A leakey radiator did all this!

“Over the weekend my wife, my dog Lakota, and I traveled to the central coast for a nice relaxing weekend. Our car was in great shape except for a tiny crack on the top of the radiator that squirted a bit of fluid. It happened right before the trip so I didn't have time to fix it until after we got back. I asked my father if I should take the jeep and leave the car. He advized me that the car would be fine as long as I checked the fluid every now and then.

Well the trip was great, went kayaking, walks on the beach, and other cool stuff. For some reason it seems less fun now due to the following:

On the way back the battery light came on. Then as night fell and I turned on the lights our electrical system went out. Had to get a tow back to the nearest town $70.00, stay in a motel $45.00, and have the car fixed the next morning $280.00. So off we went again, this time determined to make it home. Got 1 mile from the house and it over heated, cracked the head or blew the head gasket.

So the next day my wife takes my jeep to work and I prepare to ride my bike to school. As I'm pumping up the tire, the valve stim breaks.
So now I dont have any transportation. Guess who has to drive me around now....the advice giver.

Moral of the story, don't listen to pops when he says everything is gonna be just fine.”

“Oh and the radiator caused the alternator to go out by pissing all over it for the entire trip.”

“damn! That sucks, badly!”

“i hate it when that happens.....”

“That sucks.

My dad once "fixed" the radiator on my car, I got halfway home and the radiator blew. Didn't cost as much as yours but then I was a college student so it was a major expense.

Brings back the thoughts of the '60's and '70--never trust your parents!

Tell your dad he owes you all that new gear that you were going to buy, but can't now because of his "wonderful" advice!”

“My friend's dad changed a tire for her once (he's not very mechanically inclined). She called me later that afternoon from a gas station. She needed a ride since her wheel fell completely off. Guess dad couldn't even change a tire right!”

“That's too bad. I've got war stories that could fill a book!

What kind of car is it? Let me know if you need help fixing it. You live in Fresno right? That's an hour south of me.”

“Just think an ounce of prevention and a few hrs was all that was required. Where was your duct tape?”

“The radiator leak caused the bike tire value to break? Put in a new tube. That would take about 3 minutes for me. I don’t ride without a spare tube, a patch kit and a pump. Sorry about the bad luck. If I could I would use a car only about twice a week. Unfortunately where I live all our infrastructure and “planning” is automobile travel centered. I stopped riding the bicycle to work. It was to dangerous.”

“It's a Toyota Camry 91, I'm getting a rebuilt head from Kragen for $450.00 and I plan to fix that my self. I replaced my Jeep's engine last summer so this shouldn't be any more difficult than that. And fortunately I'm getting the last of my financial aid for the semister next week.

I think I'll pull some sort of guilt trip on my dad and get him to buy my wife the backpack I had been planning on getting for her ...”

“Yeah, duct tape probably would have prevented this from happening! Oh well, now I'm trying to justify it all because the valvues were warn and ready for an overhaul anyway. In the morning the car smoked for a minute due to the leakey valvues. Replacing the head will give my car some new life and spare the air right?”

“Sorry to hear that. #&%!$ happens. Is it Friday the 13th already. LOL”

“That really sucks. Car problems are the absolute worst. Hope you don't have to go through something like that again!”

“It was a sad realization to see how dependant I am on my car. Of course if the bike didn't give me trouble I would have been fine.
There is absolutly no public transportation near where I live.”

“Mtn gal, you are too funny about the "infrastructure and planning." You said it. Welcome to the West kids, where everyone drives a 1 ton 200 miles a day, by his or her self.

Thinair, when I was 15 w/ my first car, I started havin' brake troubles. I told my dad and he said that he thought I didn't really know what was up, since I was a new driver. Three days later, my brakes completely failed as I was flyin' down the highway at 55 mph. I had a huge pick-up in front of me that was stopped behind a bus, little kids in the outside lane and a huge drop off on my passenger side. I had no choice but to freakin' pull the emergency brake and rear end the truck. I told my little bro and sisters to tighten their seat belts and get ready . . . . BAMMMM! You should have seen what that did to my radiator. It was in my engine block. It was a land yacht of a car though, so we were all okay, just minor bumps and bruises, and the guy was happy. His box was so screwed up, he got a whole new pickup.”

“YIKES, newgirl!! scary city.

i really hate cars. i don't know anything about them, and they're total money-pits. i have to pay a ridiculous amount of insurance because i'm still 23, and i only drive the stupid thing like twice a month. i think that when you buy a car, you should be able to get everything fixed on it, for free, forever! why not?? hehe.”

“Nice! Maybe someone will run into my car while it's sitting in the drive way so I can get a new car!”

“My friend’s car overheated on a long uphill on the way out for a backpacking trip. We were on the side of the highway on a blind curve and were a little nervous about getting creamed. I was real happy when a cop car pulled up a few minutes later because I figured his flashing lights would protect us. How naive of me! He spent about twenty minutes trying to find something to write a ticket for. He even checked the pull out radio to see if it had the serial numbers removed. What took the cake was when he said he could give him a ticket for releasing toxic waste – the radiator fluid. When he finally left us stranded, it felt like we’d been raped. What a total dick.”

“Newgirl, that's not true, I only drive about 10 miles a day, by myself, in my 1-ton truck!!!!!”

“I hear ya' on ins. Lyra. I have the same, "you're 23" prob. I have a friend who thinks cars are just "large, metal death wagons which can easily become weapons to be used on one's self or others." I think that's so funny.”

“Get a scooter!”

“Okay, okay, so I may have been a little over the top on the mileage Chief. LOL!”

“that's very true, they're death wagons. i can't believe there aren't more crashes...seems miraculous, really.

yeah, i've had one fender-bender when i was 16, and nothing since then...yet i have to pay over $1200 a year for insurance!! luckily, the next time i pay, it will be half that because i'll be the big 2-4.

thankfully, the only times i've broken down, someone i knew drove by and helped me, or some random trucker-dude changed my tire or whatever. people keep teaching me how to do stuff like change tires, but it doesn't sink in...i do a mean job of adding oil, though! oh yeah. LOL!”

“You were lucky he didn't cuff you and take you in for impersonating a person!

"We don't need no stinkin trolls 'round here, bowah!"”

“when it breaks down, you can shoot it and then eat it and then make clothes out of the hide...best of all worlds...ride, kill, eat, wear.”

“Rosey, this is MT, it's like 20 degrees out there right now. Scooters are not only not practical, but riding one will probably insight rednecks to extreme rage. LOL!

Want to hear a funny scooter story though? I knew you guys did.

When I lived in Holland, my bf had a scooter and he was trying to get me to learn to drive it. So, we're headin' down the st. and he's on the back and I have to make a turn, up onto a bridge over a canal. As I'm making the turn, I can't balance his weight on the back. I totally crashed into the side of the bridge and the scooter went flying. We both kinda' leapt off and hit the pavement running. There was this guy fishing in the canal (sick, people piss in that thing all the time) and he pointed and started laughing his a$$ off at us.”

“I've had a few fender-benders.”

“That stretch you drive to school everyday scares me, newgirl! There's always some horrifiic accident along there! =80”

“I know Aero and I drive it in the middle of the freakin' night! So far, so good though. You should have seen the gigantic deer slaughter I had to roll around last night. I hope whoever hit that thing, had a cow pusher.”

“How about a scooter with snowtires... and a cowpusher?”

“That funny stuff, ShadowTilt.”

“Thanks Hikin Mike for the offer, I'll let you know if I need a hand. I'm going to enlist the help of my dad, but not his advice!”

“Thanks Hikin Mike for the offer, I'll let you know if I need a hand. I'm going to enlist the help of my dad, but not his advice!”

“My "new" old Jeep (91 Cherokee Laredo) seemed in good shape. I arrived at work 35 miles from where I live to discover all the antifreeze was on the ground. Ends up there was a hole in the coolant reservoir tank.

Got a new one. But now it's running a bit hot. And I see all kinda drops of stuff underneath it. DAMN! I hope the Jeep isn't ruined cuz of that frickin hole!!! It needs to go back into the shop for sure.

AND I LOVE MY JEEP!! eerrrr... JEEPS!!”

“Get a man.”

“Bummer...coolant system blowout can do some major damage.

For the future, I know this is waaaay to late, but I suggest you get a Rubbermaid container for your trunk, in which you keep a gallon of mixed 50/50 water/anti-freeze, radiator hose tape, radiator stopleak (many kinds depending on where the leak is and what kind of radiator you have), a towel (to put over the radiator cap if you have to open it while the engine is hot), and handrags. And if the engine temp light/gauge says you're running hot, for Heaven's sakes pull over and check things out. If you run the heater, it'll pull heat from the engine coolant and cool it somewhat. Then when the engine is cool enough, take the vehicle to a shop asap to have it checked out.

In the Rubbermaid container also keep spare oil, brake, steering, transmission and windshield wiper fluids; spare fuses; jumper cables; tire plug kit; wratchets, screwdrivers and wrenches to change headlights, hoseclamps, etc.; a flashlight; tire guage and cigarette lighter driven tire pump; flares/reflectors, etc. It is also prudent to have handy a Haynes book (sold at any auto store) regarding the make and model of your vehicle. Those babies can make some jobs you'd never even attempt an easy task.”

“Get a man.”

“I guess I'm a minority among most of you. I love to drive. A car should be more then a tool to get you from A to B, it should be fun to drive.”

“Having gone thru a bunch of different vehicles, (cars, vans, etc..) sucks. I have had plenty of experience of replacing parts, and trying to keep a car from falling apart. Rad.'s are no fun to deal with. Had one replaced with a "new" one for a van, only to have it spewing within the hour! Had IT replaced with a beat up USED one, and it worked better than the "new" one! I've never had a new car, in all my life. Maybe I'll get lucky one day, and be able to afford one!

Yeah, right! Who am I foolin'?

Good luck to you on getting your wheels fixed. Hope nothing ELSE goes wrong.....!”