feste_sylvain

This morning, I brought the kids (and their ski gear) the three or so miles to school, and then toodled my way to my new job.

For about a quarter mile.

Then the nasty flashing radiator warning light came on.

Well, pfui. I'd recently topped off the radiator fluid (because I have a slow leak which I couldn't afford to have fixed before I got this new job), so this was a bit soon for another nasty flashing warning.

Then the engine started making grinding noises whenever I accelerated.

Ew. Well, this is the coldest morning in quite a while, so maybe when the engine warms up...

...except that it should have warmed up way before now. In fact, shouldn't I be getting some heat in here?

As I made the turn onto Rt. 62, the engine stalled, the battery light and the "Check Engine" light came on, and I lost power to the steering and the brakes. I released the clutch in 3rd gear and jump-started the engine, which made the battery light go out, but the "Check Engine" light stayed on. Pshit.

I managed to get all the way to work with only one more incident, but that was way too many. I called up the shop, and they were all booked for the day. "Just bring it in tomorrow morning".

Dude, I'm not at all confident it's going to make it that far. I think I could get it to your shop today after the weather warms up a bit under the car's own power, but I strongly doubt it will take me home and then get all the way to the shop tomorrow.

So I did that. The engine didn't make any grinding noises, and the battery never cut out, but the radiator warning and the "Check Engine" lights stayed on.

So much for our tax refund this year. I'll get a full assessment of the costs tomorrow.

Pfeh.