As I type this, I’m waiting for a tow truck to come to my house & pick up my car. The tensioner for the serpentine belt is broken. I’ve got the part, so the tow truck will take it to the garage, and the garage is going to put the part on for me.
I can’t follow the tow truck out there, or ride with them, either. If I ride with them, I have no way of getting home. Why? Because our van is dead, too. My husband hit a deer on his way home from his gig Sunday night.
Thankfully, the repair to my car will be pretty inexpensive. The part cost $45, and the work will cost about $50 or so. The van repair will be a bit more expensive, but not as bad as we originally thought. All that need to be replaced on the van is the radiator, and the shroud thingy that covers the fan. A brand-new radiator costs about $225, so I’m going to be looking for a reconditioned one. The van is 15 years old. We can probably get a shroud at a junkyard. And either my dad or my good buddy xploder should be able to install everything (my dad is the van’s only previous owner. He looked at it yesterday, got a few things bent back in to shape, and made the final diagnosis–he’s got that “car gift,” you know?)
Sigh. It’ll be nice to get at least one of my vehicles back on the road today!
I’m driving a Ford LTD right now, 4 out of 6 cylnders work, and it drinks gas. I’m doing Gallons per mile, almost.
My Van hit a Manhole cover that was too high and ruined the front axle. $700 to fix I don’t have.
I have a 86 Buick Century that needs a new engine, new front axle, and sandblasting and repainting.
I have a 73 Ford Van, Which needs a new battery, steering tightened up, and another window. And Sandblasting and repainting and killing all those damn squeaks a old panel van has…
Dang, maybe I should sell some of this crap and use the money.
Oohh hoo hoo! Saint Zero’s got a Hoopty-Van! Do you call it the “Love Train”? Do you have one of those stickers on the back that says, “If this van’s a-rockin’, don’t bother knockin’”? How about those little dangling things in the window? Tie-Dyed curtains?
Vans are nice, Demo. SUV’s get out of your way if you’re in a van, especially one that’s the size of mine. The gas mileage sucks, it’s true, but if you get one that looks beat-up but runs great (like mine, before my husband hit the deer), it has some authority on the road. People don’t play that “if I don’t look, you have to stop” game around my van. They see my van, and realize that if they cross in front of me, they’ll get run over and we won’t even notice.
The mechanic just called me. They’ve got the tensioner on…but the car still won’t start. Damn. It was really low on gas & oil when it broke, so they put some oil in. They’re going to put some gas in & try again. Damn, damn, damn. I hope this doesn’t turn out to be some mysterious huge problem that I never knew about. Until it actually died, it was running fine.
Please, please…can I use this as a sig! For some unknown reason, this strikes me as very funny. I busted out laughing so hard, my husband is starting to think I’m demented.
Yikes, Persephone! As a card-carrying member of the 1000 Dollar Car club, I sympathize. From sad experience, after hearing an engine throw a rod at 75mph from a (not-my-fault!) oil leak; get religious with the oil check & change.
Persephone my friend, you have my sympathies. I’d come give you rides if I wasn’t three-and-a-half hours away, and myself driving a hunk-of-junk Jimmy with 173,000 miles.
Things wrong with my previous car a 91 Thunderbird, the big engine:
-Broke the key off inside the ignition, had to start with a screwdriver.
-pulled the cap off the headlight switch, used spoon to turn those on.
-Blew a fuse and they kept blowing so in order to pop the trunk I had to open the glove box and move the fuse from the glove light spot, pop the trunk, then put it back.
-my driver window broke, IN THE UP POSITION, try going in a drive thru having to open your whole door, but backwards you can use the passenger window.
-other minor things, like banging on the dash with your fist to get the radio to work etc.
But what can you say it was my first car, cept the fact that you needed a toolbox to run the damn thing it was great, and FAST!!!
It did just need oil & gas, after the tensioner got put on. Runs just fine now. I feel so much better. And a friend may be able to get us a radiator for the van for about $50. Whew.
I’m a card-carrying member of the $500 Car Club. Until I bought this Corsica three years ago, I never owned a vehicle that cost me more than $500. I think my favorite was a '74 VW Bug, the Flintstone mobile. The floorboards were rusted out, and there was a piece of wood covering up the hole. It was a bit freaky when the wood slipped out of place, and I could literally see the “road rushing under my wheels.” Oh, and I was hugely pregnant with my oldest daughter when I owned that car. Vizualize that. It’s funny, really!
Well, Tripler, it’s already done. But I do appreciate the thought!
But according to a bunch of people that did look at my car and confirm that the tensioner was indeed the problem, the car actually needed to be hoisted up on a lift. The tensioner is in a kind of difficult spot to get to, even from underneath. My dad and xploder (who has changed many a tensioner himself, and would have changed mine for a six pack, too) verified that for me.
But I will keep you in mind next time I need auto repair! I’d be happy to buy you Sam Adams–I like that stuff too!
