Good news, bad news

[unixronin]

Good news:  The plumber was back today, and in addition to the new relief valve and new shut-off valves installed on Thursday, our water heater now has a new expansion tank on the inlet and new inlet and outlet connections (both of which were leaking).  Hopefully this will be the end of our water heater problems.

Bad news:  I've just had to call the podiatrist and cancel my followup appointment for today on 20 minutes' notice, to be rescheduled later when their computer system is back up, because the car won't start.  I'm still not 100% certain whether it's a weak battery or a failing starter; both could cause the observed symptoms.  The least expensive of the probable fixes is to replace the battery, and it's probably due (it's five years old), so we'll try that first.  With luck, I can get it done today, if I can get the car over to the battery shop across the street.  I don't know if I can manage to do it myself or not; while I'm perfectly competent to do it, the battery is pretty well buried down in there, and I don't know if I can bend over the engine compartment long enough to do it with my knees and back in the shape they're in.

Comments

[motomuffin.livejournal.com]

Hey, at least you didn't have to cancel your dr. appointment because your bike died on you *halfway there*. BTDT. Then not only are you missing the dr. appointment but you're stuck in f*cking Bolton, MA where there's NOTHING. :P

Wait, that was supposed to be optimism... !!

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

That would indeed suck. If there's one thing worse than being stranded at home, it's being stranded in the middle of nowhere.

[cymrullewes.livejournal.com]

I must be missing something... being stranded at home is a good thing. Hot chocolate, comfy clothes, reading chair, books, Internet connection with no one looking over your shoulder (remind me to show you the wintersilks I was looking at), and knowing that no matter what you can't be forced out.

It's being stuck at work is worse than being stranded in the middle of nowhere. :-)

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Having been stranded in the middle of nowhere, I disagree. At least stranded at work, you have somewhere warm, lit and inside to go and sit down, where you can use a phone and call for assistance and tell people exactly where you are.

Nevertheless, your point is taken: my wording was poor, and there are in fact many worse places to be stranded than at home. Most of them, in fact.

[radarrider.livejournal.com]

I'm going to guess that the symtom of the problem is that, when you turn the key in the ignition, all you get is a click, or a series of clicks, and the engine does not turn over. Most likely a dead battery. However, another possibility is that one of the battery leads is not tightly connected. It could have wiggled loose or there could be some corrosion. Even if it feels tight, it might not be making good contact. So, assuming that you can reach the battery well enough to do this, you might try disconnecting the leads, checking to make sure the posts and the connectors are relatively free of corrosion, and then putting the leads back on tightly.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Actually, I have to do some checking with a meter ... I'm now suspecting that one cell of the battery may have failed. It is over five years old, and pretty well out on the bathtub curve.

[radarrider.livejournal.com]

Normally with a dead battery, the engine will still run if you can get it started (i.e. with jumper cables). I once had a battery in my motorcycle fail so badly that the engine simply would not run if it was in circuit once I disconnected the jumper cables. The battery was shorted through and would draw so much power from the charging system that there wasn't enough left over to power the iginition system.

[richspk.livejournal.com]

What car is this? ISTR that you were trying to sell a Mercedes, but I may be thinking of someone else.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

We were, but this is the Dodge Intrepid. Despite its shortage of power, cymrullewes has decided she likes the Mercedes for her daily commute because of its good gas mileage and almost ridiculously tight turning circle.

No....

[cymrullewes.livejournal.com]

it's because of its good gas mileage and the fact that it does NOT the right receptacles for girls' car seats to attach to.

If it had the rear tether hooks and the LATCH system then I would be taking the Intrepid (I think the gas cost is a toss-up actually. It takes less but it takes a more expensive grade. But I do like the fact that I only have to fill up once a week instead of twice a week.)

[richspk.livejournal.com]

Ah. Yeah, I've heard about how they bury the batteries in the Chrysler "cab forward" cars. You have to go in through the wheel well, IIRC.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Gad, I hope not, because if I have to do that, I don't have the facilities to do it.

[olafthunderfoot.livejournal.com]

you could always ask the guys at the battery shop to give you a jump start to get the car there!

batteries have a useful life of about 4-6 years. more then likely it's just a bad battery. although radarrider does bring up a good point about loose battery cables. btw, what kinda car is it again?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

2000 Dodge Intrepid R/T.

[olafthunderfoot.livejournal.com]

i think those batteries are inside the wheel well.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Pretty much right in front of the wheelwell, I think.

[olafthunderfoot.livejournal.com]

still a bugger to get to! didja ever get it taken care of?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Had to have the battery shop do it. It's so buried in there I could hever have gotten to it without a hoist.

[olafthunderfoot.livejournal.com]

kewl, now you don't have to worry about it for 3 to 5 years.