Sunday, September 14, 2003
Last weekend was awful! Teflon had car troubles. Back in May we had to get 2 new tires, an alignment, and a coolant flush done, but my uncle had been fired from the dealership, so we weren't getting any hook-ups. In retrospect I found out:
The dealership's alignment machine hadn't worked in years.
We'd had a coolant flush in April.
So we get all this work done, using the last month's rent that my landlord issues had kept around, in total it was @ $750. We go and pick up the car and it's making this weird noise as you drive, reminded me of the sound of spaceships in the old Flash Gordon serials
Just awful, but I figured that's what the car sounded like when in alignment and let it go.
I think in July, Teflon had a blow-out (looked like she hit a brick) on the same day it rained and a few 20 gallons of raw sewage came shooting out of the toilet at the store. Needless to say, I did a temporary clean-up, went and changed the flat, and then did a major overhaul to the store. All the time I kept swearing to myself that it was for the best and boy would the store smell nice the next day.
It did.
So, I take the car in and the dealer says I need a new tire and rim and alignment.
So I challenge him about the alignment machine being in disrepair. He tells me they had it fixed the week before.
I tell him I decline the work and go get the car.
I call my uncle and he gets me a rim and tire for $100 which he paid for and wouldn't take any money. The tire on the rim is 50 measures bigger than the others, so I take the car, bad rim, new tire and all to the local tire guy, Sidney's on Clark Street near Dennis' Arcade.
Turns out the old rim was ruin, the tire was fine and it cost me $20.
So my uncle tells me that the noise is that the butchers (aka mechanics) that worked on the car (BTW don't go to Wilmette Ford, not that I'm saying why) didn't seal up the rear bearings on the car and they were grinding away.
Flash forward to last weekend (Labor Day) and I'm worried about driving (my own car has been in a parkinglot since June awaiting new rotors, $$ issues) and I want the car fixed. So Sunday, I call my uncle and leave a message.
He calls Monday and says we gotta get the bearings done. He calls and sees that the parts place is open, so Teflon and I drive to Elgin from Evanston.
WE get there and all pile into the car, Uncle JAck says it's a wonder we even made it out there and says the worst that could happen is that the wheel could've rolled right off (SUPER!. So we drive over to the parts place only to discover that the part is a Ford only part and a parts store wouldn't carry it (um, UJ, you called to see if they were open, but not to see if the part was in stock??). So we start driving to a different parts place and two things happen:
I skid 1/2 way through a stop sign intersection due to slick roads.
The space noise changes, and we all freak out thinking that the tire in the back is gonna fly off.
So we drive back to my uncle's on side streets and leave Teflon there with "Happy" (the dog with the gimpy leg) and "Furry" (the lucky stump-tailed cat that's been hit by a car & more!) to read magazines and play while me & UJ go to Ace to get a socket big enough to get to the bearings.
We get the socket and it's just shy of $10, and we go to town on the car. I end up standing on the wrench with my full weight (@220lbs!!) and it won't move at 1st. Turns out the bearings welded themselves to the axle. Great again. So after a good hour of banging with hammers and crowbars we get the bearings out of the right side grease them up and sew up the car. Cars haven't used ball bearings on the wheels since the 50's, they use pin bearings now (tech tip of the day).
We agree that my uncle will take the car in to the dealer across from the dealer he works at now in the morning and that I will drive his RX-7 home. The RX-7 is just like my Miata, except that it's a bit bigger and it's a real sports car verses the "wish I was" attitude that the Miata is.
WE drive out to my dad's in Lincolnwood, 2 hours late to the cook-out, but we still get fed. My little brother just learned how to play Magic
I slaughtered him eventualy, but I had to help him tune his deck to 65 cards down from 120. He should have won, but I had to tell him, "If you have Forestwalk & I have forests, walk the forest and hit me for 2 ever turn!".
Needless to say, it was a decent time @ my dad's.
OF course on the way home we get a flat tire!
We were driving and we hit this small metal shard which punctured the tire. We pull into a gas station and I pull out the shard, I still have it (scan t be edited in, as I'm at the wash-o-mat currently-Newton + keyboard rock!!!). We get a can of Fix-O-Flat, but of course, it said to leave the shard in. So we go for it and start off again on side streets. Well, it's not that good, and no way was I going to try and drive the rim on a car I didn't own, so we pull over and park near Main St. & Crawford. I remember UJ putting his 2-ton jack in his garage, so I assume there is no jack for the car. I open the trunk and search for a spare, to no avail. So I decide life sucks and I start calling people.
Eric didn't have 100% access to Hannah's car and was too far away, so it was Big Vern to the rescue!
He's just good at saving me in times of need, which is a good skill for a stepfather.
So, we get home. Finally.
So, Tuesday I take 3 hours off to go get the car.
Out comes the trusty Dahon Boardwalk 6 folding bike.
I ride out there. It took a while, but I made it.
All in all it took an hour to get to the car and get the spare on. Most of the time was spent looking for the spare.
I drive on the donut down to my tire place, but they closed, but I remembered that they had 2nd shop, so I ran over there. Success! They were open.
I got a plug. I wanted a patch, but he didn't have the glue. Ever seen a plug? It's crazy, I cannot forsee this as a lasting solution.
Well the good news (so far) is that the dealer who ruined the bearings on her car fixed it for free, but the ordeals involved do not seem worth it.
More later.
The dealership's alignment machine hadn't worked in years.
We'd had a coolant flush in April.
So we get all this work done, using the last month's rent that my landlord issues had kept around, in total it was @ $750. We go and pick up the car and it's making this weird noise as you drive, reminded me of the sound of spaceships in the old Flash Gordon serials
Just awful, but I figured that's what the car sounded like when in alignment and let it go.
I think in July, Teflon had a blow-out (looked like she hit a brick) on the same day it rained and a few 20 gallons of raw sewage came shooting out of the toilet at the store. Needless to say, I did a temporary clean-up, went and changed the flat, and then did a major overhaul to the store. All the time I kept swearing to myself that it was for the best and boy would the store smell nice the next day.
It did.
So, I take the car in and the dealer says I need a new tire and rim and alignment.
So I challenge him about the alignment machine being in disrepair. He tells me they had it fixed the week before.
I tell him I decline the work and go get the car.
I call my uncle and he gets me a rim and tire for $100 which he paid for and wouldn't take any money. The tire on the rim is 50 measures bigger than the others, so I take the car, bad rim, new tire and all to the local tire guy, Sidney's on Clark Street near Dennis' Arcade.
Turns out the old rim was ruin, the tire was fine and it cost me $20.
So my uncle tells me that the noise is that the butchers (aka mechanics) that worked on the car (BTW don't go to Wilmette Ford, not that I'm saying why) didn't seal up the rear bearings on the car and they were grinding away.
Flash forward to last weekend (Labor Day) and I'm worried about driving (my own car has been in a parkinglot since June awaiting new rotors, $$ issues) and I want the car fixed. So Sunday, I call my uncle and leave a message.
He calls Monday and says we gotta get the bearings done. He calls and sees that the parts place is open, so Teflon and I drive to Elgin from Evanston.
WE get there and all pile into the car, Uncle JAck says it's a wonder we even made it out there and says the worst that could happen is that the wheel could've rolled right off (SUPER!. So we drive over to the parts place only to discover that the part is a Ford only part and a parts store wouldn't carry it (um, UJ, you called to see if they were open, but not to see if the part was in stock??). So we start driving to a different parts place and two things happen:
I skid 1/2 way through a stop sign intersection due to slick roads.
The space noise changes, and we all freak out thinking that the tire in the back is gonna fly off.
So we drive back to my uncle's on side streets and leave Teflon there with "Happy" (the dog with the gimpy leg) and "Furry" (the lucky stump-tailed cat that's been hit by a car & more!) to read magazines and play while me & UJ go to Ace to get a socket big enough to get to the bearings.
We get the socket and it's just shy of $10, and we go to town on the car. I end up standing on the wrench with my full weight (@220lbs!!) and it won't move at 1st. Turns out the bearings welded themselves to the axle. Great again. So after a good hour of banging with hammers and crowbars we get the bearings out of the right side grease them up and sew up the car. Cars haven't used ball bearings on the wheels since the 50's, they use pin bearings now (tech tip of the day).
We agree that my uncle will take the car in to the dealer across from the dealer he works at now in the morning and that I will drive his RX-7 home. The RX-7 is just like my Miata, except that it's a bit bigger and it's a real sports car verses the "wish I was" attitude that the Miata is.
WE drive out to my dad's in Lincolnwood, 2 hours late to the cook-out, but we still get fed. My little brother just learned how to play Magic
I slaughtered him eventualy, but I had to help him tune his deck to 65 cards down from 120. He should have won, but I had to tell him, "If you have Forestwalk & I have forests, walk the forest and hit me for 2 ever turn!".
Needless to say, it was a decent time @ my dad's.
OF course on the way home we get a flat tire!
We were driving and we hit this small metal shard which punctured the tire. We pull into a gas station and I pull out the shard, I still have it (scan t be edited in, as I'm at the wash-o-mat currently-Newton + keyboard rock!!!). We get a can of Fix-O-Flat, but of course, it said to leave the shard in. So we go for it and start off again on side streets. Well, it's not that good, and no way was I going to try and drive the rim on a car I didn't own, so we pull over and park near Main St. & Crawford. I remember UJ putting his 2-ton jack in his garage, so I assume there is no jack for the car. I open the trunk and search for a spare, to no avail. So I decide life sucks and I start calling people.
Eric didn't have 100% access to Hannah's car and was too far away, so it was Big Vern to the rescue!
He's just good at saving me in times of need, which is a good skill for a stepfather.
So, we get home. Finally.
So, Tuesday I take 3 hours off to go get the car.
Out comes the trusty Dahon Boardwalk 6 folding bike.
I ride out there. It took a while, but I made it.
All in all it took an hour to get to the car and get the spare on. Most of the time was spent looking for the spare.
I drive on the donut down to my tire place, but they closed, but I remembered that they had 2nd shop, so I ran over there. Success! They were open.
I got a plug. I wanted a patch, but he didn't have the glue. Ever seen a plug? It's crazy, I cannot forsee this as a lasting solution.
Well the good news (so far) is that the dealer who ruined the bearings on her car fixed it for free, but the ordeals involved do not seem worth it.
More later.
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