Hi Guest!
Hey - did you know if you click on the title of a thread it will take you to the first unread post since you last visited that thread?
but were afraid to ask: 
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Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
Harry_Ward
Jedi Knight
Offline
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wall.gif But I didn't!
His mother said buy a new car and you won't be fixing it all the time. I figured this to be good advice and recommended to the oldest (20) to buy a 2003 Chevy Malibu. It was under warranty when the tail light module failed, the ignition module went, and then the intake and head gaskets started leaking coolant. I think this is great! I bought a used nightmare but at least they're fixin' it for free.
Well, the warranties up! Friday we had umpteen inches of rain and Friday night late my son tells me the car won't start. He tells me the little green dot in de battery isn't there anymore. I ask him when all this happened. He said he took the youngest up to catch the bus at 7:00 A.M. and then around 10:00 A.M. he went to start it and it just groaned.
I ask him all the usual questions, did you leave anything on; like lights, did it sound like it turned over slow when you started it for the first time, was it hard to start when you first started it? All questions resulted in a resounding, NO DAD! Since it was late I decided to wait till Saturday morning to look at it.
Saturday morning at 7:00 A.M. I try the key and nothing happens. I Looks at the battery and the little green dots gone a missing. Weird how the battery died that fast without any warning. I decide to put the twenty year old K-Mart special 4 amp battery charger on it and the poor thing starts a humming and red lines. I disconnect the battery charger hook up the voltmeter and get nothing. I say wow really dead battery maybe it's cooked!
I disconnect the negative lead hook up the multimeter and I have a draw like a major short. I disconnect the positive lead and decide to try and bring the battery back from the dead with my little 4 amp charger. I check 2 hours later and I'm just starting to get a charge. I think this thing is really dead it must have been a short. It started to rain and the wind starts howling. I remove the battery from the car and bring it inside to charge around 1:00 P.M.. Oh! Did I forget to mention I'm dancin' on four inches of ice surrounding the car while fiddlin' with this thing and slidin all over the place in the pouring rain? Rain stops ten minutes after the battery's out and safely in the garage.
Somewhere around 9:30 P.M. Saturday night the little green bubble starts to decide to come out a hiding and the things reading 13.54 volts. I'm thinking hey the battery's not fully cooked saved eighty bucks there. I say hey it's late and dark out there lets put it in tomorrow and see what happens.
7:00 A.M. this morning it's twenty freezin degrees when I pop the hood and put the battery back in hook up the positive lead and then realize I forgot to slide the stupid totally useless battery cover over the battery. Yep, disconnect the positive lead, slide the totally useless protective cover over the battery and now the fingers are starting to cramp up from the cold. Now the wind starts to blow in from the Northwest and it feels like it's twenty below. I then installed the battery hold down clamp, connected the positive lead, performed another voltage check on the battery which showed good, then hooked up the negative lead. I Slid one step back and noticed the left front turn signal was blinking. I'm thinking what the heck is that doing on with the key off? I slide around on one leg to the door, jump in, and start it up (vroomm). My keen sense of observation immediately notices the windshield wipers moving at full torpedo speed ahead, a pounding noise emanating from six speakers at glass breaking levels of a sound which AC/DC would be proud of, and realize the hazard lights are on. I quickly check for smoke but nothings cooking except my ears as I shut off the CD player and wipers. I then ask what are the flashers doing on? I can't find the switch to shut em off so I know I didn't turn em on. I push the hazard button (which is by the way clicking and flashing while staring you right in the face in the middle of the dash) and the lights stop a blinkin. So did the draw on the battery!!!
I drag my frozen self back into a calm state of being and went upstairs and asked Junior if he had to use his flashers at the bus stop because it was raining so hard. He says, "Oh yeah, does that make the battery go dead?"
This long one's for all you dads with sons who have two left thumbs, absolutely no mechanical ability, but are as good as gold. I can only laugh out loud while writing this and maybe someday he will get to read this and laugh as well.
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif
His mother said buy a new car and you won't be fixing it all the time. I figured this to be good advice and recommended to the oldest (20) to buy a 2003 Chevy Malibu. It was under warranty when the tail light module failed, the ignition module went, and then the intake and head gaskets started leaking coolant. I think this is great! I bought a used nightmare but at least they're fixin' it for free.
Well, the warranties up! Friday we had umpteen inches of rain and Friday night late my son tells me the car won't start. He tells me the little green dot in de battery isn't there anymore. I ask him when all this happened. He said he took the youngest up to catch the bus at 7:00 A.M. and then around 10:00 A.M. he went to start it and it just groaned.
I ask him all the usual questions, did you leave anything on; like lights, did it sound like it turned over slow when you started it for the first time, was it hard to start when you first started it? All questions resulted in a resounding, NO DAD! Since it was late I decided to wait till Saturday morning to look at it.
Saturday morning at 7:00 A.M. I try the key and nothing happens. I Looks at the battery and the little green dots gone a missing. Weird how the battery died that fast without any warning. I decide to put the twenty year old K-Mart special 4 amp battery charger on it and the poor thing starts a humming and red lines. I disconnect the battery charger hook up the voltmeter and get nothing. I say wow really dead battery maybe it's cooked!
I disconnect the negative lead hook up the multimeter and I have a draw like a major short. I disconnect the positive lead and decide to try and bring the battery back from the dead with my little 4 amp charger. I check 2 hours later and I'm just starting to get a charge. I think this thing is really dead it must have been a short. It started to rain and the wind starts howling. I remove the battery from the car and bring it inside to charge around 1:00 P.M.. Oh! Did I forget to mention I'm dancin' on four inches of ice surrounding the car while fiddlin' with this thing and slidin all over the place in the pouring rain? Rain stops ten minutes after the battery's out and safely in the garage.
Somewhere around 9:30 P.M. Saturday night the little green bubble starts to decide to come out a hiding and the things reading 13.54 volts. I'm thinking hey the battery's not fully cooked saved eighty bucks there. I say hey it's late and dark out there lets put it in tomorrow and see what happens.
7:00 A.M. this morning it's twenty freezin degrees when I pop the hood and put the battery back in hook up the positive lead and then realize I forgot to slide the stupid totally useless battery cover over the battery. Yep, disconnect the positive lead, slide the totally useless protective cover over the battery and now the fingers are starting to cramp up from the cold. Now the wind starts to blow in from the Northwest and it feels like it's twenty below. I then installed the battery hold down clamp, connected the positive lead, performed another voltage check on the battery which showed good, then hooked up the negative lead. I Slid one step back and noticed the left front turn signal was blinking. I'm thinking what the heck is that doing on with the key off? I slide around on one leg to the door, jump in, and start it up (vroomm). My keen sense of observation immediately notices the windshield wipers moving at full torpedo speed ahead, a pounding noise emanating from six speakers at glass breaking levels of a sound which AC/DC would be proud of, and realize the hazard lights are on. I quickly check for smoke but nothings cooking except my ears as I shut off the CD player and wipers. I then ask what are the flashers doing on? I can't find the switch to shut em off so I know I didn't turn em on. I push the hazard button (which is by the way clicking and flashing while staring you right in the face in the middle of the dash) and the lights stop a blinkin. So did the draw on the battery!!!
I drag my frozen self back into a calm state of being and went upstairs and asked Junior if he had to use his flashers at the bus stop because it was raining so hard. He says, "Oh yeah, does that make the battery go dead?"
This long one's for all you dads with sons who have two left thumbs, absolutely no mechanical ability, but are as good as gold. I can only laugh out loud while writing this and maybe someday he will get to read this and laugh as well.
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif
