office and sat down to do homework until they arrived.
The tow truck came and they loaded my car up and left with instructions to take it to the dealer in Franklin. I then got a call from an annoyed Jolene who couldn't find where I was. I gave her directions and figured out that she had gone too far. She turned around and, after another call or two, we figured out that she had gotten an impression from Mom that I was stranded by the road somewhere and she was looking for my car.
After she arrived, we went to the dealership so I could fill out the night paperwork and get any remaining items from the car. We then went to Mom's and she (bless her, too) allowed me to borrow the van for the following day.
The diagnosis: leaking water pump. And since they had to remove the timing belt to fix that, we decided that it would be a good idea to change it too. I'm a firm believer in changing timing belts. And while they were at it, I had them change the oil too. I also asked them to check out the transmission again, since it had just given me fits the other week. They could find nothing on that again. Total cost: $460.78. *sigh*
It could have been worse. I was grateful that they had it done in time for me to take the car to class that afternoon.
posted by Sharon @ 9:15 AM
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