Cars.

[camwyn]

I drive a Saturn. I am not always good about the maintenance. For example, I had forgotten that spark plugs need changing, and so wound up with an entire cylinder giving up because the spark plugs were so encrudded. Fortunately this was fixed by changing the plugs. Two years ago, my car's Check Engine Soon light took to coming on at odd times. I ignored it, bringing my car in for an oil change - I assumed that's what it needed. The light did not come on again for a while, but not long after the car suddenly decided that it didn't really need to run. It decided this while it was ostensibly in motion. I got it started again and managed to get it to the nearest Saturn dealership - it conked out three more times, but the last time was at the driveway to the dealership, so I managed to get it turned on and forced it to run the rest of the way to the maintenance bay. The problem was with the electrical system; the alternator needed replacing, as did several other things, and the price wound up coming out to something like eight hundred dollars.

My brain has forged a link between 'Check Engine Soon' and 'very very expensive', and even though I know 'check engine soon' can often mean 'you've got a bit of an oil leak', it still has the power to turn my stomach over. The car started showing that light yesterday when I went to drive home from work. About an hour later, when I got in the car to go to karate, the light did not come on at all. When I drove from the karate place to the gas station an hour after that, there was still no light, and no light came on when I drove home. The light DID come on when I was on the way to my office this morning, about ten or fifteen minutes - more like fifteen, I think - into the drive. It stayed on until I got to the office. When I turned the car off I paused a few seconds, then turned it back on. No light.

The car's running fairly smoothly, but it's due for an oil change. I'm going to take it to a service station Saturday morning and get the change done; I haven't got the cash for any kind of real repairs right now. I have a feeling my tax refund will probably be going towards the car, though, and I don't like that... oh, well, I'll live. *sigh* Sorry. The whole thing has me unaccountably nervous, especially since I set up a vacation account to save for a trip to China yesterday. I fear the Universe has it in for me, and is trying to balance out 'ooooh, happy happy trip foo' with 'your car is going to RUIN YOUR LIFE BWAHAHAHA'. Of course, I need to keep some perspective on this; the Universe does not care about one person, and no God or saint that I know of would smite someone's car, and there is something inherently foolish in worrying about material things anyway... it just bugs me, that's all, and I don't want to have to pay $800 again.

When I move out of my parents' home, I am going to do everything in my power to move someplace where I can rely on mass transit. The freedom that comes of driving a car has a price I'm not sure I'm willing to deal with - an attachment and emotional investment in something that's basically a money hog unworthy of the kind of importance it comes to claim in one's life.

That doesn't make it any easier to avoid worrying about my car right now, though. Oy. I'm going to hope Dad's right and that this has to do with the battery and the deep cold. The last time I had the electrical checked, the alternator had developed a tendency to put out too weak a charge and the guy at the Sears place indicated it might result in premature battery death. Given that I bought what amounted to the bottom of the line battery about a year ago, and I know the alternator's sucking electric like a vampire in a blood bank, and it's FECKING COLD OUTSIDE, I am going to keep an eye on the car and see if the sensor still gives the 'check engine' light after an oil change and a return to temperatures higher than the freezing temperature of water.

Comments

[skyschemer.livejournal.com]

On modern cars, a loose or missing gas cap can lead to a check engine light. Gas caps are supposed to maintain a seal on the gas tank to prevent gasoline vapors from escaping to the air. If you don't get a nice "woosh" of air rushing into the vacuum of your tank when you unscrew the cap, you may be in need of a replacement.

[camwyn]

... that's the most bizarrely reassuring thought I've heard in a long time. Thank you.

[talmanes.livejournal.com]

Well, don't feel too terrible about your lack of car knowledge. I myself am extremely "car dumb," as I don't know how to do a damn thing to fix my car. My cigarette lighter jack has been broken for over a year now because I'm too chicken to change it with the replacement assembly I've got--I know how to do it, but there's a primitive side of my brain that superstitiously tells me that my car will come to life and burn me to ash if I try and play with the electronics. The other day, my oil light came on (mysteriously), and I was just flat out baffled. I mean, I know how to check my oil, but I have no clue how to read what I've checked. Luckily, I was giving a ride home to a coworker, who is not only a cool person but also car-knowledgeable, and he helped me figure it out without making me feel like a retard.

So... my point is, I freak out when the lights go on in my car, too. Mostly because I drove my last car to death when the "Check Engine" light came on in the middle of a cross-country move, which led directly to isthmus and I being totally penniless the entire time we lived together.

Just... you know. Empathizing.

[theaceofspades.livejournal.com]

Actually, my Saturn's been problematic since this cold snap started, and the dealership told me that this is not uncommon among Saturns in the region that weren't properly prepped for the weather. The cold's been bad for 'em all over.

[tibicina.livejournal.com]

You should get it checked if you can. Because it could be something minor like 'Your thermostat isn't set right for the cold weather and that's making the car unhappy' or it could be something more important that will again cause your car to conk out and it could be something like that that can be solved cheaply now and less cheaply if you let it go. If it ends up being something expensive you can put it off....