- 3,603
So, a couple weeks ago I thought I might have had to resign from the Crappy Car Club. I had fixed the oil pan leak and the transmission leak, had the car (1995 Dodge Neon, 4 door, auto trans, power nothing with a non-working A/C system. Blue. Aftermarket (but still crappy) rims and half-decent tires) polished up nicely, and gotten the rear speakers fixed/working properly.
Well, the engine is still leaking. As far as me/my dad can tell, it's out of the main seal, meaning that I'm not going to attempt this at home. Perhaps in Auto 12 next semester, but not now.
So now, you're thinking. Ok, what's worse about this? He shouldn't be in the C^3 [how do you make superscript?]. Until you find out what happened last night.
Coming back from Victoria to where I live (small town 20 minutes north of Vic.), I was cutting the fuel a little low. Only having had this car for a few months, I haven't had the needle on 'E' yet. I figure, that like any other car, 'E' basically means that you've got about half an hour's driving left before you get gas. Not with the Neon. The only accurate guage in the car is the fuel guage (as I now know), and when it reads 'E' it's on fumes. So I'm about 7 minutes from home, driving past an indian reserve, and the car starts to hesitate, buck, and quits. I pull off the highway, fairly worried that something major was wrong, having never run a vehicle out of gas before. I didn't think it would have run out so soon. I'm alone, with no cell phone, but luckily a good samaritan stops and gives me use of her cell phone. I call my dad, who's on his way to work. No help there. I call my mom, who comes to pick me up. I take all the valuables out of the car, and head home. I'll get it in the morning, as there is no school due to a teacher strike (week 2 now).
10:00AM... Doorbell rings. My dad is there, already put gas in the car from a jerry can. Jump out of bed (Damn alarm didn't go off.), get in the van and head over to the car. This is going to be a bad day.
Some a@*$#!% [natives are my best guess, seeing as how this was near a reserve] had the bright idea to bust my window. Not good. Look inside, all my insurance, glovebox contents, coveralls, are strewn about. Nothing stolen, though. Look a little closer, past the glass shards, to the upholstry. S**t. I had a can of oil strapped to the back of the drivers seat to top up the oil if needed. That can of oil had been emptied on the seats, carpets, all over. "@#*(^*%!*$%%@#&#$)#^$^$^%^@#*$^@!@!!!*$^" pretty much sums up the words from my mouth.
I take a short, miserable drive home and get started. There's an auto wrecker an hour away that's got the glass I'm looking for. $75. I'll go later. Go to the auto parts store. $20 for varsol and a window crank remover. I start on the interior. Vacuum it out, apply varsol to upholstry using a scrubbrush. Proceed to shampooing the interior, using a concoction of steam cleaner detergent and dish washing soap mixed with water. Soak it into the seats really well. Freshwater rinse. The seats are dripping by now, so I hit it with a shop vac to suck up the water. Go to the auto wreckers for the window around 3:00.
Fast forward to now. Interior is still very damp, window sitting at my dad's house waiting to be installed tomorrow. I've got a fan blowing inside overnight, and all I can do now is wait. I'm really unsure if the oil will come out or not. I don't want to have to buy a new seat(s), but if I have to I will. All out of my own pocket, since I only have liability insurance.
I've got basically nothing to go on in terms of who did this. It happened between 9:30PM and morning on the busiest highway in the area. Nothing obvious left behind, although I'm sure there are a fair amount of prints on the oil can. I haven't reported this to the police, as I highly doubt they would do anything about this.
Well, that's my pissed-off story of the day. I'll post updates as they come.
Well, the engine is still leaking. As far as me/my dad can tell, it's out of the main seal, meaning that I'm not going to attempt this at home. Perhaps in Auto 12 next semester, but not now.
So now, you're thinking. Ok, what's worse about this? He shouldn't be in the C^3 [how do you make superscript?]. Until you find out what happened last night.
Coming back from Victoria to where I live (small town 20 minutes north of Vic.), I was cutting the fuel a little low. Only having had this car for a few months, I haven't had the needle on 'E' yet. I figure, that like any other car, 'E' basically means that you've got about half an hour's driving left before you get gas. Not with the Neon. The only accurate guage in the car is the fuel guage (as I now know), and when it reads 'E' it's on fumes. So I'm about 7 minutes from home, driving past an indian reserve, and the car starts to hesitate, buck, and quits. I pull off the highway, fairly worried that something major was wrong, having never run a vehicle out of gas before. I didn't think it would have run out so soon. I'm alone, with no cell phone, but luckily a good samaritan stops and gives me use of her cell phone. I call my dad, who's on his way to work. No help there. I call my mom, who comes to pick me up. I take all the valuables out of the car, and head home. I'll get it in the morning, as there is no school due to a teacher strike (week 2 now).
10:00AM... Doorbell rings. My dad is there, already put gas in the car from a jerry can. Jump out of bed (Damn alarm didn't go off.), get in the van and head over to the car. This is going to be a bad day.
Some a@*$#!%
I take a short, miserable drive home and get started. There's an auto wrecker an hour away that's got the glass I'm looking for. $75. I'll go later. Go to the auto parts store. $20 for varsol and a window crank remover. I start on the interior. Vacuum it out, apply varsol to upholstry using a scrubbrush. Proceed to shampooing the interior, using a concoction of steam cleaner detergent and dish washing soap mixed with water. Soak it into the seats really well. Freshwater rinse. The seats are dripping by now, so I hit it with a shop vac to suck up the water. Go to the auto wreckers for the window around 3:00.
Fast forward to now. Interior is still very damp, window sitting at my dad's house waiting to be installed tomorrow. I've got a fan blowing inside overnight, and all I can do now is wait. I'm really unsure if the oil will come out or not. I don't want to have to buy a new seat(s), but if I have to I will. All out of my own pocket, since I only have liability insurance.
I've got basically nothing to go on in terms of who did this. It happened between 9:30PM and morning on the busiest highway in the area. Nothing obvious left behind, although I'm sure there are a fair amount of prints on the oil can. I haven't reported this to the police, as I highly doubt they would do anything about this.
Well, that's my pissed-off story of the day. I'll post updates as they come.
....funny in a way but not THAT funny if it happens to you....
