Monday, March 29, 2010

Hmmmmm.

Ok, got it all installed, and turned the key....click. Nothing. Whole electrical system goes down.
Probably something to do with the battery being drained (see my Saturday post). Since the Corolla and Festiva have the same batteries, I swapped them to get the Corolla going. So we'll put the Festiva on a charger and wait a while. Sigh. I don't wait well.

Woot..Car fixin' going on

Ok, just got home from work, stopped at Pull a part (I love this place!!!!!).
Got my hub assembly, and my radiator came in the mail today.

So, without further ado, let's go outside and fix a festiva!!

Off to work

Really quick... off to work now, we'll see if the alternator really does work.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Went car hunting today...

So after last night's ride home from hell, I heard about a junkyard that is open on Sunday! Woohoo! So I get directions, check the inventory and start checking bus schedules. Turns out there's no bus service on Sundays. WTF!?!?!
So I google the directions, and it's only 3 miles, so I'll walk. I print the map, stuff it in a Ziplock (It's raining today also) and hoof it to the pull-a-part. Made in just over an hour, not too bad for walking with a backpack full of tools. I get there, get the alternator and walk home. Feet are soaked, and I look like a drowned rat.
Then I find out that it's a bad alternator. DAMMIT!!! Oh, well let's go back and get another one. Same thing, bad alternator. Now I'm worried, cuz I have to get to work tomorrow. So I put the original alternator back on, head over to Autozone (driving with a spare battery in the back seat so I can get home if the one in the engine dies) and find out that the original alternator has decided o work again. HUH!?!?!?
So upshot is I have a working car and spent the whole day slogging through the rain with tools and an alternator on my back. But I did get the dome light replaced, and it even matches to color of the car! So it's all good at the end of the day. Tomorrow I go Festiva hunting in Akron on the way to work.....

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Drive home from work was hell today!

Daily driver bit the dust today. The alternator crapped out, leaving me with a dead battery 60 miles from home. Luckily, my daughter was able to come jump start it, we let ti charge for 15 minutes and drove 10 miles closer to home. As they say in the shampoo biz, rinse later repeat. 4 1/2 hours later we got the car home, with a much relieved (but no car-havin') dad and a pissed off daughter whose evening plans got ruined Oh, boo hoo, who was it she called when she was out of gas at midnight a few months ago?