Catching Up
Tuesday, January 26, 2010 by Amy
I know I'm behind...
My car broke down yesterday. Yippee. Well, not really broke down in the purest sense, but became un-drivable :) We were about 1/3 of the way to school yesterday (but not on the highway yet, thank goodness!!) and I noticed that the car was overheating. Like, a lot. As in, ON the H, past the red zone. Not good at all. I turned around and stopped the car to let it cool off. I started it again and got 1/4 mile until I had to stop again. Rinse and repeat. Finally, I could do it no longer. I pulled into a parking lot (more on that later) and parked, bundled the kids up and started walking home. Where was Rudi, you ask? Here's the thing, Riley HAD to have a specific pair of shoes out of his car that morning, so I took his key (we only have one) and instead of putting it back in the house, I put it in my pocket, knowing that Rudi wouldn't need it that early in the morning. Yay, me! We were about a 1.5 miles from home, so it wasn't too bad, except that it was in the 20's. The girls were fine, since I had their winter stuff with me, but I just had my jacket liner over my short-sleeved shirt. My toes were freezing. I, of course, had neither a stroller nor a carrier with me, and her majesty Avery would only walk, maybe, 1/4 of the way.
Anyway, Rudi thought that perhaps it was the serpentine belt, but when I looked at it, it looked fine, no obvious wear or cracks, and it was still there afterall. Plus, there was no tell-tale squealing to let me know the S-belt was on the fritz, or slipping. So, we're thinking that it is the thermostat. The thing is, my car has always run cold, for as long as I can remember. The heat was never quite warm. Now the heat stopped working all together. I'm thinking that the thermostat was going bad for a while, hence the car running cold, and finally gave out altogether.
I DON'T think it's the radiator. I really want it to not be the radiator. I've had quite a few radiators go out on me, and it's just not like that this time. Every other time I've had radiator problems, driving faster cooled the engine, as did running the heat to alleviate the heat on the engine (which was always fun in 100 degree weather!). With radiator problems, the engine seems to get hotter while idling. This time, the car gets hotter by driving. See my thinking here?
Anyway, back to the parking lot. I parked outside a store called Crystal's. I thought it was a lingerie store. Turns out it's more than that :) I was about to go in to let the shopkeeper know that my car broke down and to please not tow it, we'll come for it, etc. but I had the kids with me. There was signage and all that they check ID's, etc. So I went to the hearing aid store next to them and told them my sad tale instead. BUT, I had to go back to the car later to get my school books out it, and decided then to tell the folks at Crystal's my problem, since my car was parked directly outside of their store. As I'm going in a mother, her 5-6 yo. daughter, and what looked like Grandma were coming into the store. A 5yo!!! It's a women's toy store if you catch my drift! Really? What is wrong with people? Anyway, the salesgirl turned them away, but still. So, long story short, my car is parked outside an adult store, and that'll be fun information to share with the towtruck driver!
So, I have my money on it being the thermostat, but then there's the whole separate problem of what damage was done to the engine by the overheating. Ugh. In the end, though, I am so grateful that my first three cars were beaters. You learn a lot about cars by owning cars like those. There's just stuff you can't learn with a car less than 10 years old. I think those experiences have prevented me from getting ripped off on numerous occassions, saving me perhaps thousands of dollars in the long run. If your parents buy, or help you buy, a car less than 10 years old, you're really missing out on some valuable lessons!! I argue, well debate, this with Rudi all the time. He wants the kids to have dependable cars. I mean, I don't want my kids stranded in the middle of the desert in a broken-down car, but really, they need the experience of maintaining and repairing cars, especially being girls. I will help them, perhaps, buy a "nice" 8-10 year old car, but he wants them to have newer cars. No way. I know, it's a long way off...They're already brainwashed to prefer Toyotas! Oh, yeah! LOL.
My car broke down yesterday. Yippee. Well, not really broke down in the purest sense, but became un-drivable :) We were about 1/3 of the way to school yesterday (but not on the highway yet, thank goodness!!) and I noticed that the car was overheating. Like, a lot. As in, ON the H, past the red zone. Not good at all. I turned around and stopped the car to let it cool off. I started it again and got 1/4 mile until I had to stop again. Rinse and repeat. Finally, I could do it no longer. I pulled into a parking lot (more on that later) and parked, bundled the kids up and started walking home. Where was Rudi, you ask? Here's the thing, Riley HAD to have a specific pair of shoes out of his car that morning, so I took his key (we only have one) and instead of putting it back in the house, I put it in my pocket, knowing that Rudi wouldn't need it that early in the morning. Yay, me! We were about a 1.5 miles from home, so it wasn't too bad, except that it was in the 20's. The girls were fine, since I had their winter stuff with me, but I just had my jacket liner over my short-sleeved shirt. My toes were freezing. I, of course, had neither a stroller nor a carrier with me, and her majesty Avery would only walk, maybe, 1/4 of the way.
Anyway, Rudi thought that perhaps it was the serpentine belt, but when I looked at it, it looked fine, no obvious wear or cracks, and it was still there afterall. Plus, there was no tell-tale squealing to let me know the S-belt was on the fritz, or slipping. So, we're thinking that it is the thermostat. The thing is, my car has always run cold, for as long as I can remember. The heat was never quite warm. Now the heat stopped working all together. I'm thinking that the thermostat was going bad for a while, hence the car running cold, and finally gave out altogether.
I DON'T think it's the radiator. I really want it to not be the radiator. I've had quite a few radiators go out on me, and it's just not like that this time. Every other time I've had radiator problems, driving faster cooled the engine, as did running the heat to alleviate the heat on the engine (which was always fun in 100 degree weather!). With radiator problems, the engine seems to get hotter while idling. This time, the car gets hotter by driving. See my thinking here?
Anyway, back to the parking lot. I parked outside a store called Crystal's. I thought it was a lingerie store. Turns out it's more than that :) I was about to go in to let the shopkeeper know that my car broke down and to please not tow it, we'll come for it, etc. but I had the kids with me. There was signage and all that they check ID's, etc. So I went to the hearing aid store next to them and told them my sad tale instead. BUT, I had to go back to the car later to get my school books out it, and decided then to tell the folks at Crystal's my problem, since my car was parked directly outside of their store. As I'm going in a mother, her 5-6 yo. daughter, and what looked like Grandma were coming into the store. A 5yo!!! It's a women's toy store if you catch my drift! Really? What is wrong with people? Anyway, the salesgirl turned them away, but still. So, long story short, my car is parked outside an adult store, and that'll be fun information to share with the towtruck driver!
So, I have my money on it being the thermostat, but then there's the whole separate problem of what damage was done to the engine by the overheating. Ugh. In the end, though, I am so grateful that my first three cars were beaters. You learn a lot about cars by owning cars like those. There's just stuff you can't learn with a car less than 10 years old. I think those experiences have prevented me from getting ripped off on numerous occassions, saving me perhaps thousands of dollars in the long run. If your parents buy, or help you buy, a car less than 10 years old, you're really missing out on some valuable lessons!! I argue, well debate, this with Rudi all the time. He wants the kids to have dependable cars. I mean, I don't want my kids stranded in the middle of the desert in a broken-down car, but really, they need the experience of maintaining and repairing cars, especially being girls. I will help them, perhaps, buy a "nice" 8-10 year old car, but he wants them to have newer cars. No way. I know, it's a long way off...They're already brainwashed to prefer Toyotas! Oh, yeah! LOL.
