The Chariots of DOOM

[Greg]

So let me get this straight, Greg...

You've now driven 300+ miles just to make a light go off? 

More like 350 miles. And the light is off.

Sensors on the car tell if everything is functioning properly. Monitors on the sensors tell if the sensors are adjusted or not. If you fix the car the monitors on sensors need to be given time to monitor the sensors to make sure they are working properly. Until the monitors says the sensors are working properly, the car won't pass a smog check. How long does this take? No one knows. The mechanic says he had a woman who had car where it took a year and a half for the monitors to say everything was okay.

When I went in yesterday, the sensor that tripped the check engine light finally cleared. My car no longer has the vapor leak that started this whole journey. However, another sensor on the Catalytic convertor has yet to reset. They don't know why. I can only keep driving. Although when I pulled in yesterday, one of the suggestions was to warm up the car first. I then explained to the mechanic I had just finished a 100 mile drive and the car should be plenty warm at this point.

I have know for quite some time that the electrical system in my car is haunted. Windshield wipers go on at odd times. The battery goes dead for no reason. I hear buzzing noises from the speakers. It's great fun. The most consistent is this barely audible clicking that sounds sort of like the blinkers are on when they are not. I think this monitor problem is all part and parcel of that.

I'll be heading out for another drive on Wednesday. I really need to pass my smog check.

[Drunk Monk]

And the light is off.

yay!

[cranefly]

Damn.

This Prius got us to Washington and back.  Yesterday it even got us to a doctor's appmt.  It's getting 43 mpg (new, it was 47 mpg).

It keeps trying to lure us into a false sense of security.  LCF was thinking we could still drive it into next year.  But I've been increasingly leery.  It's getting ready to strand us in a very bad place.  So we decided to have the main beattery replaced.  Today.  In a couple hours.

The fobs won't work now.  Can't even use the key to open the door.  It's kaput.

Seventeen years, and we pushed it too far by one day.

[cranefly]

Well, that sure went south fast.

I finally got into the dead car.  I put the back seat down and climbed through to the trunk and tried to get at the hidden physical latch for the hatch (I'd done it before), but it proved too painful for my shoulder.  So I bailed and LCF kindly did it.  This gives access to the 12V in the trunk, by the way.

Then AAA comes to check the battery.  He says it tests fine and has me get in to start the engine.  Now comes the mystery.  I think he's giving a jump, but LCF later says it was just test wires hooked up at the time.  We're now not certain what he did.  The car starts, and AAA says I can take the foot off the gas now and it should be fine--because the battery tests fine.  Then he packs up and leaves.

So.  What the hell happened?  Why was the car dead?  Even the eternal blinking fob light on the dash was out.  Did he jump the battery to goose it somehow?  Or not?  Just what we need.  Another mysterious problem.

So I helped load LCF's bike in the back and she drove it to Prius Battery of San Jose and, well, dammit if the power battery pack doesn't test mostly okay.  It 17 years old!  I planned to have the whole battery replaced.  From my reading, refurbishing a battery is just asking for trouble.  But the mechanic (owner, very knowledgeable, very nice, even offered to have his mom give LCF a ride home) says he can't fully evaluate the battery until we resolve the other problems. The other problems involve the instrument cluster going haywire.  I had planned to replace that myself, because there's a very good youtube video on it.  But now he needs to fix it first before fully evaluating the state of the battery pack.  Okay, fine.  That's the new plan.

When LCF told him about the 12V battery problem, he said that with a bad instrument cluster sometimes the car won't fully shut off, and it drains the battery overnight.  That sounds like a good explanation...until you realize that the 12V wasn't  drained.

Anyway, I think fairly early in 2023 we should be looking at another car.  This sounds like a temporary fix.

[Greg]

I have finished my drive. I did a different route through the farmlands of Madera and Mariposa County. It was very pleasant. Even more pleasant was when the nice man at Sullivan Auto said I should take my car over immediately to have the smog check. All the sensors have cleared. I am good to go.

No one could see me until after noon, a wait of over two hours. I made an appointment and will return tomorrow.

[Greg]

And finally on Nov 17, my car passed its smog check. The coda was talking to the smog doctor about the former Guy's tax returns and the cost of the war in Ukraine being higher than the cost of the Gulf War.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

HURRAH!!!!!!

[thatguy]

PHYBI's Back!

In the end, it was just the battery. $52 later and a little blinky idiot light issue that seems to have resolved itself after a few stops and starts on the test ride this morning, all is well. 

Taking her for an annual check on Tues with the newly discovered/recommended local shop. 

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

HURRAH!!!!!!

[King Bob]

Took my car in for the 120K service on Monday. It was an expensive one, about $1100. No unexpected problems, so that was good. I walked home and back, so I got plenty of walking in too.

[Drunk Monk]

We just got the word on our Jetta - 'parasitic electrical drain' WTF? It means that some automatic system keeps draining the battery. Figuring out what's draining it requires an extensive diagnostic and untold hours. It's an old car, so the repairman suggested that we just disconnect the battery when not in use. "Good for theft prevention too" he said. 

Now we have to carry a feckin 10mm wrench in the Jetta, adding to the legendary reputation of the Funkmobile. I need to find a good 8-track tape for it soon. 

[King Bob]

I might have a spare 10mm. I can check.

[Drunk Monk]

Thanks but we'll probably just buy one if I can't find one. I searched my dad's pile of tools yesterday. I'll search mine tomorrow but I think all I have is an adjustable. 

Our local Ace is just a short walk from the bungalow. Much easier than you and I trying to hook up.

[King Bob]

I'd probably use a small crescent wrench myself. More generally useful too.

[cranefly]

Remember when our Prius got a flat, and it fell under the Costco warranty?  Their estimate for getting the replacement tire was "tomorrow."

That was more than a month ago.  LCF has been trying to get somewhere with them.  She talked to a guy who promised to call her on a Monday morning after she cornered him on a Sunday.  "The supplier isn't open on Sunday, but I'll call them and get an update tomorrow--promise."

Nothing.  Weeks later LCF went in and talked to a guy who said, "I've never heard of us even being able to call a supplier.  You just have to wait for it."

Later,  LCF talked to a guy that discovered they had the wrong phone number for us.  So he corrected it.  Another week goes by.

Yesterday LCF went to Costco to shop.  She dropped in on the tire guys and hit the jackpot.  It wasn't busy, and a superintendent was on duty.

He did some checking and the phone number was still wrong.  It hadn't been corrected properly.  As for the tire, there wasn't a record that it had been ordered.  He did so.  His estimate is Monday (tomorrow).  LCF is thinking of going over on Monday just to make certain it moves along this time.

In past weeks, I've had to cancel one PT appmt.  A kindly neighbor drove me to another.  LCF mostly works from home, but on occasion she's had to string together walking, the train, and buses to get to Stanford.  I've been postponing making a Kaiser appmt for a new problem until we get the car straightened out.  Maybe I'll now do so.