Monday, June 23, 2008

Check out these ladies!

So today my mom and I set off around noon to run some errands together. First on the list was the bank so I could buy the things on my list today. When I pulled up to the bank, I was just running over to the ATM so I left my mom in the car, and being the nice daughter I am, left it running with the a/c on for her too. When I got back in the car after making my deposits I started to pull out of the parking lot when I hear a weird noise, that almost sounded like a pot was boiling over. I asked my mom if that sounded like it was coming from my car, and right then the temp. light dinged and the sound got really loud. As the temp. needle was climbing very quickly to the red zone my mom said, "Park, QUICK!". She didn't have to tell me twice. I did find a nice spot with shade though. Anyway, we jumped out and I popped the hood to see one of the caps with some writing on it spitting liquid out furiously toward us. Great, this is just what we needed. We had a busy day of shopping and errands to run. No time for silly car problems. Hummm, what to do now. Well, we figured I was probably out of water and that's why it overheated. Sounded right. We called my mom's long time car fix it guy who said, yep, that's probably it. We are so smart. So we walked across the parking lot to the Olive Garden and asked for some water. We considered staying and having a bite to eat first, but we figured we start with the car and come back when we finished. The nice man at the restaurant gave us a jug full of water and said come back if we need. We left on a mission to fill up the car. When we got there, the engine was still very hot and my mom said this is how people get burned by steam, so watch out. Great. She was holding the water, which meant I had to hold open the lid. Who do you think was going to get burned? ME! Okay, ready, 1, 2, 3... shhhhhhh (that's my sound effect for the steam) I closed the lid and jump back as soon as the first drops touched the engine. They weren't even close to the opening yet. Good thing I'm smart. I took me hair clip out of my hair and used it to hold open the cap. No more fingers in the way, pour away mom! She did and nothing seemed to be happening. After about 1/2 the gallon was poured in, we still couldn't see any water in the water holding tank thing. And what's the weird sound as my mom poured. We can hear the water going somewhere. Where is it going? And why is there so much water on the ground underneath the car? I don't get it, do you mom? (Always ask your mom when in doubt, they always have some answer) Well lets look. Oh my, look! The water is coming right out that tube there and pouring onto the ground. Is that right? NO!

Did someone cut my tube, what a weird tube to cut. Let's call the tow company. Dang. We just paid over $1400 to get the steering column fixed last month, but I guess I can't drive around with water pouring all over the ground. Just then I see my friend Kelly walking out of the yummy Olive Garden. She was on her lunch break and on her way back to work at the bank. I yelled over to her, "Hey Kelly, can I borrow your car? :)" She came over and I told her what happened. She ran into the bank and grabbed Ben, a really nice guy who knew a bunch about cars. Thank you Ben!

He looked at the car and my mom and I quickly learned that we had been pouring the water into the overflow thing and the water was suppose to come out. Yeaaa! In all respects to my mom's knowledge of cars, which is actually pretty high, she probably would of figured that out if her silly daughter wasn't so obsessed with the bright yellow lid that had all the spitting fluid coming out at her. So Ben helped my mom pour the water into the right water jug thing and said we should be fine and sent us on our way. Way to go Ben and mom.

But I still have to say, how smart am I with the hair clip and the super hot yellow lid! And thank goodness for easy, cheap car fixes.

1 comment:

Tanja said...

So, girl...You need to take this a step further. Water only is only oh so temporary. It's going to quickly evaporate in the heat and you'll be in bad shape. So get some radiator fluid...You, know....coolant/anti-freeze. Put that in there and continue to check it regularly. Call with questions...(Oh, and put a jug of coolant(not water, in your car(meaning store in the trunk)