Cars and Labor Day Don't Mix
Ok, let me start by informing you that last Labor Day the Grand Am was wrecked in a parking lot because some nimrod didn't put his emergency brake on and his car rolled down the hill and slammed into my car.
Fast forward to this Labor Day. On Saturday, while I was out shopping with my friend, Melanie, my husband decides to get the oil changed in the Grand Am. And, since it has 50,000 miles on it, he decided to do a transmission flush as well. So, $200 and an hour later he drives off down the road from the local Jiffy Lube. He makes it to Riverdale Road, then...putt...putt...putt... Grand Am dies on the side of the road. Kip calls Jiffy Lube and says he was just in there and now the car is not drivable, yada yada yada. Jiffy Lube tows it back to their shop. Turns out (or what their story is) is that their transmission fluid machine "malfunctioned" and put WAY TOO MUCH trans. fluid in the car. So, when Kip went on his merry little way, the trans. fluid blew the trans. cooler in the radiator, and the trans fluid went out all over the place. So it took them six hours to fix. But, it is fixed, so good job, Jiffy Lube.
That brings us to Sunday. I needed new battery cables in the Avenger. I went and bought new battery cables a while ago, but Mike, a mechanic I work with, said he would install them on Sunday. So, I drive on over to Mikey's house. He tears the car apart. Then he goes to install the new battery cables. Oooooooops...the dumbasses at Checker Auto give me the WRONG BATTERY CABLES. They're only 25 inch. I need AT LEAST 35-40 inch. So we drive like bats out of Hades to Checker Auto. We get there just as they're closing and get a new positive lead that is long enough. We get back, get everything hooked up. Mike says, "Fire it up!" Well...
I have power, but it won't turn over. CRAP! Mike figures out that the negative lead needs to ground the starter. BUT CHECKER GAVE ME 25 INCH CABLES! IT'S 7:00 PM ON A SUNDAY! NO ONE IS OPEN! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!
We put the old cable on so I can get home. Car starts right up after we ground the starter. I make it down to the Maverick to get gas (which I would have done before, but I was afraid I wouldn't get the car started again...) and I put $43.00 in it to fill it up. Fire up the car. NOTHING. CRAP! AGAIN! But I had a jumper box in the car. Thank Heavens!!!! I get home. Finally.
Wake up this morning. Mike said on Sunday to go buy a new, longer negative cable and he'll put it on for me. So I hop in the Grand Am to pick up the cable so I don't have to worry about jump starting. Something...is...wrong. Why is the steering wheel so flimsy? Why do I feel like I'm riding in a go cart? I pull the Grand Am back in the driveway. FLAT...TIRE. Oh for the love of all that is decent and holy! Kip changes the tire for me. But, he also notices trans fluid in the garage where the Grand Am parks. Grrrrrreat.
I head over to Checker. Again. The guy keeps trying to give me crap saying I only need a 25 inch cable. LISTEN PAL! I NEED THE 58 INCH CABLE ON THE WALL! NOW! BELIEVE ME NIMROD!!! I get my cable and some ATF and head on my merry little way.
I get back home to get the Avenger. I jump start it and head off to Mike's. He replaces the cable. Woohoo! I'm back in business! Wait! What was that! Why is my oil light on?!?! Why did my engine just die! WTF?!?!
Mike says I probably have a clogged fuel filter. We get the car started again and I coast it back to the garage. Fuel filter looks pretty dirty. Oh well. Get a new one. But wait, now my gas pedal won't move...I can't accelerate! What the...?! Uh oh...why is this little throttle mechanism seized? Why won't it move! Oh for the love of all that is decent and holy! Checker doesn't have it. Napa doesn't either... dealers closed on Labor Day! NOW WHAT?!?!
Mike calls Phil, our boss at work. Phil comes by. It's not the mechanism that it seized; the throttle cable is broken! The casing has split and wound itself so tight around the cable it can't move! But what is this? Phil has a THROTTLE CABLE in his TRUCK?!?! Just laying around? Mike and Phil put their minds together to figure out how they're going to jimmy-rig this.
Then I get a phone call. It's Kip. While I'm out here messing with my car, he is home messing around with the Grand Am. He put it up on jack stands to see where the trans leak is coming from. He puts the car in gear (with the brake on) to move the trans flow. Then, the car door closed. The car is running. On jackstands. In gear. Door is closed. Locked. Kip wants my keys. Uh, I'm stuck in Harrisville with a seized throttle cable. Just what exactly am I to do?
In the meantime, Mike and Phil, the brilliant mechanics, (no sarcasm intended) manage to get this throttle cable working! Oh my heck! The car is running! The gas pedal is working! WOOHOO! Phil and Mike tell me this is a temporary fix and for heaven's sake take it easy! (Although Phil used more colorful words.)
I get home. I unlock the Grand Am for Kip. While I was gone he fixed the flat tire and put it back on the car. He also found that the trans fluid on the floor was from the old trans cooler that Jiffy Lube had to bypass when they fixed the car. So the Grand Am is fine.
Then I have to go to Melanie's to borrow her battery charger so I can get to work tomorrow. I have to buy a throttle cable tomorrow from the dealer. Oh well. I just hope nothing else goes wrong now. Knock on wood, say your prayers, keep your fingers crossed, and all that good stuff.
Fast forward to this Labor Day. On Saturday, while I was out shopping with my friend, Melanie, my husband decides to get the oil changed in the Grand Am. And, since it has 50,000 miles on it, he decided to do a transmission flush as well. So, $200 and an hour later he drives off down the road from the local Jiffy Lube. He makes it to Riverdale Road, then...putt...putt...putt... Grand Am dies on the side of the road. Kip calls Jiffy Lube and says he was just in there and now the car is not drivable, yada yada yada. Jiffy Lube tows it back to their shop. Turns out (or what their story is) is that their transmission fluid machine "malfunctioned" and put WAY TOO MUCH trans. fluid in the car. So, when Kip went on his merry little way, the trans. fluid blew the trans. cooler in the radiator, and the trans fluid went out all over the place. So it took them six hours to fix. But, it is fixed, so good job, Jiffy Lube.
That brings us to Sunday. I needed new battery cables in the Avenger. I went and bought new battery cables a while ago, but Mike, a mechanic I work with, said he would install them on Sunday. So, I drive on over to Mikey's house. He tears the car apart. Then he goes to install the new battery cables. Oooooooops...the dumbasses at Checker Auto give me the WRONG BATTERY CABLES. They're only 25 inch. I need AT LEAST 35-40 inch. So we drive like bats out of Hades to Checker Auto. We get there just as they're closing and get a new positive lead that is long enough. We get back, get everything hooked up. Mike says, "Fire it up!" Well...
I have power, but it won't turn over. CRAP! Mike figures out that the negative lead needs to ground the starter. BUT CHECKER GAVE ME 25 INCH CABLES! IT'S 7:00 PM ON A SUNDAY! NO ONE IS OPEN! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!
We put the old cable on so I can get home. Car starts right up after we ground the starter. I make it down to the Maverick to get gas (which I would have done before, but I was afraid I wouldn't get the car started again...) and I put $43.00 in it to fill it up. Fire up the car. NOTHING. CRAP! AGAIN! But I had a jumper box in the car. Thank Heavens!!!! I get home. Finally.
Wake up this morning. Mike said on Sunday to go buy a new, longer negative cable and he'll put it on for me. So I hop in the Grand Am to pick up the cable so I don't have to worry about jump starting. Something...is...wrong. Why is the steering wheel so flimsy? Why do I feel like I'm riding in a go cart? I pull the Grand Am back in the driveway. FLAT...TIRE. Oh for the love of all that is decent and holy! Kip changes the tire for me. But, he also notices trans fluid in the garage where the Grand Am parks. Grrrrrreat.
I head over to Checker. Again. The guy keeps trying to give me crap saying I only need a 25 inch cable. LISTEN PAL! I NEED THE 58 INCH CABLE ON THE WALL! NOW! BELIEVE ME NIMROD!!! I get my cable and some ATF and head on my merry little way.
I get back home to get the Avenger. I jump start it and head off to Mike's. He replaces the cable. Woohoo! I'm back in business! Wait! What was that! Why is my oil light on?!?! Why did my engine just die! WTF?!?!
Mike says I probably have a clogged fuel filter. We get the car started again and I coast it back to the garage. Fuel filter looks pretty dirty. Oh well. Get a new one. But wait, now my gas pedal won't move...I can't accelerate! What the...?! Uh oh...why is this little throttle mechanism seized? Why won't it move! Oh for the love of all that is decent and holy! Checker doesn't have it. Napa doesn't either... dealers closed on Labor Day! NOW WHAT?!?!
Mike calls Phil, our boss at work. Phil comes by. It's not the mechanism that it seized; the throttle cable is broken! The casing has split and wound itself so tight around the cable it can't move! But what is this? Phil has a THROTTLE CABLE in his TRUCK?!?! Just laying around? Mike and Phil put their minds together to figure out how they're going to jimmy-rig this.
Then I get a phone call. It's Kip. While I'm out here messing with my car, he is home messing around with the Grand Am. He put it up on jack stands to see where the trans leak is coming from. He puts the car in gear (with the brake on) to move the trans flow. Then, the car door closed. The car is running. On jackstands. In gear. Door is closed. Locked. Kip wants my keys. Uh, I'm stuck in Harrisville with a seized throttle cable. Just what exactly am I to do?
In the meantime, Mike and Phil, the brilliant mechanics, (no sarcasm intended) manage to get this throttle cable working! Oh my heck! The car is running! The gas pedal is working! WOOHOO! Phil and Mike tell me this is a temporary fix and for heaven's sake take it easy! (Although Phil used more colorful words.)
I get home. I unlock the Grand Am for Kip. While I was gone he fixed the flat tire and put it back on the car. He also found that the trans fluid on the floor was from the old trans cooler that Jiffy Lube had to bypass when they fixed the car. So the Grand Am is fine.
Then I have to go to Melanie's to borrow her battery charger so I can get to work tomorrow. I have to buy a throttle cable tomorrow from the dealer. Oh well. I just hope nothing else goes wrong now. Knock on wood, say your prayers, keep your fingers crossed, and all that good stuff.
posted by The SnowFlake at 5:41 PM
