March 19, 2006
Computers and Cars Don't Play Well Together
As chronicled by Mrs. OWW HERE, the blasted automobile stopped working on Thursday.
Mrs. OWW, that saintly person, said, "Oh, shucks! Darn! Drat!"
OWW hisself was slightly more... vigorous.
The really bad part of all this is that we couldn't drive the car the 50+ miles to the nearest dealer, and for some reason (probably beginning senility) I had thought that the extended warranty that came with the car expired at 50,000 miles, AND the POS has 50,543 miles on it.
Mrs. OWW, that saintly person, takes nothing on faith, and called Saturn, and they said "Oh, yes! Your car is covered until 60,000 miles, and we'll even pay for the tow!"
Cowabunga!
I talked (on the phone) to the service rep, who told me that the "Crankshaft Position Sensor" has an intermittent short, and that new parts *should* be in on Monday.
I want the old one so's I can take a picture to throw darts at...
We bought the Saturn VUE when we still lived in California, right down the road from a Saturn dealer. The nearest dealer out here in Georgia is actually down in Jacksonville, FL, a little matter of 50 miles away. We may want to acquire a car from a brand with a dealer just a little closer to us.
Posted by ward at 09:06 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 12, 2006
Face in the Breeze
I've had occasion, recently, to reflect upon the wild, wild days of my youth.
Specifically, my neighbor Charley, a really nice guy, comes up to me and says, "Hey! Run this thing down the road and tell me what you think!"
"This thing" runs pretty good - nice solid motor, tires are OK, it doesn't wobble, shimmy, or shake at 50 mph, which is as fast as is safe on that particular road. Plus, the temp outside is 42F and I'm only wearing a light jacket, so it's a very short ride. The paint on "this thing" needs a little attention, and it's got a minor ding or two.
Not too bad, actually, for a '93 with 17,000 original miles on it.
And when you open the throttle, the damned thing moves!
So, I tell Charley that it's a pretty good piece. He just grins all over his face, and says, "Yeah...and it's now mine!"
A very lightly modified '93 Harley FX-R will do that to you.
Posted by ward at 10:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 17, 2005
Automobiles
We've been fortunate with our automobiles.
Since 1992, we haven't had a major breakdown that wasn't covered by a warranty.
That run of good fortune ended last week, when Sally The Saturn SL2 developed a cooling system issue - the thermostat stuck in the open position, meaning the car took forever to warm up, then ran cool. Not too bad - I could drive the car to and from work until I could fix it.
I picked up a new thermostat, and a Haynes manual on Tuesday, which is when I found the bad news.
On any reasonable car's engine, the thermostat is on the top of the engine block, where it's easy to get at. Saturn's dim-witted, half-blind, totally screwed up engineers saw fit to place that sucker at the bottom of the engine, and underneath the air-conditioner compressor.
These same clowns also decided that the oil filter belongs on the rear of the engine.
Three hours after starting, I'm done, the car runs fine, the temp is right where it ought to be, and I've saved $100 in labor by doing the job myself.
But I swear, if I ever run into a Saturn engineer, he's going to get chewed on in my best US Navy style that I learned over thirty years ago. We'll see if I can remember some of the more creative bits I learned from assorted Chief Petty Officers....
Posted by ward at 12:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack