Sitting on the front porch with the dogs, Miss Lily was here for a while but when the dogs starting barking at the neighbor raking his hay, she left for the sanctity of the back yard. Then the neighbor drove by, didn't see me sitting here, he about broke his neck looking at the strange car in the driveway. It's a courtesy car from the dealer. Yeh, my baby is in the hospital.
Went to Staples on Thursday to get a new printer. Got halfway through the city and turned on the A/C. Nothing. Crap. Smelled something hot (besides me), smelled like rubber burning. Crap. Got the printer. Left Staples. Turned on the A/C for grins and giggles. HAAAAAAA, cold air. Heard a 'Ding'. Yeh, Yeh, I know I need gas. Drove out of the lot and spied a CHECK GAGES light. Crap. Temp gage is all the way over to the right. Crap. Got out of the city and called the dealer. Now I know what a lot of people think. Why go to the dealer when they charge so much. I've always taken this truck back to the dealer. We have a love-hate relationship, remember? They love my money and I hate it when I yell at them. Anyhow, none of the 'technicians' (what happen to mechanics?) were there, so Ralph had the loaner all ready and said he would call me on Friday.
Friday, I went up there to get Archie's seat and safty vest, talked to the 'tech'. He put in a new fan clutch, the last one was only 5000 miles ago but past the 12 month/12,000 miles warranty by 2 weeks. They might let me slide. Keep in mind, they are on thin ice since the starter issue. (Read blog of 2/5/10). My man, Tony, pointed out the A/C clutch is wobbling, probably the bearings are shot. He was going to flush the radiator, I only had it done at 60,000 miles. The truck has 177,000 miles on it. So, to cut to the chase and make this long story short. Ralph called me late Friday and said the flush didn't do anything and I will need a new radiator. Aftermarket is $172 cheaper than a mopar. All in all I'm looking at $1000 before it's done. Whew. I took the printer back yesterday.
2 comments:
I feel your pain. I had a similar adventure with my diesel truck on the way home one Friday night about two months ago. I work 40 miles from home and there's a lot of barren highway in the middle 20 miles. Fortunately for me, the trouble started just a couple of miles from my job and I was able to limp into a convenience store parking lot. The wrecker and my husband met me there about 30 minutes later. Mine was a busted water pump. The worst of it though was that when it busted, it literally BUSTED into pieces and bent the fan blade which ultimately trashed the radiator. About $1100 later, I was back on the road ...poorer but back on the road.
The label on your post ('cheaper than truck payments') is exactly what we told ourselves when we got the news and when I paid the bill. Better to pay two or three truck payments all at once than truck payments for the next five or six years!
You are so right about that. My truck is running just fine. If I bought a new one, the insurance would be higher, I couldn't throw fire wood in it, etc, etc.
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