OT--Unbelieveable solution to car problem

in article , CATherine at
wrote on 12/8/04 10:41 PM:

Well, my car did it again. The temp light and the engine light came on
and I was in the middle of nowhere. So I kept going until I got
somewhere. As i pulled into the country gas station lot, the car died.
As it cooled the antifreeze in the overflow bottle spit and popped as
it dribbled back into the hot motor. The noise was very loud and
scary. I got out and stood behind the car in case the motor blew up or
something.

After several hours calling and waiting I finally got my son out to
help me. He filled it back up with antifreeze and we got home. Then he
checked it and filled it again. Told me to drive it again next day.
When I got home, he checked it agian. It was low again. He looked it
over as he did the last time. He couldn't find a leak. The water pump
is fine. Everything is fine. So, where the heck is the antifreeze
going?

Then he leaned on the front of the car as he reached down somewhere
and noticed the fronof the frame was damp. He felt all over the front.
Dampness. But no leaks. He remembered it was often damp there when it
was hot but had thought nothing of it. But now he thought, since
nothing else was wrong, maybe it was the radiator cap. He took it off
and looked it over real good. that is when he read the fine print and
found the sob was only a 7-pounder! It is supposed to be 16 pounds
pressure!

Problem solved. Instead of my car being cooled by pressurized liquid,
it was trying be cooled by thin steam, with the liquid in the overflow
bottle and steaming out the cap. The former owners 3 years ago had
rebuilt the engine and must have gotten the wrong cap then. So that is
what ruined the thermostat and engine fan we replaced last week.

My son got a new cap and now the car runs great with energy and
pizzazz. And it no longer gets hot enough to make the engine fan come
on, so far. It used to run practically all the time. I am so relieved
to have this solved. It is scary being stranded, especially in the
winter.

--
CATherine

That is so great that it was a simple fix!! I'm very glad for you. Indeed,
it IS scary being stranded in winter.

So great your son found out what the problem was.
Best wishes,
--
Polonca & Soncek

"CATherine" wrote in message
...
snip
My son got a new cap and now the car runs great with energy and
pizzazz. And it no longer gets hot enough to make the engine fan come
on, so far. It used to run practically all the time. I am so relieved
to have this solved. It is scary being stranded, especially in the
winter.

--
CATherine

CATherine wrote:
Well, my car did it again. The temp light and the engine light came on
and I was in the middle of nowhere. So I kept going until I got
somewhere.
My son got a new cap and now the car runs great with energy and
pizzazz. And it no longer gets hot enough to make the engine fan come
on, so far. It used to run practically all the time. I am so relieved
to have this solved. It is scary being stranded, especially in the
winter.

Glad it turned out to be something simple, relatively inexpensive and you
now feel more secure!

Jill

On 2004-12-09, CATherine penned:

My son got a new cap and now the car runs great with energy and pizzazz. And
it no longer gets hot enough to make the engine fan come on, so far. It used
to run practically all the time. I am so relieved to have this solved. It is
scary being stranded, especially in the winter.


Man, I wish all car troubles had such a simple solution! Being stranded is no
good.

--
monique, who is sometimes allowed to pet Oscar, a grey DLH with an attitude!

Glad you found the simple problem. It would have been so easy to spend piles
of money on the car.

--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
www.mormons.com


"CATherine" wrote in message
...
Well, my car did it again. The temp light and the engine light came on
and I was in the middle of nowhere. So I kept going until I got
somewhere. As i pulled into the country gas station lot, the car died.
As it cooled the antifreeze in the overflow bottle spit and popped as
it dribbled back into the hot motor. The noise was very loud and
scary. I got out and stood behind the car in case the motor blew up or
something.

After several hours calling and waiting I finally got my son out to
help me. He filled it back up with antifreeze and we got home. Then he
checked it and filled it again. Told me to drive it again next day.
When I got home, he checked it agian. It was low again. He looked it
over as he did the last time. He couldn't find a leak. The water pump
is fine. Everything is fine. So, where the heck is the antifreeze
going?

Then he leaned on the front of the car as he reached down somewhere
and noticed the fronof the frame was damp. He felt all over the front.
Dampness. But no leaks. He remembered it was often damp there when it
was hot but had thought nothing of it. But now he thought, since
nothing else was wrong, maybe it was the radiator cap. He took it off
and looked it over real good. that is when he read the fine print and
found the sob was only a 7-pounder! It is supposed to be 16 pounds
pressure!

Problem solved. Instead of my car being cooled by pressurized liquid,
it was trying be cooled by thin steam, with the liquid in the overflow
bottle and steaming out the cap. The former owners 3 years ago had
rebuilt the engine and must have gotten the wrong cap then. So that is
what ruined the thermostat and engine fan we replaced last week.

My son got a new cap and now the car runs great with energy and
pizzazz. And it no longer gets hot enough to make the engine fan come
on, so far. It used to run practically all the time. I am so relieved
to have this solved. It is scary being stranded, especially in the
winter.

--
CATherine

I've often said that if you want a car, you should first dig a giant hole in
your back yard and keep throwing large wads of money into it at the times
you can least afford to do so, just so you can get an idea of what its going
to be like.

Glad it was an easy-fix this time though!

Yowie
Figuring that getting stuck in a 'real' winter would be a more than just
inconvenient.


"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
Glad you found the simple problem. It would have been so easy to spend
piles
of money on the car.

--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
www.mormons.com


"CATherine" wrote in message
...
Well, my car did it again. The temp light and the engine light came on
and I was in the middle of nowhere. So I kept going until I got
somewhere. As i pulled into the country gas station lot, the car died.
As it cooled the antifreeze in the overflow bottle spit and popped as
it dribbled back into the hot motor. The noise was very loud and
scary. I got out and stood behind the car in case the motor blew up or
something.

After several hours calling and waiting I finally got my son out to
help me. He filled it back up with antifreeze and we got home. Then he
checked it and filled it again. Told me to drive it again next day.
When I got home, he checked it agian. It was low again. He looked it
over as he did the last time. He couldn't find a leak. The water pump
is fine. Everything is fine. So, where the heck is the antifreeze
going?

Then he leaned on the front of the car as he reached down somewhere
and noticed the fronof the frame was damp. He felt all over the front.
Dampness. But no leaks. He remembered it was often damp there when it
was hot but had thought nothing of it. But now he thought, since
nothing else was wrong, maybe it was the radiator cap. He took it off
and looked it over real good. that is when he read the fine print and
found the sob was only a 7-pounder! It is supposed to be 16 pounds
pressure!

Problem solved. Instead of my car being cooled by pressurized liquid,
it was trying be cooled by thin steam, with the liquid in the overflow
bottle and steaming out the cap. The former owners 3 years ago had
rebuilt the engine and must have gotten the wrong cap then. So that is
what ruined the thermostat and engine fan we replaced last week.

My son got a new cap and now the car runs great with energy and
pizzazz. And it no longer gets hot enough to make the engine fan come
on, so far. It used to run practically all the time. I am so relieved
to have this solved. It is scary being stranded, especially in the
winter.

--
CATherine

CATherine wrote:
On Thu, 9 Dec 2004 06:38:58 -0600, "jmcquown"
wrote:

CATherine wrote:
Well, my car did it again. The temp light and the engine light came
on and I was in the middle of nowhere. So I kept going until I got
somewhere.
My son got a new cap and now the car runs great with energy and
pizzazz. And it no longer gets hot enough to make the engine fan
come on, so far. It used to run practically all the time. I am so
relieved to have this solved. It is scary being stranded,
especially in the winter.

Glad it turned out to be something simple, relatively inexpensive
and you now feel more secure!

Jill

With engines getting so complicated and computerized, we naturally
tend to think it is the expensive things that go bonkers. We don't
even think of the lowly radiator cap going bad or being the wrong one.
I didn't even know there were different kinds! Living out in the
country so far from help, it is vital to have my car reliable.

AND sometimes if the mechanic sees a woman they think "oh boy, I can really
take her for a ride on this!" Years ago I had one try it on me at one of
those quick-tune places (car kept stalling but would start back up - I
thought it needed a tune-up). He quoted me a ridiculous price ($800 I think
it was) for two parts and had the clipboard in hand asking for my signature.
Nope. I walked over and used their phone (he nearly had a fit!). I called
the dealership; not only had they "mistakenly" told me this was two parts
when it was only one, it was still covered under my warranty even though I'd
had the car 5 years. The dealership sent a tow truck to get me and my car
It pays to ask questions.

Jill

"jmcquown" had some very interesting things
to say about OT--Unbelieveable solution to car problem:

AND sometimes if the mechanic sees a woman they think "oh boy, I can really
take her for a ride on this!" Years ago I had one try it on me at one of
those quick-tune places (car kept stalling but would start back up - I
thought it needed a tune-up). He quoted me a ridiculous price ($800 I think
it was) for two parts and had the clipboard in hand asking for my signature.
Nope. I walked over and used their phone (he nearly had a fit!). I called
the dealership; not only had they "mistakenly" told me this was two parts
when it was only one, it was still covered under my warranty even though I'd
had the car 5 years. The dealership sent a tow truck to get me and my car
It pays to ask questions.

I don't interface with mechanics without knowledgeable backup, since I
don't understand enough about cars to spot a would-be scam. Usually,
my DH handles mechanics. On one occasion when the car broke down with
DH 50 miles away, I called DFIL [who was about 4 or 5 miles away] and
asked him to help me deal with tow-truck drivers and mechanics and
such [he did, too].

--
"The universe is quite robust in design and appears to be
doing just fine on its own, incompetent support staff notwithstanding.
:-)" - the Dennis formerly known as (evil), MCFL

CATherine wrote:
snip
My son got a new cap and now the car runs great with energy and
pizzazz. And it no longer gets hot enough to make the engine fan come
on, so far. It used to run practically all the time. I am so relieved
to have this solved. It is scary being stranded, especially in the
winter.

It's so easy to overlook the simple things ank look for a more
complicted solution. I'm very glad your son found the cause. Purrs that
you have trouble free motoring from now on.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera)
A house is not a home, without a cat.

Seanette Blaylock wrote:
"jmcquown" had some very interesting things
to say about OT--Unbelieveable solution to car problem:

AND sometimes if the mechanic sees a woman they think "oh boy, I can
really take her for a ride on this!" Years ago I had one try it on
me at one of those quick-tune places

I don't interface with mechanics without knowledgeable backup, since I
don't understand enough about cars to spot a would-be scam. Usually,
my DH handles mechanics. On one occasion when the car broke down with
DH 50 miles away, I called DFIL [who was about 4 or 5 miles away] and
asked him to help me deal with tow-truck drivers and mechanics and
such [he did, too].

At the time I didn't have that option I didn't have a DH nor any male
member of my family nearby who knew a darn thing about cars. I had to rely
on my common sense. Even if it had turned out the mechanic was right, it
was worth a phone call before signing on the dotted line I'm pretty sure
that guy at the quick-tune place was cussing a blue streak after the
dealership tow-truck driver drove me and my car off (free of charge).

Jill