Yesterday I set out to get some 15" Slots for the gray car. I want 15" rims so I can get tires as 14" leaves me few options that I don't want. So I decided to take the 500. The car seemed to be running fine, and I checked the temp with my heat gun.
@cantflip, yes they work best up against whatever, but it helped me track the heat,so.it worked fine, if not an absolute. Stopped in the bigger city down here, about 50 miles away. Worked my way up to where I was going, through farm country, just enjoying the ride. Even though the springs are shot, the car rode nice, better than the gray car. We will see how replacement springs affect that. Anyways, car started acting like it was hot, didn't want to stay running at a stop. After the third time of dying and restarting and going on my way, it died. Ok, dead battery, a dead new one at that. Ok, the alternator took a crap. It's all entirely my fault, I used what they had with the car, didn't check it out once, and put it in and away I went. Driving in town the little I do, it had no way of showing any symptoms really, so I didn't pay it any mind.
My biggest concern was, how the heck was I getting anywhere? Very surprised how many people drove right on by. As luck would have it, a nice looking 24 year old blonde sweetheart of a human gave me a lift the entire way to where I needed to go! One of the best conversations with a stranger i ever had, too. I thought I'd just ask a few questions to get to know her, and make the trip less weird just keeping silent during the forty-five minutes drive. We had a bunch in common, driving styles in particular, she's a leadfoot! In fact that was one of the first things out of her mouth, she was apologizing before she could prove it.
She dropped me off at a friend's house, who helped me get my wheels and tires and a battery from Wally world, and then drive me back to my car. We stopped and grabbed an alternator from another friend so I could try to get some current flowing to the battery. They stayed and helped me see in the dark (gotta love cell phones!) Swapped the parts out and as soon as it fired, I was turning around for home. The replacement alternator is ****, squealed for a few miles, them went quiet. I stopped for gas after fifteen miles, only to find out they didn't have the pay at the pump feature. Calculated my fuel level vs mile driven, should have enough, just erring on the side of caution. But there was steam coming from under the hood, it seems the belt for the alternator was slipping/stopping or slowing down my water pump pulley, I noticed my steering was harder to turn after the first few miles. Must have slowed it all down enough when it seized, the belt was laying about ten feet behind the car. I let it cool down and got out of there. Made it home fine and parked the car. Grabbed the truck and headed to Laura's work to let her know I was ok, went home and went to bed. Wondered if a 300 mile round trip was too much, after only going twenty miles round trip. I didn't care overall, I had the right people help me at the right time, some known, some unknown. It goes to show, there still are nice people out there, so thank you, Taylor! I couldn't have done it without you!
but I am here on FCBO now
