the Car Saga continues...
Last Saturday I got in my car, planning to go to the credit union, and also to run a few errands and then back home. I did not expect when I turned my car on to see the "Service Engine Soon" light come on and stay on all the way to the credit union. Thankfully, when I called my folks at the beach house, my mom said I could use her car until mine was fixed if I wanted to just drop it off at the Saturn Dealership. So that's just what I did, and I hoped that when I got there, either Shannon or Rien would be awake and sitting by the phone to pick me up and take me to my parents' house.
After dropping the car off at Saturn, I made my calls and left messages. Yes, messages. I don't feel too badly about that actually. It was a very nice 3.5 mile walk to my parents' house. The rain had taken a break and by the time I was on the home stretch (the path that goes down to the elementary school and ultimately to the street I grew up on), it was beginning to mist again, but not too badly. And since I've taken to daily walks around Carnation when I'm on my lunch break, the hour and 20 minutes or so it took to get there was really no problem!
Monday morning rolled around and I got a message from Saturn on my phone. A mouse or a rat or something had crawled under the hood of my car and chewed some of the wires. Also, the harness (for what, I don't know) was practically chewed through too. Oh and I had mentioned that my engine sounded louder than normal and they said that the engine mounting was in the process of falling off! $420 later, I have a quiet car and everything seems to be working OK. Um.... I think the engine mounting thing may have been an ongoing issue. That car now runs quieter than it has in YEARS!!! Someone once told me that it was the idle, but when I asked to have it fixed, they said there was nothing wrong with my car's idle. Gosh darnit, it was the engine mount!!! How in the heck could they have missed that for so many years?! Oh well. It's now fixed. And if my car ever gets that loud and jumpy again, I'll know to ask about looking at the engine mount.
Some genius also figured out how to change the time on my car's clock, which I haven't been able to change in about 4 years. (a knob is broken and I need it for changing the time) How brilliant, a week before Daylight Savings time, and my car is finally on Standard Time after many years on DST and a little fast.... what a butthead! Now I hafta go over there and see if I can find the mechanic that changed the time so I can get it on DST! I mean, if it can still be changed, I might as well figure out how he did it!
And so ends the Car Saga. For now....
After dropping the car off at Saturn, I made my calls and left messages. Yes, messages. I don't feel too badly about that actually. It was a very nice 3.5 mile walk to my parents' house. The rain had taken a break and by the time I was on the home stretch (the path that goes down to the elementary school and ultimately to the street I grew up on), it was beginning to mist again, but not too badly. And since I've taken to daily walks around Carnation when I'm on my lunch break, the hour and 20 minutes or so it took to get there was really no problem!
Monday morning rolled around and I got a message from Saturn on my phone. A mouse or a rat or something had crawled under the hood of my car and chewed some of the wires. Also, the harness (for what, I don't know) was practically chewed through too. Oh and I had mentioned that my engine sounded louder than normal and they said that the engine mounting was in the process of falling off! $420 later, I have a quiet car and everything seems to be working OK. Um.... I think the engine mounting thing may have been an ongoing issue. That car now runs quieter than it has in YEARS!!! Someone once told me that it was the idle, but when I asked to have it fixed, they said there was nothing wrong with my car's idle. Gosh darnit, it was the engine mount!!! How in the heck could they have missed that for so many years?! Oh well. It's now fixed. And if my car ever gets that loud and jumpy again, I'll know to ask about looking at the engine mount.
Some genius also figured out how to change the time on my car's clock, which I haven't been able to change in about 4 years. (a knob is broken and I need it for changing the time) How brilliant, a week before Daylight Savings time, and my car is finally on Standard Time after many years on DST and a little fast.... what a butthead! Now I hafta go over there and see if I can find the mechanic that changed the time so I can get it on DST! I mean, if it can still be changed, I might as well figure out how he did it!
And so ends the Car Saga. For now....