How's your car been faring during this latest cold snap?

   We just had an adventure driving home from North Campus, about
3 miles.  All of a sudden the car started making really odd noises,
and the alternator light came on.   We thought that the car had
just blown the alternator *again* (Tercels *like* alternators, every
2.5 years), and hightailed it home while the oversized capacitor that
Delco calls a bettery would still deliver enough juice to keep
the headlights going.

   About halfway home Glenda looks at the temperature indicator and
sees that the needle is in the lower portion of the Red Zone.  My
heart skips a beat; I've seen that happen only once in the car's
224K miles.  So we're slithering home and we start to see a little
steam comming out of the front of the car.  Nice peaceful last
mile, wondering if the engine is going to get fried.  But the needle
starts comming down a bit and stays pretty stable.  When we turned
into the driveway I shut the engine off and we glided into home
base.

   A few minutes later after I get a flashlight I look at the
engine, and lo and behold the fan belt slipped off!  It even had
the decency to stay in the car, rather than take a trip down the
road.  The radiator is acting like its pissed off, but its
gurgles aren't that bad.  So we'll put it back on tomorrow
morning.

   Isn't Winter *Fun*?

15 responses total.

I ride a bike. A whole different deal.
I'll tell you, though, even when it's dry out, I can't take a turn 
too tightly. Too much riding on ice and snow. :)

Dido on the bike.  In this case I think you should happy that it was
winter, and cold at that.  Had this happened on a hot summer evening,
you may have made it only a mile dwn the road before the needle got
above the red area.  Then you would have had to call a tow truck or
get the  tool box out the back.

    I *love* winter!   (...Except when the kids get sick ;-)

We put the fan belt back on yesterday and topped off the radiator (we have
a slight leak) and STeve started it up while I watched.  Made the same noise.
I noticed the crank shaft pulley was moving in and out and saw jagged metal.
Just as STeve got out to look, the fan belt jumped off again.
Ann Arbor Toyota said $149.67 for the part.  Red Holman said $14.  Our
mechanic friend says that the $14 sounds more like it, phew.  If we order it
by 10:30 today it will be in by Monday.  Looks like we get to walk this
weekend.

At 224k miles we can't complain too much.

   Sure we can.  The $14 part tuned out to be the *wrong thing*.  RH
Toyota wants $130 for the part; so this weekend, we'll have the *FUN*
of pulling the damn pulley off, and verifying that it is the problem.
I'm glad that we live near 1) work, b) a cheap ATM; c) close food stores.
Sigh.

Not to mention Pets and a Domino's!
You're in the center of the universe!

I found the part in a junk yard.  The man says it should be $15-20 depending
which model it is (there are two different engine types in the 83 Tercel).
We have to pull the thing and take it in so that he can be sure to give us
the right one.  Thank goodness for good friends (our mechanic friend loaned
us his car for the weekend and will stand by for calls if we get in above our
heads).

I don't know if I can attribute this to the winter weather, but
my alternator light started flashing at me on the way home tonight.
I'm just glad the thing didn't die on me somewhere between Detroit 
and here.  :(

I didn't know they made overcoats that small.

   You exhibit a sick mind, Brian!

   It was an interesting adventure.  The junkyard was an amazing place.
For a mere $20, the folks there a) jacked up the dead car that had the
part and pit tires on it, b) towed it to their work area,  c) attached
something powerful to the smashed in front of the car and opened the
space there back up, d) took the part off.  Took them about 1.5 hours
for it all.
 
   Its a nice feeling, knowing that you can actually do something to a
car and get it working again.  I've learned a hell of a lot about cars
in the last 5 years.  Its almost, well, fun!

    and you froze yout butt off to boot. Such a deal!!!

steve - which junk yard? (being in need of a few items myself ... )

Many don't consider a hot engine being a real problem, if the water reaches
the boiling temperature, most cars tend to get a warped engine cover and
the gasket between the engine cover and engine block may start leaking.

That results in a low compression rate, usually.  So, if you want to keep
your car, don't drive with an overheating engine, unless it is an emergency.

With the weather that cold, I guess it was an emergency, also cold air helps.

(Keep in mind that "boiling temperature" is somewhat misleading, since
it's not 100 degrees Celcius inside most normally-functioning
engines.  The cooling system compresses the coolant to increase the
boiling temperature; this is one of the reasons you should never open
an operating radiator.)

re #11:  We went to Michigan Ave Auto Salvage on Michigan Ave in Ypsilanti.
We usually go to Abcat, also on Michigan Ave in Ypsi, just a few blocks west
of Auto Salvage.  In this case Abcat would only sell us the whole engine.  A
bit of over kill, in my opinion.  Toyota Tercel parts being hard to find in
junk yards, we have also gone to a yard on Newburgh Road in Westland.

   Driving home without a water pump scared the hell outof me; but it
was that, or pull over and get a wrecker and stand out in the cold
'till it arrived.  If it hadn't been so cold out I would have never
tried that.  As it was, the water had started burbling out of the
radiator cap, and probably wasn't too far from blowing.

   Also changed the oil after this, since the oil was probably
overheated as well.

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