maybe maybe maybe
so this is kinda funny when taken out of context. i'm driving on a very hot summer's night with my air conditioning on, when on a sudden thought switch to full heat. a blast of hot hot heat gets blown into my face and i'm ecstatic.
most of you know how i've been having a lot of problems with my car's cooling system, which is the nice way of saying that it vomits rusty antifreeze at very little warning, overheats, steams, whistles, and hisses. all of this has been getting exponentially worse for a few months now. a few weekends ago i actually left my car in new berlin for about 3 days so my dad could work on it more. it's one of those things that will get a little better and then get a lot worse. for a few days i have been pouring gallons of water into my radiator- usually about a gallon each time i drive- and by the time i get to where ever i'm headed it's all in steam.
as a sort of a last resort two days ago, i went to an auto parts place to buy yet another full bottle of bar's stop leak. i opened the radiator cap to put it in and it went fooooom all over the place. yes, i know, i shouldn't have opened it as soon as i did, shut up. it was cooler than it's been when i've opened it and nothing has happened before. shut up. anyway, i poured in the stop leak and a bunch of water again and drove home, where it was okay for a day. yesterday as well as this morning it was overheating and a lot of rusty gunk seemed to be dripping out of the bottom, but there's a possibility that the stuff dripping was just dripping from all the crap that had gotten fooooomed all over it, and it was also low on fluid because it all went fooooom. heh. foom. anyway. it was raining this morning, so after it had cooled down a bit i opened the hood and left it open for the rain to hopefully wash away the gunk all over. i then poured in more antifreeze and more water and waited until tonight. i "test drove" it to walgreens to get lotion and a new brush, then ended up driving down to the lakefront and drove down lincoln memorial drive, which is gorgeous at night, then to open pantry (i had a coupon for coffee, really) and then around and about the way back up to stritch. (i've never driven that route alone and got a little lost. shut up, i can't remember much.) never during the 25 miles i have driven tonight did the temp gauge (gage?) go up to half or hotter, nor did it steam, whistle, hiss or anything else.
i don't want to get my hopes up, but it's possible that it was overheating after i put the stop leak in simply because it was low on fluid because all the fluid was all over the insides. it's possible that the crap coming out was the crap that was all over the insides.
it is possible that i just fixed my car for another few hundred miles before something goes wrong again.
g'damn, my car used to be so fucking reliable. the first thing that went wrong was the muffler was rusting off, but after the exhaust system was completely redone, nothing happened besides needing new brake pads, which is regular maintenance, for at least a year and a half. i don't even care that it's old and kinda looks shitty, it used to be reliable. i would rather have my car be reliable than to get a newer car that i don't know as well and i'm not so attached to.
so here's a toast (with my 25 cent coffee from open pantry) to my car- may she live for a bit longer. here's to you, Lexi.
most of you know how i've been having a lot of problems with my car's cooling system, which is the nice way of saying that it vomits rusty antifreeze at very little warning, overheats, steams, whistles, and hisses. all of this has been getting exponentially worse for a few months now. a few weekends ago i actually left my car in new berlin for about 3 days so my dad could work on it more. it's one of those things that will get a little better and then get a lot worse. for a few days i have been pouring gallons of water into my radiator- usually about a gallon each time i drive- and by the time i get to where ever i'm headed it's all in steam.
as a sort of a last resort two days ago, i went to an auto parts place to buy yet another full bottle of bar's stop leak. i opened the radiator cap to put it in and it went fooooom all over the place. yes, i know, i shouldn't have opened it as soon as i did, shut up. it was cooler than it's been when i've opened it and nothing has happened before. shut up. anyway, i poured in the stop leak and a bunch of water again and drove home, where it was okay for a day. yesterday as well as this morning it was overheating and a lot of rusty gunk seemed to be dripping out of the bottom, but there's a possibility that the stuff dripping was just dripping from all the crap that had gotten fooooomed all over it, and it was also low on fluid because it all went fooooom. heh. foom. anyway. it was raining this morning, so after it had cooled down a bit i opened the hood and left it open for the rain to hopefully wash away the gunk all over. i then poured in more antifreeze and more water and waited until tonight. i "test drove" it to walgreens to get lotion and a new brush, then ended up driving down to the lakefront and drove down lincoln memorial drive, which is gorgeous at night, then to open pantry (i had a coupon for coffee, really) and then around and about the way back up to stritch. (i've never driven that route alone and got a little lost. shut up, i can't remember much.) never during the 25 miles i have driven tonight did the temp gauge (gage?) go up to half or hotter, nor did it steam, whistle, hiss or anything else.
i don't want to get my hopes up, but it's possible that it was overheating after i put the stop leak in simply because it was low on fluid because all the fluid was all over the insides. it's possible that the crap coming out was the crap that was all over the insides.
it is possible that i just fixed my car for another few hundred miles before something goes wrong again.
g'damn, my car used to be so fucking reliable. the first thing that went wrong was the muffler was rusting off, but after the exhaust system was completely redone, nothing happened besides needing new brake pads, which is regular maintenance, for at least a year and a half. i don't even care that it's old and kinda looks shitty, it used to be reliable. i would rather have my car be reliable than to get a newer car that i don't know as well and i'm not so attached to.
so here's a toast (with my 25 cent coffee from open pantry) to my car- may she live for a bit longer. here's to you, Lexi.