Last Friday Rusty and I installed a new car battery with the hope that my car would start (the old one was definitely dead). We ran to Auto Zone at 8am, thinking it would be early enough to get the car working before our 11am movie date. No such luck. We made it to the movie but were not car savvy enough to fix the thing. We installed the battery and the car was still dead. Rusty attempted to jump the car with no luck.
My brother gave us two bits of useful counsel, one of which we followed and the other we didn't "get".
POA #1 (Piece of Advice): The connectors were bad (I had battery problems in Boise during Easter weekend). We heeded this advice. We ran back to Auto Zone picked up two connectors, one of which we were able to replace (we gave each other pats on the back). The positive connector was too complicated so we had it towed to the mechanic to fix.
POA #2: Make sure the battery terminals are not capped. Well, I thought the negative terminal came in black just for the heck of it (a splash of contrasting color for the artistic driver) and Rusty apparently didn't even notice the terminal was a different color. Yes, I was embarrassed when the mechanic told me a cap was still on the negative terminal, but felt justified in taking the car in when he said he had to replace the positive connector.
The miracle? For a few years now I have not been able to lock the driver's side door without the alarm going off, so I just came to terms with the fact that if I leave something in the car it may or may not be there when I returned (car included). [Sidenote: One evening I parked my car at my apartment and ran off with some friends, not even paying attention to the fact that I had locked the door. The alarm went off for about five hours until I returned at 1 am (yeah, the neighbors were pissed!).] I went to open the door to drive home from the mechanics and found it was locked and, better yet, silent. The mechanic didn't say anything about fixing the alarm or turning it off. Now I just have to get into the habit of locking the door.
My advice: Don't believe anyone who tells you there is no such thing as miracles today! They happen when you least expect them.
My brother gave us two bits of useful counsel, one of which we followed and the other we didn't "get".
POA #1 (Piece of Advice): The connectors were bad (I had battery problems in Boise during Easter weekend). We heeded this advice. We ran back to Auto Zone picked up two connectors, one of which we were able to replace (we gave each other pats on the back). The positive connector was too complicated so we had it towed to the mechanic to fix.
POA #2: Make sure the battery terminals are not capped. Well, I thought the negative terminal came in black just for the heck of it (a splash of contrasting color for the artistic driver) and Rusty apparently didn't even notice the terminal was a different color. Yes, I was embarrassed when the mechanic told me a cap was still on the negative terminal, but felt justified in taking the car in when he said he had to replace the positive connector.
The miracle? For a few years now I have not been able to lock the driver's side door without the alarm going off, so I just came to terms with the fact that if I leave something in the car it may or may not be there when I returned (car included). [Sidenote: One evening I parked my car at my apartment and ran off with some friends, not even paying attention to the fact that I had locked the door. The alarm went off for about five hours until I returned at 1 am (yeah, the neighbors were pissed!).] I went to open the door to drive home from the mechanics and found it was locked and, better yet, silent. The mechanic didn't say anything about fixing the alarm or turning it off. Now I just have to get into the habit of locking the door.
My advice: Don't believe anyone who tells you there is no such thing as miracles today! They happen when you least expect them.
