Monday was a bad car day.
 

So I took Monday off and took my wife to lunch. After lunch I took her to a Good Will bookstore. When we went to leave the Explorer started to crank over and then stopped. I thought it might be the starter locking up but when I turned the key back on I noticed the battery gauge was low and the fuel pump sounded slow.

There was a auto electric shop just a few driveways down that had a sign that said they did electrical troubleshooting. "Great", I thought so I pulled the battery and carried it there. When I got there I asked them if they could test my battery because I thought that maybe a cell was bad. They told me that their load tester wasn't working. So I asked if they could at least check it with a volt meter so I could see if it had 12 volts. The guy told me that that wouldn't work because they use the volt meter to test the alternators, not batteries. WTF? They are supposed to be experts. I asked if they would just use the meter and tell me if the battery had 12 volts and the guy looked at me and okay. He then turned to another room and started yell at someone that was in it in another language. Then he told me to hold on.

After about two minutes Amy and I just left and walked a block to a Jiffy Lube that we could see from the street. They couldn't test it but told us there was a repair shop at the other end of the shopping center around the corner. Let me remind you that it was 111 degrees. So we walked to the shop and they tested the battery which had a bad cell. So I bought a new from them and we walked back to the Explorer and put it back in.

So later in the day when the girls got home we took the Explorer to go look at Halloween costumes for them. We found one for Mya at the first store but they didn’t have the one Kylie wanted in her size. So we headed to another store. We pulled out of the parking lot and all of a sudden the Explorer started to misfire. F%$&! So we turned around and headed home. We then jumped in the Cobra and took that to the next store. They had the costume Kylie wanted so we bought it and headed home. On the way home I noticed that the voltage meter was low. So when I got home I check and sure enough the alternator went out in the Cobra. So I pulled the alternator out of the Cobra and went and got a replacement (you have to love those life time warranties) from Autozone.

I also tested the Explorer and found that it was missing on cylinder 3. I pulled the plug but it looked fine so I tested the wire which was bad. So when I picked up the alternator I also picked up some new wires to install on the Explorer. Well I’ve replaced those but I still have a misfire but now it is saying it is on cylinder 2. I’m going to get some new plugs and replace those and then go from there.

Did anyone else have car issues on Monday or was it just me?

That is rough. Jerry had his Bike stolen on Sunday. It's been a rough car week so far it sounds like...

I was sitting in my nice air conditioned office thinking to myself "I'm damn glad I don't have to be outside today." :nutkick:

Bad Monday-:suicide:

my co worker was forced into the curb yesterday and blew his tire and bent the hell out of his rim and the other guy just kept driving.

Nice. Did they at least get the license plate number?

My turn today. Got a call from my 17yr old at 3pm. At the gas station, smoke and fluid pouring out from under the hood ! Left work to check it out. Water pump and lower hose puking.

Nope.

What kind of car? Hopefully the water pump is an easy replacement.

87 Volva 740...4 cyl non turbo. Should be a piece of cake......but I have a cold or flu coming on and feel like crap.

Me and Courtney (the old lady) were walking out to go to dinner. I look down at the Left rear tire and its flat. We pull around to the garage I put air in it and I hear it just gushing out I look around the tire and there is a big ass shard of metal in it. So I take it to Goodyear around the corner and its unrepairable the tires were not brand new they needed to be replaced just not tonight. She had a blow out on the freeway a few months ago and replaced the one tire. Now with the shard we have to replace the other one the other two are not that good so I just said lets do all three. So now we are eating at home. Oh well Shit happens. Oh also Tuesday my sister parked where they were going to repave the street and got her car impounded. Yeah not the best week.

On the Exploder. Not sure if this would apply but the wifes T Bird was acting up, after A LOT of plug and plug wire changes the plastic, er composite, intake was leaking when it got hot at the heater outlet and shorting out the plugs.
Anyone need a overpriced coil pak for a 4.6 from ripoff power Ford.:(

I did some more testing and it turned out that the coil had a weak spark on cylinder 3. I replaced the coil and it's running great. The coil must have been bad since the day I installed it about a year ago because I've had a weird misfire at idle since I installed it. It's now gone.

On Friday, Frankie's son had the gremlins strike him. Adjusting the a/c and somebody had the balls to stop for a stop sign !!
The radiator and condenser are bent, but not leaking.I told him they could last or could fail soon. Short on cash, he is gonna run it.

Okay let's hope for a better week!

Only communists stop for stop signs. They ruin everything.

Update ! This is the damage Frankie's son did. I had to heat the bumper with a heat-gun to get some kinda shape back from it.



He bent the Radiator and A/C condenser pretty good. They where not leaking, but could have started anytime. I gave them a " no confidence" rating.
It is soooo slow at work, decided to take care of it, for a Christmas gift.

Front frame rail. Before....

After I beat the snot out of it with a BFH.

Radiator, damn that was jacked up !

I hate these cars, that require this much teardown, just to replace a radiator.

Wow, i cant believe that radiator didnt spring a leak.