Stupid cars! (updated)
I drive about 30 miles to work. Leave here a bit before 5 am, just in case of bad weather or car trouble. It’s a 40 to 50 minute drive, depending on traffic.
So I’m driving this morning and it doesn’t seem like my headlights are very bright. But I just figure it’s because the road is damp and making things look darker. Most of my commute is on county roads. (paved!)
Until I was on the freeway. Then I started thinking this is bad, are my headlamps going out, or do I need to polish the plastic again? I could barely see.
Get off the freeway and it’s no better. Then my radio shut itself off. I realize something really bad is happening… can I make it to work? I dunno. I kept going until I found a good place to pull in. At that point I had almost no lights and the clock on the dash was fading out.
Sit there for a bit thinking… Okay, if the alternator is going bad, this is what happens. I’m running off the battery. Car was stuttering, just sitting there with lights off. I call into work and leave a message on the answering machine. Call Ron and leave a voice mail.
Turn car off. It won’t start again, the battery is dead. Drat blast it! I’m still about 5 miles from work!
Pretty soon the owners wife calls me on my cell. She asks where I am and she’ll send someone to get me. Yay! After a little while here is a gal from work (who zipped by me when my car was dying, lol) there to rescue me. I actually wanted to call her when the car died… but I recently changed purses and her cell number is on a slip of paper in the other purse. Hey, I don’t used the phone enough to load a gazillion numbers into it.
Got to work only 15 minutes late. Got signed in as being there on time, that was super nice. Worked all day, stressed out thinking about my car. Ron came to get me at 4:30 so we could go see about my car (and so I could get home).
Car is Not charging, but it’s daylight still so we charge it with jumper cables until it looks like a pretty full charge. Don’t need lights, so I should be okay running off the battery. We did have to stop at one point to recharge, but made it to the car repair place before it got totally dark. Bad news, tho, they are swamped and won’t be able to look at it for a WEEK!
The worst thing is that I just replaced the alternator about 2 years ago. Is this car going to need a new alternator every 2 years? Gee whiz! The labor at the repair place isn’t bad… it’s that replacement parts for my stupid car are VERY expensive. I think it was close to $500 the last time. AUGH! Most of that the alternator… and then a little bit more for labor. Worth it to pay them to do it.
Anyhow, a very stressful day for me. One good thing was that my cell phone was actually charged for a change. Usually it’s dead in my purse. Thank goodness for small things… I would have had to walk somewhere to use a pay phone, supposing I could even FIND one. That’s not something you see very often any more.
Need to go chill out and relax… I believe I’ll be driving Ron’s car to work in the morning and while I like the car okay I hate that the headlights don’t seem to give off enough light. Hah, it’ll be like driving my car this morning!
UPDATE!
Friday noon: Ron gets a call from J&B Auto, where my car is waiting to be fixed. They had a cancellation and instead of moving around other appointments they just put my car in there and fixed it. Yep, the alternator was bad. But no charge for that, even a remanufactured alternator should last longer than 23 months. (I didn’t realize I’d had a rebuilt alternator… geez, and it was expensive!) So, they fixed it for just the cost of the labor under their “Customer Satisfaction” policy! We are good customers there, and recommend them to anyone needing work done on a vehicle… and now they get super kudos for their customer service! Way to go J&B Auto! You are the best! (located in Prairie Grove, AR if you are curious)
I am so happy I won’t have to drive the Crown Vic again! Got my little car back, and for cheap! Yay!
Hugs,
Vyx
Bummer. Hopefully it’ll be something smaller than the whole alternator. I’m surprised you’re not replacing it yourself. That’s a lot of money. It could be the battery or the voltage regulator (or both). Or a fault in a wire. Or some dang part of the car’s computer. Mostly they ought to be able to figure that out just by putting the little computer widget thing on it. I hate broken cars! I feel for ya, sis!
Well, I was hoping it was something easy like a fan belt. One of the reasons I’m having a shop do the work is because things are easier to get to with that engine if you have a lift. Car has NO clearance to speak of and even changing the oil is a major production. So, no, I’m not changing the alternator myself… can’t even find the second bolt that has to be there… but for a repair shop they can get right to things (and see what they are doing, lol)
I am still hoping it’s something really simple and easy and cheap! :)