Yesterday was not a good day...
So my buddy and I go to the pick and pull out in jersey yesterday, we were looking for some parts for his max and some of the parts I need for my manual conversion. We didn't find much, there were only maybe five 5th gens and one 6th gen there, most of them autos and two stick hatchies where everything looked like it'd been there for years, I decided to hold out for a little longer; plus it was raining pretty bad and didn't want to spend much more time there.
Anyway, coming back to NY on 80 my mom call me and tells me that the radio has "gone crazy" and keeps turning itself off. i'm thinkin ok, she's overloading the alternator, so I tell her to shut the radio off, and to turn off the foglights and the defogger, also, to watch the voltmeter; she says ok and we hang up. After we cross the GWB and are back in the city, moms calls me back and tells me that the car just shut itself off in the middle of an intersection, by this time i'm pissed cuz its seems like everytime my mom takes my car something comes back broken. I say ok, Luis and I are coming over there to see whats up. Lucklily the police had been right behind her when this happened and they helped her to move the whip out of the way until we could get there.
My friend and I get there and we pop the hood and we start looking for obvious signs of damage, there was a funky burning smell around the alternator and i'm thinkin OMG not this s**t again (I replaced it not even a year ago) I check the voltmeter, it reads 8 volts. So I break out the mighty mite and boost the car, starts right up and dies about 15 secs later, I try it again and it starts and stays on, race the engine a bit to get the volts up and have my friend check out the gauge, he tells me its reading 15 volts, i'm like WTF? 16 volts? It reads 16 for about ten secs and then the regulator decides to join the party and drops it back below 14. An old mechanic friend of mine told me that you could disconnect one of the battery terminals while the car was running and if the car stayed running then the problem wasn't the Alt, it was the battery. I tried his test and the car stayed running (so I was relieved to say the least)
I reconnect the battery and throw all the s**t back in the trunk and start driving home, all this time watching the volt gauge and keeping my electrical usage to a minimum, not even headlights and the wipers on intermittent. The voltage never dropped below 12 and yet about ten blocks later, the car dies on me. I'm thinking i'll boost it one more time and see what happens. But this time, when I hook up the booster pack and try to crank, i can hear the starter going but it feels like its not engaging, the engine doesn't kick over at all, I try this a couple of times and nothing still, so I decide to send my mom and my friend home and call a tow truck so I can get out of the effing pouring rain and get it to a shop where they could run a diagnostic on it.
Now don't get me wrong, I have plenty of respect for mechanics, s**t I am one, (just not automotive). But I absolutely HATE taking my car to shops, I don't know why, I just do. Usually I can use my friend's garage (this dude has almost every tool imaginable). Plus an air compressor, lift and engine hoist.
We get to the shop at about 8:00 PM and the guy there has me crank the car a couple of times and he ends up telling me that It could be the fuel pump or the timing belt. At the mere mention of timing belt i almost ruined my pants, that theory would explain the burning smell, and maybe why the engine wasn't kicking over. But it wouldn't stand because the car started and I was able to drive that first time I boosted it. Any ideas anyone?
Sorry for the long ass post, but I had to get it out.
Mom's kill list:
First radio, 500 dollar CDX MP70 - she left the face on the radio while she was out with her friends.
300 dollars worth of tools in the trunk - same time as the radio
Drivers side door lock cylinder - at same time as radio
Alarm - somehow managed to rip some cables out of the brain
*fixed*
Dash lights - At same time as alarm
Right side wheel well mud guard - I don't even want to imagine how this one may've happened.
Coño!
So my buddy and I go to the pick and pull out in jersey yesterday, we were looking for some parts for his max and some of the parts I need for my manual conversion. We didn't find much, there were only maybe five 5th gens and one 6th gen there, most of them autos and two stick hatchies where everything looked like it'd been there for years, I decided to hold out for a little longer; plus it was raining pretty bad and didn't want to spend much more time there.
Anyway, coming back to NY on 80 my mom call me and tells me that the radio has "gone crazy" and keeps turning itself off. i'm thinkin ok, she's overloading the alternator, so I tell her to shut the radio off, and to turn off the foglights and the defogger, also, to watch the voltmeter; she says ok and we hang up. After we cross the GWB and are back in the city, moms calls me back and tells me that the car just shut itself off in the middle of an intersection, by this time i'm pissed cuz its seems like everytime my mom takes my car something comes back broken. I say ok, Luis and I are coming over there to see whats up. Lucklily the police had been right behind her when this happened and they helped her to move the whip out of the way until we could get there.
My friend and I get there and we pop the hood and we start looking for obvious signs of damage, there was a funky burning smell around the alternator and i'm thinkin OMG not this s**t again (I replaced it not even a year ago) I check the voltmeter, it reads 8 volts. So I break out the mighty mite and boost the car, starts right up and dies about 15 secs later, I try it again and it starts and stays on, race the engine a bit to get the volts up and have my friend check out the gauge, he tells me its reading 15 volts, i'm like WTF? 16 volts? It reads 16 for about ten secs and then the regulator decides to join the party and drops it back below 14. An old mechanic friend of mine told me that you could disconnect one of the battery terminals while the car was running and if the car stayed running then the problem wasn't the Alt, it was the battery. I tried his test and the car stayed running (so I was relieved to say the least)
I reconnect the battery and throw all the s**t back in the trunk and start driving home, all this time watching the volt gauge and keeping my electrical usage to a minimum, not even headlights and the wipers on intermittent. The voltage never dropped below 12 and yet about ten blocks later, the car dies on me. I'm thinking i'll boost it one more time and see what happens. But this time, when I hook up the booster pack and try to crank, i can hear the starter going but it feels like its not engaging, the engine doesn't kick over at all, I try this a couple of times and nothing still, so I decide to send my mom and my friend home and call a tow truck so I can get out of the effing pouring rain and get it to a shop where they could run a diagnostic on it.
Now don't get me wrong, I have plenty of respect for mechanics, s**t I am one, (just not automotive). But I absolutely HATE taking my car to shops, I don't know why, I just do. Usually I can use my friend's garage (this dude has almost every tool imaginable). Plus an air compressor, lift and engine hoist.
We get to the shop at about 8:00 PM and the guy there has me crank the car a couple of times and he ends up telling me that It could be the fuel pump or the timing belt. At the mere mention of timing belt i almost ruined my pants, that theory would explain the burning smell, and maybe why the engine wasn't kicking over. But it wouldn't stand because the car started and I was able to drive that first time I boosted it. Any ideas anyone?
Sorry for the long ass post, but I had to get it out.
Mom's kill list:
First radio, 500 dollar CDX MP70 - she left the face on the radio while she was out with her friends.
300 dollars worth of tools in the trunk - same time as the radio
Drivers side door lock cylinder - at same time as radio
Alarm - somehow managed to rip some cables out of the brain
*fixed*
Dash lights - At same time as alarm
Right side wheel well mud guard - I don't even want to imagine how this one may've happened.
Coño!