I've Come Full Circle #27

[kat727]

Well the battery is bad. It won't even turn over now. We ended up calling AAA and they said it was a bad battery but my Dad just bought it in September! He said it wouldn't start again once we turned it off. He wasn't lying...not even a click when I tried it after ex and I got it home.

At least he was trying to help and stayed around until 6:30. He called AAA while I was still working and then was out with the car. There was another car parked beside it so he couldn't get his cables to it.

Just have to love all of it!
kat

[NoCodeBlues]

A battery dieing that quickly might mean a bad alternator.

[kat727]

Spent a good part of the day dealing with the dead battery. My Dad had bought the other one and we tried to go back to where he bought it but the darn place wasn't where it said it should be. Finally find it but it is only open Monday through Friday 8-5! So come up with an idea that my parents can perhaps get a refund on that battery and we will just buy a new one. They felt bad that the battery went kaput so gave us the funds to buy a replacement. S17 will be paying them back just as he is for the work my Dad did on the car.

Finally got it and then got it in. Everything works so much better. So we will be keeping an eye on it. But it did start right up. I have had my alternator go out before and it is a gradual slow down. I was stuck over the Missouri river, on the bridge, in November, on the interstate for 4 hours before someone finally stopped and helped. This was all before cell phones were common. What a nightmare!!

And no, S17 won't be driving far from here so I can always get to him.

kat

[MichelleLT]

Wow! Craziness.

Glad ex was helpful, and thank god for AAA! Good stuff.

Glad you got a new battery!

[mishka422]

Glad you got that all fixed. Cars are such PITA's!!! Why oh why can't we just gas up and go. LOL!

I've had alternators go super quick before. If the battery didn't drain and die again overnight then it probably was just the battery. That's great. A lot cheaper than an alternator.

Hope you are staying warm there in KS. It's wet, cold, and miserable here!

[WCW]

My H was leaving early one morning to go hunting and he got about 1/4 mile up the road and his vehicle died. 4am I had to go pull him back home. It was the alternator, the only clue he had was the lights were a little dim that morning.

Glad you have a good support team to help when you need it!

The weather really beat my butt last week, round 2 coming in a few days. How's it going there?

[kat727]

I may have spoken too soon because the car didn't start today. Pain in the rear and of course right around the holidays!! My folks are going to be in town Tuesday and dad will check the battery. It probably wasn't fully charged at Walmart, my fault for not asking. Any way, S17 found rides to school all week and hid Dad will get him to work on Friday in case we don't have it up and running.

You have to realize this car is an oldie(1982 Buick skyhawk) but my Dad knows enough about cars to get it going. It was my grandmothers. She bought it a couple of years before she died and then she gave it to me, so at least we don't have a ton of money invested but my Dad has put in a lot of time. I will think about it later.

kat

[karen43]

I don't know, Kat. We had lots of used cars and they always seemed to become more and more money pits as time went on and seemed to be so unreliable, but X and I are both clueless when it comes to cars other than taking them to the shop.

Did you have anything fun in your weekend besides battery problems??? Hope so!!! (((((((kat))))))))

[WCW]

What's the easy test to check an alternator? while the car is running disconnect a battery cable, if it stays running that means the alternator works.

A 1982? do you have collector plates on it? Around here I think that's a one time fee, you might be able to save a little on your annual plates. ?

[kat727]

I read that but since the car isn't running... Ah well. The alternator belt looks bad anyway so probably better that there are some problems to check out now. Just feel terrible that my Dad will mess with it some more.

If my son didn't appreciate his grandpa before, he certainly does now.

kat