Daddy Daughter Bonding Time

I have had a random sound in my car for about two months. Something is rolling back and forth when I accelerate or brake. I looked everywhere I could think of but I couldn't locate the sound. I had identified the area it seemed to be in but I couldn't figure out how to stop it. Last night I finally took my dad for a short drive to see if he had any idea. He identified it as being in the same area that I had suspected and then proceeded to take the interior of my car down to nuts and bolts to find it. It was brutal. We had the whole center console removed, which required loosening the glove compartment and the casing around the steering wheel...and we STILL couldn't find the cause!!! We ended up peeling back the carpet, cutting into the airflow tubes with an exacto knife and shoving a long magnet down the tube. After well over an hour of work where major parts of my car were strewn across the driveway, we finally located the culprit. A double A battery had rolled under the drivers seat and entered the air vent. From there it somehow got up into the tube and was rolling back and forth. The picture is what my car looked like just before we started putting it back together.

I was ready to give up about 30 minutes in but Dad is tenacious and it was driving him crazy too. I am SO thankful that we got that cleared up because my car and I will be spending PLENTY of "quality" time together in the next month so I'd perfer not to have it drive me crazy. Of course after we put everything back together we ended up with four extra screws so I may have some rattling I didn't have before. Let's hope not because Dad's not coming with me to fix my car!!!

Attitude of Gratitude #13

There is so much to be thankful for! I don't know where to start.

Today I am thankful that my car got fixed for free, fast and for some extra benefits.

I dropped my car off on Monday (post #10) and I got it back Wednesday afternoon. No charge to me for any of the repairs (no deductible even) and I got a rental car for the days my car was in the shop.

Because of the type of damage, and the fact that my bumper is made of plastic and foam (isn't that reassuring?) they just replaced the whole piece. One of the benefits of getting a brand new bumper is that any stains or marks that were on it are gone. I went to Saskatchewan in 2004 and since that trip I have had bug guts that I cannot get off. I tried, even with powerful bug remover formula, and then gave up. Now they're GONE!!!

Another benefit of having your car in for service is that they detail the inside. Vacuum it and wipe it down. Now it's all spiffy and clean smelling.

So as annoying as accidents are and having to deal with insurance companies, I am thankful that my car is fixed, for free, the bugs are gone and it's CLEAN! Woohoo :)

Uggh

Well, the good news is that they can't find anything wrong with my car.
The bad news is that that they can't find anything wrong with my car.

There's obviously SOMETHING wrong with my car but it was a classic case of "won't act up for the mechanic". I got out of there with just a half hour labour bill but my back seat isn't installed (just in case it happens again, it will make for easier access). Now I'm driving with baited breath. Uggh!

~Heidi

It just stopped

As you can see I haven't blogged in a week. Life is going well. Nothing too exciting to report. The weather has been cool and rainy which is fine after the extreme heat we had two weeks ago. I was at the SSWA III.v Retreat last weekend and I had a great time. It was very relaxed. I didn't get a ton accomplished but I'm inspired to keep working on my albums and not "stuck" any more.

Today though, today I have stuff to blog about :( First off the sun is out. That's the good news. It's really nice outside...almost too nice. It's pretty warm out there.

The bad news is that I went out at lunch and my car stopped driving. I was coming out of the Tim Horton's drive thru and all of a sudden when I hit the gas nothing happened. It was the same feeling as when accidently put the car in neutral instead of drive (I have an automatic). I stopped (in the middle of a mostly empty parking lot), put the car in park and back in drive but nothing happened. I turned it off and turned it back on and when I did, the engine turned over but then nothing. I couldn't even shift it then.

My first call was to my ex-mechanic dad who talked to me and decided that he didn't know what it could be. The second call was to BCAA (AAA) which is roadside assistance. I signed up in April because my car is seven years old now and even though it hasn't given me trouble yet, you just never know. Plus with all the travelling I do to the States, I didn't want to get stuck down there. I also got their travel insurance mostly for my Texas trip but also because again, I'm down in Washington all the time.

Anyways, BCAA sent out a tow truck. He took an hour to arrive though so I just sat in the sun and read until he arrived. He looked under my hood and then under the car. Banged on it a few times and decided that it *might* be the fuel pump but a shop would have to determine that. We towed it to a mechanic that is right behind my office (very convenient) and one that Dad had suggested when we first talked.

So, now I am sitting here waiting for the mechanic to call. He's going to diagnose it and then call me with an estimate. At that point I'll probably call the shop Dad normally uses for a comparison. Either way I'm out way more $$ then I have available for this. Wish me luck!

~Heidi