Monday, June 9, 2008

Kickstart my heart--or at least my car!

About a half an hour ago, I went merrily on my way to head out to the grocery store. When I opened my car door, something sounded different. The window always goes down a fraction of an inch when you open the door, then goes back up when you close it. Something to do with a tight seal. Then when I got in and close the door, CLUNK. The latch wouldn't engage. I thought, "Uh-oh," and sure enough, when I went to start it, it was deader than a doornail. Slick was DEAD!

Grrr, how irritating. This happened once before when we first got it. I forget what it's called, but there's a low level electric current that runs through the car body to stop rust. Sometimes I think it's just enough to drain the battery--maybe it has something to do with the hot weather, I don't know. So I paged Ken and sent an email, and he called pretty quickly. We have a charger for the motorcycle, and he talked me through hooking it up. (After talking me through how to get the stupid hood open, but that's another story.) As soon as I plugged it in, the lights on the anti-rust thing came on, and I was able to close the door, so I managed not to blow up my beloved car! Ken said to let it charge for about a half an hour, and I should be good to go. Kengineer to the rescue!

It's funny--I probably only go out a couple of times a week, so it's not like I drive somewhere every day. But when I DO need to go somewhere, it's a terrible feeling to not have wheels. It makes me feel stranded! Luckily, disaster was averted.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would have the battery checked if you haven't changed it in a while a car in need of repair is always a headache I have those headaches all around here ..
enjoy your time at home
hugs
Sherry

Anonymous said...

I can SO feel your pain Sister..... Mine is still giving me trouble. : (

Anonymous said...

Slick is a dealership fancied up model, complete with Cathodic Protection (than anti-rust thing).  Thing is, it is always on, so even thought the car is only three years old, and the battery is not too old, during hot weather, the capacity of the battery is lower - it drains.  Another learning moment brought to you by Kengineer :o)

Anonymous said...

Poor Slick

Anonymous said...

I have never named a car but the other day i called the car i just bought "Betty Bomb" so maybe it has a name now. I truly know what it is like to not have wheels so i know what you mean.....so glad you got Slick going again!! My brother calls his MIL "Slick".
HUGS!