(no subject)

[rivka]

Our car won't start.

Michael offered to drive me to work on Thursday, when the weather turned cold. We loaded ourselves into the car, strapped Alex in the carseat, and... nothing. Nothing happened when he turned the key. We hadn't left the lights on, or anything.

What with one thing and another, it wasn't until after work today that we had the opportunity to investigate further. Michael went out to stand by the car with the hood opened, and within a few minutes someone offered him a jump start. A small crowd of neighbors gathered. The first jump start (from an economy sedan) didn't do much, so another neighbor tried with his big beefy SUV. Still no luck. Someone's elderly father (of considerable automotive experience) finally decided that it was probably a solenoid. Everyone was as friendly and sympathetic as could be - I love the way that misfortunes like this bring out a helpful crowd.

The garage we use is closed over Easter weekend. (I wish we'd thought to wonder about that yesterday, when we decided to leave troubleshooting for later. But we would have had a hell of a time orchestrating getting it to the garage today, and we really did think that a jump start would probably take care of it.)

Tomorrow, we're supposed to be going to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum facility at Dulles Airport, with bosssio and her family. We canceled once before because Alex got sick, and we do not want to cancel again. Plus we need to do grocery shopping this weekend. So we decided to rent a car for a couple of days. It's surprisingly not-that-expensive, if you're renting from a location without airport taxes.

Tomorrow morning I'll be taking a cab to the car rental company and driving home to pick up Michael and Alex and bring them to Northern Virginia. Monday morning, Michael will have the car towed to our mechanic and will wait with it until it's fixed. I'll wait with Alex until her nanny shows up, return the rental car, and ask the rental car people to drop me off at the bus stop so I can take the bus to work. Goodness, the logistics of this are going to be fun.

Comments

[wcg.livejournal.com]

On Monday morning I can get you from the rental car place to work, if that'll help.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much. But the Enterprise people said it wouldn't be any problem giving me a lift - they've got that whole "we'll pick you up" program.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

OK, I hope the trouble with your car turns out to be something fairly simple and straightforward. Had I been in the area today I'd have offered to come over and try cleaning the battery cables, but I just now got back home.

[timill]

First question: does anything else power up when you turn the ignition on? If no, dead battery.

Second: when you turn the key to start it, do other things dim/go out? If no, solenoid not working. Hit with hammer :-)
If yes, starter motor not working? Mechanic time...

[curiousangel.livejournal.com]

Other things do indeed power up -- the clock still has the correct time, for instance, and the dome light comes on. However, they're noticeably more sluggish than usual, so I'm thinking that the battery is at least somewhat run down. The "green eye" on the battery is no longer green, and I don't recall ever putting a new battery in the car, which is a 2000 Toyota Corolla that we acquired back in 2002. Since we only had a problem the day of a notable cold snap, I'm thinking the problem (whatever it is) might be exacerbated by an elderly battery.

When I turn the key, I get rapid clicking, but no hint that the engine is going to turn over. I don't think the lights/clock/etc. are dimming any further, but it's hard to tell in daylight.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's a strong suggestion of a battery that's gone south.

[kate_nepveu]

Ugh. Good luck getting it all sorted out.