More Car Adventures
Yesterday, I went through some more car adventures.
I believe it all started a couple weekends ago when a couple friends and I went to my place in Ottawa, then came back down through cottage country to visit Mike’s cottage before coming back home. The cottage roads, full of loose crap and gravel are probably what broke my poor car. A week or so after the cottage, it sounded like there was a stick or rock in the engine and it was whirring against things (if that makes any sense). I didn’t bother getting it looked at, since I thought it would just fall out or go away. Later I discovered that if I turned a hard left the noise would stop, but a hard right would cause the noise to start again… After a couple more days it stopped completely. Yay! Problem fixed itself.
That’s not all, though. Apparently that stick or whatever, had more of an effect than we thought. Driving home from work yesterday (the entire kilometer), my radio started acting up and shutting down eventually. In the span of 5 minutes of driving, my radio shut off and I realised the battery indicator should not constantly be on. I think it might have been on for a few days prior… So I stopped the car in the driveway and took out the manual and saw that battery indicator = potential electrical failure. Awesome. I tried to start my car again, hoping for the best. Of course it didn’t start. Just what I need, when I’m trying to save money for my two terms of school coming up (basically $5100 x 2 for tuition alone).
Next morning I got it towed for free (yay preemptive CAA membership from parents) to the CAA shop which happens to be walking distance away. I then went to work. I got calls throughout the day from the mechanic telling me what was broken. Apparently the serpentine belt, what essentially delivers charge to the battery when it runs around in the engine, flew off at some point. Just gone. So my battery wasn’t being charged, and therefore it was dead. This was a brand new battery (to replace the one my dad let die). But apparently the battery itself had a bad cell, so potentially not completely the belt’s fault. The total at that point for cost-to-fix was around $350. I could deal with that, since I thought I could get the money back from CrappyTire since their battery was bad in the first place. That would only end up putting me out $200 or so. However, another phone call later, the tensioner, which makes sure the belt stays on in the first place, was discovered to be broken. I’m glad that these things are being pointed out and all, but the cost… D: Now total cost is $600. Ouch.
Everything is all fixed now and she works again. I was supposed to go back home this weekend, but now since I’m out $600, I don’t feel much like spending that money to get there. Apparently the mechanic who looked at my car under 3months ago was working in the vicinity of the belt/tensioner. Maybe it just kicked the bucket now, but maybe he missed something. He has a warranty on his work so I’ll give him a call. Obviously I’m hoping for some kind of financial compensation here.
So there’s my long-winded story on my recent car issues. If anyone has ever read my other car-related stuff, you’ll know that this isn’t nearly as big a deal as other car ‘adventures’ have been…
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One response to More Car Adventures
That sucks about the car, at least it died in your driveway.
Harry Cheng on July 31, 2009 at 18:56 (365 days ago)
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