Oh the joys of owning a car that has no local dealership. I can't even get the tires I use in town without ordering them in advance. I think I'm lucky to find an air filter that fits at a local auto parts store. At least oil filters and fuses are pretty basic.
I've been fighting various car gremlins for quite some time now. Aside from the small oil and power steering leaks that have existed for some time, there's also a transmission leak. And possibly a radiator leak. Of course the AC hasn't worked for years and the entire HVAC system has always been a little lacking in my mind. I could do something about that, but I've made it through two summers here without AC, so why fix it now when I only expect to a get a couple more years out of this car. The front passenger window control doesn't work. The rear passenger window control doesn't work either, at least not the control on the rear door. The rear driver side window control sometimes works, sometimes not. Passenger seat controls are suspect, but I don't have to sit there. The brakes are probably close to needing new pads. I have the pads, already bought them. I just don't know where to go with them. I could do them myself with the right tools. I suppose I actually have enough tools, but they might not strictly be the right ones. It's mostly I'd like to have a real jack holding up the car, not some flat tire emergency jack. There's this weird and not-so-great sounding noise coming from my left-rear suspension when I turn to the right. My trunk light switch doesn't always close which causes the trunk light to stay on some of the time. Solution: unplug the trunk light. I had to chew through a battery in nine months to find that one out. At least Sears honored the three-year warranty. They also happened to be the only place in town that carried the type of battery my car uses. Yes, the battery need not be exactly the same, but it does need to fit. And then there's this fuse I keep blowing. I've gone through seven fuses counting the original one. The fuse is for my right tail-light, license plate lights, center console backlight, and dash backlight. It also has something to do with those funky little wipers on my headlights. That's probably why they haven't worked in a while. I've discovered that I can put in a new fuse and it will be fine until I jiggle the trunk the slightest bit. It can be fully open and shaken just a bit or closed and then opened slightly and the fuse will blow. I haven't tested what will happen if I leave the trunk closed and just try driving around. But that sure makes it seem like there's a short in a wire that might move a little when the trunk opens. Perhaps like a wire near the hinge. But all those wires look fine or are unreachable without drastic surgery. Hurray!
Only 12,000 more miles to 300,000. At the current rate I accrue miles, that'll take two years. I just might make it.
2 comments:
You need to ask for a raise so you can afford a decent used car. Either you replace with a bicycle or a horse. Take public transportation...etc. Sell you old lemon in Ebay!!!
The license plate lights and the trunk light have to be on different wires. Go get that voltmeter I have suggested and figure out which is which. Then cut the trunk light where you can reach the end of the wire so you can re-install a (not necessarily "the") trunk light some day -- maybe.
Electrical gremlins will be the eventual death of any modern car not run into a tree.
Hold out until you get into the next phase of your life.
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