Car Problems and lots of fun

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I was going to take my car in today to see exactly what was wrong with it. It started up fine after charging the battery, but this morning the battery was dead again. Hmmm, didn’t seem to want to hold a charge. I tried the jumper box and it was no go. I hooked up the charger again, but the battery would not charge up. I took the cover off of the battery and found out the problem. The four year old batter was leaking acid and the sides were bulging. After 4 years, I guess the battery gave up.

Now it was off to town to get a battery. First to Wally World, no battery for my truck. First Car Part store, no go. They could order it for tomorrow… How do I get around? I’ll try the dealer. Dealer was a no go too, they could get it tomorrow too. So I stopped at the next Car Part store. Yes, they had one (maybe). The guy knew there was one there this morning, but he thought it may have been sold. They went to check and it was still there. Yeah.

I got home and installed the battery and the truck started right up. So for now I will keep an eye on the truck to make sure the battery isn’t getting drained by something. But with the looks of the old one, and a strange smell that was no missing, I’m sure it was just the battery. So for now, the truck is up and running.

Special thanks in this to my newlywed daughter and her husband for driving this old man around town looking for a battery.
Also thanks to the Admin for the use of his battery jumper. It only worked once, but that wasn’t the fault of the device.

I do have a question. Why do new cars and truck enclose the battery in a box? You can no longer see the battery and lose visual clues as to its condition. I think I would have looked for a battery sooner if I had seen a side bulging.

6 thoughts on “Car Problems and lots of fun”

  1. The only reason I can figure is that car manufacturer’s hope that the box over the battery will make UN-mechanical people, such as myself, look at it and go, “Oh my God, I’m not touching THAT!!!” and go to the dealership to have it fixed, which is WAY overpriced, but when you’re desperate, and non car smart, it’s what you do!!!

    Last week I had a headlight out. Little did I know that once you lift the hood, you need a Master’s degree in vehicular engineering (if there is such a thing) to change the stinkin’ bulb!!! The first thing I did was go up to my local auto parts store (in which I was employed for 17 years) and had them replace the bulb. It took 35 minutes!!!! They literally had to take apart my car!!! UGH!!!

    Ok, I’m done ranting…..

  2. Mary, yes some of the headlights can be a bear to replace, unless you have very tiny hands. I should take something out to fix one I put in that isn’t in quite correctly. My hand just wasn’t small enough.

    As for the battery case, I found out you can blame the EPA for that one. Just in case the battery leaks, this box is supposed to catch any of the batter acid before it reaches the ground and gets into something. But if that happens, I know more than one car place that will just rinse the battery box out with a hose. All the acid goes down the drain anyway. Hmmm…

  3. Aesthetics I’m sure. As I have discovered, today’s engines have all sorts of plastic over them, embossed with some logo or other, making them look neat and clean. Can I save $100 if they just keep that useless extra plastic?

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