Jinxed mah car.
I totally jinxed my car.
See, I had been commenting in some of the new-car discussion over in jnala's journal. He wanted something small and fuel-efficient. I told him I love my VW Golf. A bunch of people said, no, don't buy a VW, their electric systems are crap and it'll be nothing but trouble. I said, what are you guys talking about, my VW is almost ten years old and runs perfectly, the only substantial part I've ever had to replace was the A/C.
I'm sure you can see where this is going.
So first my battery light comes on. Manual says this is either unknown electric problems, or the battery's not charging due to a bad belt or alternator. Tests with a voltmeter confirm that the battery is only charging occasionally - bad news, need to get something (probably the alternator) fixed before I get stranded with no power.
Then on the way to my repair guy, on the freeway, I suddenly lose my entire dash - all lights go out, all guages go to zero, including RPMs and speed. (I didn't even know it was mechanically *possible* for the speedometer to read zero at freeway speed - learn something new.) I immediately put on emergency blinkers and get in the slow lane, wondering if I'm even driving anymore - but it soon becomes clear that gas, brakes, and pretty much everything is fine, I just have no dash.
I was at my exit anyway, so I get off the freeway, and as soon as I stop and accelerate again, everything comes back. Couple extra warning lights on due to things like ABS being confused by the reset, but basically everything's running fine. In fact, even the battery light isn't on anymore. Then I get to the repair place and we discover the battery light isn't coming on even when we disconnect the line that charges the battery - which shouldn't be possible.
So something is fucked up. Probably do need a new alternator, and maybe there's some other wiring issue. While I've got it at the repair place, I'm also significantly over mileage on my timing belt and water pump, which stop you dead (at best) if they go out on the road, so I'm gonna get those done too.
All in all, I'll be happy if I get out of this for under a grand. Oof. (Though, the bulk of that is simply from being well over 100k miles and *not* having replaced things so far, which I suppose is good.) Fortunately I have the savings to cover it without taking on debt or anything, but still, not a lot of fun.
See, I had been commenting in some of the new-car discussion over in jnala's journal. He wanted something small and fuel-efficient. I told him I love my VW Golf. A bunch of people said, no, don't buy a VW, their electric systems are crap and it'll be nothing but trouble. I said, what are you guys talking about, my VW is almost ten years old and runs perfectly, the only substantial part I've ever had to replace was the A/C.
I'm sure you can see where this is going.
So first my battery light comes on. Manual says this is either unknown electric problems, or the battery's not charging due to a bad belt or alternator. Tests with a voltmeter confirm that the battery is only charging occasionally - bad news, need to get something (probably the alternator) fixed before I get stranded with no power.
Then on the way to my repair guy, on the freeway, I suddenly lose my entire dash - all lights go out, all guages go to zero, including RPMs and speed. (I didn't even know it was mechanically *possible* for the speedometer to read zero at freeway speed - learn something new.) I immediately put on emergency blinkers and get in the slow lane, wondering if I'm even driving anymore - but it soon becomes clear that gas, brakes, and pretty much everything is fine, I just have no dash.
I was at my exit anyway, so I get off the freeway, and as soon as I stop and accelerate again, everything comes back. Couple extra warning lights on due to things like ABS being confused by the reset, but basically everything's running fine. In fact, even the battery light isn't on anymore. Then I get to the repair place and we discover the battery light isn't coming on even when we disconnect the line that charges the battery - which shouldn't be possible.
So something is fucked up. Probably do need a new alternator, and maybe there's some other wiring issue. While I've got it at the repair place, I'm also significantly over mileage on my timing belt and water pump, which stop you dead (at best) if they go out on the road, so I'm gonna get those done too.
All in all, I'll be happy if I get out of this for under a grand. Oof. (Though, the bulk of that is simply from being well over 100k miles and *not* having replaced things so far, which I suppose is good.) Fortunately I have the savings to cover it without taking on debt or anything, but still, not a lot of fun.