Minimor
Well-Known Member
I have some friends who have been calling me very unlucky with vehicles lately.
My truck battery died awhile back, & since the truck appeared to be having some issues with low oil pressure (according to the gauge) I was afraid maybe the motor was on its last legs. In any case, I didn't replace the battery right away, just let it sit for awhile, & I've been driving Mom's truck to work.
Two & a half weeks ago I ran an errand at coffee break, & was involved in an accident. An old fellow in a smaller truck turned across traffic, right in front of me. He just never saw me until I was inches from his grill....even though it was in town, not at high speed, I didn't have a hope of stopping. Made a real mess of his truck, & it left on a tow truck. Mine was still driveable, thank goodness, after I got the front corner bent out a little bit so the wheel could turn without catching. It took out the grill, bent the bumper & pushed the fender back so the drivers door won't open. Autopac didn't write it off immediately but did a price out on repairs, & turns out it's a few hundred over what they feel the truck is worth. It's an older truck, sort of scruffy looking but in good running order so kind of too bad it got wrecked. The good part is, they're paying us a good price for it, more than I figured they would offer, & more than we'd have got if we tried to sell the truck before it got wrecked. I've found another truck, same year, better body shape, dirt cheap--might need a new motor but I'm hoping it's just a fairly minor problem with a lifter and can be fixed. My friend's husband is going to get it fixed up for us, so labor will be reasonable.
Saturday I put the new battery in my truck, it started & seemed fine. Monday morning, battery was dead. After work Monday I pulled off the neg. cable, charged it up a bit & touched the cable back to the post....got sparks, so I knew there's a power drain somewhere in the truck, it's not a faulty battery. I put the charger on for awhile, then this morning I put the cable on & drove it into town so friend's husband could look at it for me. The engine light came on & stayed on most of the way to town--I didn't know if it really did have such bad oil pressure, or if it's just the sending unit, but decided that if the motor was going to die, then it may as well die & get it over with. But, I drove cautiously, between watching that light & fearing that I'd somehow stall it & it wouldn't go again....I parked it in the shop & caught a ride back to work with my friend. I could have cried, because if her hubby couldn't fix it up, after I turn the other truck into Autopac the end of the week, I'd have no wheels. Again, everyone was saying how unlucky I am with my vehicles lately.
Ha, not so. When I talked to Lorne later in the morning, he told me I must have a guardian angel watching over me--he figures I am as lucky as anyone can be! He backed the truck up to move a car out of the shop, & when he stopped, the brake pedal went 1/2 way to the floor. He drove back up into the shop & stopped, & the pedal went right to the floor--the rear brake line just totally disintegrated, leaving absolutely no braking power whatsoever. He was amazed that I'd gotten to the shop safely--he said it's so lucky that they didn't give out on me; I could have rear ended someone, or even sailed right out in front of a semi. Perhaps that's why the engine light came on & stayed on (which it hadn't been doing before this)--so that I'd be worried about it all & be driving cautiously?
The good news is, he fixed the brakes, then did a compression test on the engine. Turns out the pressure is just fine, so the motor is good--he said real good!--he put a new sending unit ($23 for the part!) on it, & no more low gauge or engine light!
As for the battery drain....the alternator was fried, thanks to a faulty voltage regulator, & that's what was causing the battery drain while the truck was just sitting....and of course when it was running the alternator wasn't charging the battery. The only bad news is, because it's a "new" type of alternator, with the voltage regulator inside it, it's a $200 part as opposed to the the $80 it would have been for the "old" type of alternator. But, Lorne gets parts at a discount price & he said he'll just charge me at cost, so it won't be $200, thank goodness. He didn't have the bill figured up yet but I'm hoping it won't be much over $300. If I'd had to go to an actual garage it would likely be more like $600. (shudder). I feel very lucky, first because I didn't have a wreck this morning, and secondly because the truck I thought was on the verge of dead is actually a good truck yet. I have wheels!! Lorne is going to do a few more minor repairs & put the trailer hitch (pulled off the other truck) onto my truck, & then the horse trailer is mobile too. He's bringing the "new" truck in tomorrow, & hopefully we will find that the Autopac payout will cover the cost of fixing up both my truck & the "new" one.
Hopefully I will sleep tonight--last night I didn't because I was worried about getting my truck put together, started & into town. Good thing I didn't know about that rotten brake line....
My truck battery died awhile back, & since the truck appeared to be having some issues with low oil pressure (according to the gauge) I was afraid maybe the motor was on its last legs. In any case, I didn't replace the battery right away, just let it sit for awhile, & I've been driving Mom's truck to work.
Two & a half weeks ago I ran an errand at coffee break, & was involved in an accident. An old fellow in a smaller truck turned across traffic, right in front of me. He just never saw me until I was inches from his grill....even though it was in town, not at high speed, I didn't have a hope of stopping. Made a real mess of his truck, & it left on a tow truck. Mine was still driveable, thank goodness, after I got the front corner bent out a little bit so the wheel could turn without catching. It took out the grill, bent the bumper & pushed the fender back so the drivers door won't open. Autopac didn't write it off immediately but did a price out on repairs, & turns out it's a few hundred over what they feel the truck is worth. It's an older truck, sort of scruffy looking but in good running order so kind of too bad it got wrecked. The good part is, they're paying us a good price for it, more than I figured they would offer, & more than we'd have got if we tried to sell the truck before it got wrecked. I've found another truck, same year, better body shape, dirt cheap--might need a new motor but I'm hoping it's just a fairly minor problem with a lifter and can be fixed. My friend's husband is going to get it fixed up for us, so labor will be reasonable.
Saturday I put the new battery in my truck, it started & seemed fine. Monday morning, battery was dead. After work Monday I pulled off the neg. cable, charged it up a bit & touched the cable back to the post....got sparks, so I knew there's a power drain somewhere in the truck, it's not a faulty battery. I put the charger on for awhile, then this morning I put the cable on & drove it into town so friend's husband could look at it for me. The engine light came on & stayed on most of the way to town--I didn't know if it really did have such bad oil pressure, or if it's just the sending unit, but decided that if the motor was going to die, then it may as well die & get it over with. But, I drove cautiously, between watching that light & fearing that I'd somehow stall it & it wouldn't go again....I parked it in the shop & caught a ride back to work with my friend. I could have cried, because if her hubby couldn't fix it up, after I turn the other truck into Autopac the end of the week, I'd have no wheels. Again, everyone was saying how unlucky I am with my vehicles lately.
Ha, not so. When I talked to Lorne later in the morning, he told me I must have a guardian angel watching over me--he figures I am as lucky as anyone can be! He backed the truck up to move a car out of the shop, & when he stopped, the brake pedal went 1/2 way to the floor. He drove back up into the shop & stopped, & the pedal went right to the floor--the rear brake line just totally disintegrated, leaving absolutely no braking power whatsoever. He was amazed that I'd gotten to the shop safely--he said it's so lucky that they didn't give out on me; I could have rear ended someone, or even sailed right out in front of a semi. Perhaps that's why the engine light came on & stayed on (which it hadn't been doing before this)--so that I'd be worried about it all & be driving cautiously?
The good news is, he fixed the brakes, then did a compression test on the engine. Turns out the pressure is just fine, so the motor is good--he said real good!--he put a new sending unit ($23 for the part!) on it, & no more low gauge or engine light!
Hopefully I will sleep tonight--last night I didn't because I was worried about getting my truck put together, started & into town. Good thing I didn't know about that rotten brake line....
