Grrr! Why horses are better than cars

[altivo]

In light of corelog's recent auto headaches, I just have to post this.

A month or so back I went out on a Saturday morning to find I had a flat tire. Totally flat. And it wouldn't pump back up. Getting the wheel off to put the spare on was a monumental struggle. Examining the dead tire revealed that it had marks looking like it had been driven on. I couldn't have driven on a flat tire without knowing it. I just can't believe that. But the evidence is there.

The wheel rim was so rusty that I suspected it was causing a slow leak anyway. So I ordered a new replacement wheel and figured I'd get a new tire put on when that came. Well, getting the wheel was a problem. It was supposed to take three days and instead took more than three weeks. Meanwhile I was driving with no spare. Now you can drive for years without ever needing the spare tire, but the day you don't have it with you, the likelihood of a flat goes up by ten orders of magnitude I think.

Anyway, I haven't had a flat yet. Today I finally dropped the new wheel off at a car dealership near where I work to have a new tire put on it. Probably will cost me about $110. But I can't stand driving with no spare any longer, and I'm driving to Furfest this weekend. Murphy's law says I'd get a flat while away from home for sure.

So fine, the spare will be ready to pick up on Thursday and I'll be all set to go to MFF on Friday. Right?

On the way home from work tonight, in a rainstorm, my brakes failed. Not a total failure, thank the goddess, but the pedal gave out with a pop, the red brake fluid warning light came on and stayed on, and I still can stop but it definitely feels iffy and I wouldn't dare drive much over 30 mph. So tomorrow morning I either have to arrange to get my car towed to someplace that will fix the brakes, or hold my breath and try to drive it there with minimal brake power. Living where I do, that's like 15 miles at least that I have to cover somehow. And I have to work noon to 8 pm tomorrow, can't get out of that easily. Car must get fixed before Friday or I've got a real problem. MFF is only 40 miles away, but there's no other way to get there.

And this vehicle is only eight years old, with less than 80,000 miles on it. All regular maintenance has been done, and the brakes were redone once already. So, you see, Rex, random failures in the automotive department just happen. And they tend to happen in clumps, and at the least convenient time possible. It just goes with automobiles, in my experience.

Comments

[hgryphon.livejournal.com]

My brakes just gave last night, too...

[chakawolf.livejournal.com]

You have two semi-independant brake systems, one for the front and one for the rear. Since your front wheels do most of the stopping, if that system fails you will have less than half of your braking left. You can drive that way, but it is VERY dangerous. I would personally drive very slowly and carefully to the brake place when I knew they were expecting me. I once drove eighty miles without hitting the brakes. It was not fun.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yup, I understand the mechanics of it. It's obvious that one half of the system has failed while the other is still working, doing the safety net thing it is supposed to do. I have done my own brake work in the past, but have no desire to touch them again. I just want it fixed.

The problem is that the vehicle is a Jeep, and both the nearest Chrysler dealers have now proven themselves untrustworthy. The various independent mechanics in the area I don't know, and I'm afraid they won't be quick. I'm hoping that the Ford dealer who does my mate's car will work on a Cherokee. I believe they will, but it may take them a couple of days too due to having to get parts etc.

I can leave my car and try to prevail on my non-furry mate to bring me to the con and pick me up Sunday (which he probably would do, actually, if I ask nicely) or I could rent a car for the weekend ($$$ go bye-bye, but possible I guess.)

[duskwuff.livejournal.com]

Actually, most cars tend to use a diagonal split - the front left wheel is on the same circuit as the back right wheel.

[doc-moreau.livejournal.com]

And random failures, as well as all mechanical problems, seem to be a lot more frequent in newer cars today than they were in new cars say... two decades or more ago. (i'm not saying used cars are better off... they're used... but my car is 24 years old and i've had very few problems in the two years i've owned it. people i know with new cars are always taking them to the shops or back to the dealer for warrantied repairs and whatnot.)
Just like everything in our consumer culture... they don't build 'em like they used to.
I really wouldn't mind being Amish. ...aside from all the religious stuff that's included, bleah.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

There's something to that. I've owned three VW beetles and all have been in general more reliable and also easier to repair than more modern cars are. However, a 20 or 30 year old car is usually on the point of dissolving into a pile of iron oxide dust in my experience, thanks to the amount of salt they insist on dumping on the roads in winter. Now if one lives in Arizona, a car that old can be quite a nice thing to have.

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

A pop, eh? Sounds like a flexible hose from the chassis to the axle. Or worse, your booster, or master cylinder.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yep, I figure it's either a brake line or the master cylinder. I'm sure it's fixable, it's just darned inconvenient right now.

[fandt4.livejournal.com]

I can relate to this. My vehicle is currently sitting in a lot with six inches of snow on it waiting for structural repair. I can see why I would have these issues though, my car is almost 21 years old. But at eight years old that has already had the repair done? Wow, that's a bit of a liability. I can see a brake hose creating a popping sensation, I don't think the master cylinder would create an effect like that though. They usually go out rather gradually, until the pedal feels pretty much like stepping on a rotten plum and is grazing the floor. Hoses aren't hard or expensive to replace, the money is in the lines, and especially the master cylinder.

Well, good luck anyway, to getting back on the road in time for MFF.

[niko-winterset.livejournal.com]

I wonder if the flat tire and brakes are related. It almost sounds to me like you hit something that damaged both the tire and a brake line. One other option that no one mentioned but you probably already know about is to use your emergency brake if your pedal fails totally. Granted I know enough about brakes to be dangerous but I think the emergency brake is just simply a cable attached to the brakes and will give you some stopping power to the rear wheels only. A last resort sort of measure.

Good luck stallion and I won't give you my opinion of Jeep Cherokees....like I can really talk when I have a dead Jaguar in the driveway. :P

Storm

[pokeypony.livejournal.com]

Cherokee huh?
Well I guess the only thing worse would be a Grand cherokee.
The mechanic shop I worked for got rich of both of them along with various Newer VW's and a few other things like other random chrysler products.

Ill stick with my old beat up chevy......atleast it runs good dispite its problems.

And yes,arizona is nice for older cars..I see lots of nice old cars here :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

On the whole, the Cherokee has not been a big problem. The fuel pump was replaced under warranty, which I guess is a common defect with Jeeps. It has worked fine since. A windshield washer pump failed and I had to replace that. There were two recalls, but that's not unusual these days. One had to do with air bags, and I've actually forgotten what the other was. Oh, the tape deck was bad new and was replaced under warranty the first week. And there was a valve spring problem that caused compression loss after about three years, also fixed under warranty.

My total cost of repair and maintenance for eight years has been low. My gas mileage has been decent (25 and up) but not spectacular. Other than Chrysler dealers, who cannot be trusted to do what they say they are doing (and charge you for) I have no major complaints. Rust on the wheels is getting bad now, but I blame that on road salt, which is overused here in the extreme and something you don't have down there. Probably the muffler or something in the exhaust is due to give out soon, but by the time any car is eight years old, especially in salt territory, that's normal too.

[murakozi.livejournal.com]

But Murphy's Law being Murphy's Law, if you were riding a horse to MFF, it would've thrown a shoe, then come up lame, gotten an abcess, or been colicky the day before it was time for you to leave.

Dang, so many folk I know are goin to MFF. I really should head there one year.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes, you really should. ;P

[dakhun.livejournal.com]

Eep, eep. You know, maybe you *should* take a horse to the con? It's only 40 miles. :-) I've walked that far on some weekends, myself. ;-) Good luck with the vehicle though. I am looking forward to seeing you.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I'll be there even if I have to rent a car for the weekend. I already have one generous offer to come pick me up on Friday morning, but that shouldn't be necessary. Car goes to the shop in an hour. It's still drivable, I just checked. But I wouldn't trust those brakes much over 25 mph. Fortunately most of the way there can be done on farm lanes.

With any luck, it's just a flexible coupling that gave way. Of course, without luck, it's the power brake pump that failed.

Yeah, I've walked 40 miles in 3 or 4 days too. Unfortunately, there's no hiking or bike trail from here to there. A route that avoided walking on Interstates would probably be more like 65 miles or so. And my horses aren't shod, they couldn't do it either. (I doubt the Hyatt has stabling anyway.)

[hellmutt.livejournal.com]

Eep. Drive carefully, please.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

It's OK. Car is in the shop now being repaired.

[hellmutt.livejournal.com]

Good. No mutilation or killing of 'Tivos on my watch. :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Not to worry. I'm a very conservative driver.