this has been an interesting weekend (car content)

[Omega]

Friday night:
So, I keep a can of Bawls in my car almost always, Firstly because bawls is ****ing delicious, and secondly because if I ever need to drive somewhere far away for whatever reason, Bawls = late night energy.


And I keep a can because the bottles are glass and have less in them anyways.


Anywho, so this can of Bawls is in the center console of my car. I flip a u-turn and it falls out, hitting the shifter plastic thing and somehow that pokes a hole near the bottom of the can. I reach down to grab the can and roll forward a few hundred feet until my brain says "stop the car, get the can out of the car". Stopped the car, got out and noted that the hole was near the bottom of the can, so I said "**** it", opened the can and shotgunned what was left so I wouldn't have to deal with it.


Well, right as I'm standing just outside of my car (driver door open and engine on), a cop rolls around the bend. And what does he see? Me, standing next to a motor vehicle, shotgunning a can of something. What do people usually shotgun? Beer.


So a spotlight and colored lights flick on almost instantly, and I think "oh, ****.
"

The cop gets out and walks up to me, I show him the can and explain the situation. He doesn't buy all of it, so field sobriety test time. finger on nose, walk a line, etc. I pass easily, because I'm not drunk. Did a breathalyzer test too (cops around here have portable ones with them) and passed that.


So the cop then buys my story (and I invite him to check out the interior of my car for further proof -- Bawls is everywhere, all over the shifter, steering wheel, and there's about half a can's worth soaked in to the driver side mat.


Anywho, wiped off the interior and continued on my drive to the store.


This was probably one of the most absurd things to happen to me, though. Cop rolls up RIGHT as I'm shotgunning the soda... talk about timing.

Saturday:
So, I was driving to the pick-n-pull to get parts for my window (which broke on Friday), when I smell electrical smoke. Oh joy. I pull my car off the freeway and in to a parking lot, and pop the hood to the sight of smoke. coming from the engine bay.

I get out of the car, go to the back and grab my fire extinguisher (huzzah being prepared), then pop the hood and get attacked by smoke. after the built-up smoke leaves, it's just this stream coming from my Alternator. Oh wonderful. I call for a tow and get told it'll be 45 minutes. I look at it a bit more to realize "wait a minute. the alternator is on the OTHER side of the engine. What, then, has begun smoking". So I called up a buddy of mine (who drives the same car as me and fixes EVERYTHING on it) and ask him about the engine accessories on the car. like what goes where. Turns out, it's the A/C pump.

Well, I can live without A/C (it didn't work to begin with), so he tells me that to keep it from smoking up again while driving, i should cut/remove the belt (I opted for "cut", since the engine was still (amazingly) hot, and I didn't want to try and work a belt off. Well, that same belt also powers the power steering pump.

Let me set the scene for those of you who have never driven a non-PS car or who have never driven a PS car without it. See this guy (http://seshdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/thor-painting.jpeg)? His name is Thor. He's a Norse God. HE would have a hard time turning the wheel on this car. Cars that never had PS (read: they weren't designed for it, most older cars, like the 1974 VW I learned to drive on) aren't TOO bad, but that's because they design the handling to be as light as possible so it's easily driveable.

On cars designed to use PS, they can design the steering to be heavy and get away with it, because the car helps you with it. To turn this car any more than for a lane change, it took the strength of both my arms and a few power words.

So I drove home. With no PS. which sucked. I let my car cool down, cut off the AC->PS belt because I thought a solution up (rather than having two belts, the first one from Crankshaft to AC, then the second from AC to PS, I would have one... Crankshaft to PS). Well, my engine still has all it's accessories and hoses and stuff so it's not very easy to measure how long a belt I need. Also, I still need parts to fix my window.

So I embark back out on the 20 mile journey (I got halfway last time before my car started smoking) and finally get to the Pick-n-Pull. I get a measurement on how long a belt I'll need and I get the parts to fix the door. Cool.

I go by an auto parts store on the way home only to find that I have completely the wrong size for the belt. It's waaaay too small. So I spend half an hour or so trying belts on and seeing which one fits. Finally found it, paid $6, and off I went.

Got home and started working on the door, only to find that what I thought was broken was... completely fine. It turned out to be something completely different and much harder to fix. As in, I had to angrily cut, with sheetmetal shears, the inside sheetmetal of my door to get enough room to fix it. And I still had to jury-rig it after that. It works now, but... I wouldn't really trust it. I'm just glad that now my window will, short of getting broken, keep thieves from getting in to the car. With the window regulator broken, they would have to simply push the window down. They can't do that now.

So then I decide to put the belt on to find that my dumb ass forgot to account for the fact that the PS pump's pulley is about 3/4in further back than the crankshaft pulley. So tomorrow, I get to do this (http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll278/Volvosporter/acdelete3.jpg) to get my PS pump pulley lined up with the Crankshaft pulley. Huzzah Hardware Fixes!

Interesting weekend... AND IT'S NOT EVEN OVER YET! WOOHOO!

[BuzzKillington]

Days like that I just wanna come home and take a nap lol.

[Omega]

Days like that I just wanna come home and take a nap lol.

friday night, i spent like an hour confused and wondering if I REALLY just got in trouble for shotgunning a can of bawls

today just really sucked, my arms are hella tired because I was out of the house for a few hours but had to do a lot of turning and it wore me out. i can't wait to get my power steering fixed.

[XcOM]

i got pulled with my car because the insurance is in my mums name, im a named driver to lower the insurance, but i get asked

"Is this car yours sir?"
"No, Its my mums"
"licence and insurance please"
10 minutes later
"ok, on your way sir"

i had to take my dad to work on new years day and i got pulled 3 times and given the drink driving test!

and thats one of them days where if it can go wrong it will

[The boy 4rm oz]

Sounds like you had an interesting few days Omega.

The worst that's happened to me was I went to the beach with a few mates, I got stuck driving cos dad has a company car and a fuel card so my mates didn't have to chip in for petrol lol. We got to the beach and spent most of the day there and then on the way home my rear right tire blew out, apparently I had run over a piece of glass that ripped the wall of my dad's new Pirelli out lol. So I get the car on the side of the road and got the jack out of the boot, went to jack the car up and the jack broke. I called RAA and they said they'd be 15-20 mins, 40 mins later they still weren't there so I called dad. Dad got to me with a new jack and alternated a front tyre onto the rear to save the diff and put the spare on the front before RAA even turned up lol.

[Collinstheclown]

Sounds like a good time!

MY 93 Corolla had no PS for about 9 months... trust me, you get used to it and you gain some muscle! It got to the point where I could make 1 handed 90° turns. :)

When I finally got it fixed (pump was messed up) I kept overturning EVERY turn.




-CollinstheClown

[NightrainSrt4]

Hehe, sounds like an interesting weekend. I've had some interesting cop stories and yet I've done nothing wrong lmfao. It's the damn car I tell ya. And they say they don't profile . . . :rolleyes:

Like the time back in high school directly after prom I get pulled over while doing speed limit and everything, in Falmouth by a Mashpee cop. Huh? Anyway, they didn't believe that me and my 3 buddies in the car just came from prom, and were suspects in street racing and outrunning two Interceptors down this long straight road at 140+. Meanwhile we are all sitting there still in tuxes. "No prom tonight" was all they said. Eventually a Falmouth cop came after 6, 6, Mashpee cop cars had us surrounded and threatened me with jailtime for over two hours. So I got let go, but not after an under 18 driving after midnight fine, even though they pulled me over at 11:30 and were 3 minutes away from where we were going.

So ya, cars and cops are always an interesting mix. But damn, full field/breathalyzer tests for shotgunning a Bawls? That made me giggle like the time in 4th grade when I was drinking an IBC rootbeer at the bus stop and some cop pulls up and says the woman across the street called them because some punk was drinking beer at the bus stop.

[FuzzyPlushroom]

The old Volvo had some... problems with the power steering, so I know what you're feeling there. Big difference.

The cupholder. Heh heh. That's not really a cupholder. 240s don't have cupholders, because you don't need 'em. Apparently.

Ahh, electrical smoke. I was definitely expecting to hear that the engine wiring harness had shorted or some such, as there usually aren't any other weak points in the 240... but you found one.

What happened to the window?

[Omega]

The cupholder. Heh heh. That's not really a cupholder. 240s don't have cupholders, because you don't need 'em. Apparently.

I love that my 240 doesn't have cupholders. Well, real ones anyways. Cupholders include: the passenger seat, the map pockets, that space between the front seats and the e-brake


Ahh, electrical smoke. I was definitely expecting to hear that the engine wiring harness had shorted or some such, as there usually aren't any other weak points in the 240... but you found one.

The A/C is known to crap out. It's happened to a TON of people.



What happened to the window?

the big bolt thing that holds the scissor mechanism to the regulator decided to pop out. Solution? cut the sheetmetal so I can get to the bolt, hammer that mofo back in, glue. let dry. shazam, window works.

[NightrainSrt4]

Man, you're bringing back some serious memories. I totally forgot that my old 240DL (first car) didn't have cup holders. The fiance was just asking me the other day how I got into the habit of putting a cup between my two legs and using it as a cup holder, and I couldn't remember. Yup, the damn 240 started that, and I've never broken the habit since. There were quite a few times that caused me to spill on myself, another habit I have never broken hehe.

[FuzzyPlushroom]

Ooh, "beside the seat" is my favorite, yeah. "Between the legs" and "in the console change bucket cupholder thing" are runners-up.

Good to know about the A/C. At least I won't be using it much, but still.

And that's probably exactly what I would've done in your situation (regarding the window). :D

EDIT: I just noticed you said that the map pockets make good cupholders. What map pockets? Both of the '89s I've had have had said pockets shatter for no good reason (the second one came with them missing entirely). Oh, and the consoles crack too. And the dash. And the plastic things on either side of the parcel-shelf carpeting (in the sedan) turn a funny color and slowly become a fine powder. Maybe it just doesn't happen in Washington because you guys never see the sun, or maybe it's a problem specific to this model year... who knows.

[SXRguyinMA]

today was work on the truck day for me....

needed new wheel bearigns and balljoints, and front brakes. easy enough, I've done the bearings and brakes before, and my friend had a balljoint puller so we said lets do it. Well 8:30 this morning we get at it.

Get the wheels off, find out the pads are fine its my rotors that are shot. ****. I dont want to go spend $100 on a pair of rotors right now (already had new pads). So I figure I'll hold off replacing the brakes until I get new rotors. Well here we encounter problem #2. The rotors wont come off the hubs. WTF. spray lube, hammers, nothing works. So we get the hubs out, rotors still wont come off. Looks like I'm gettin new ones. Off to Advance Auto Parts we go for new rotors. $115 later (rotors and lunch) we're back to work.

Pop the upper balljoint out of the knuckle. Lower wont come off. The pickle fork is a tad too thin to do the job. Damn, problem #3. So here goes another hour and a half of beating, spraying, torching, swearing, etc. to get the lower balljoint free of the knuckle. Then out of nowhere I hear a 'pop' and look down and its off. WTF.

We use the c-clamp style balljoint press tool to try to press out the upper joint (after we play with the various spacers that are in the kit to get it to work properly) and the it out. On to the lower. Beats right out with a hammer.

Problem #4....The lower balljoint presses right in. Sweet. The upper, however, is being a bi*ch. Wont go in. More spray lube, more torch. Nothing. Come to find out the new ones have these grooves in them...which makes them JUST too big to fit. Off the the grinder. 30 seconds later, grooves removed balljoint goes in.

Get the knuckle back on, wheel bearing back in, new rotor cleaned and installed, time for new pads. Go to fit the pads, wont fit onto the slide bracket without brute force....not good. Off to the grinder again. Return 5 minutes later with the fingers opened up on all 4 sets, now they slide on like they should.

Get that side back together...onto the other side. Of course, we ran into THE EXACT SAME ISSUES with the pass. side as we did with the drivers side. But this time it took us 2 hours to get it all done instead of 5. Now my truck is happy again. :)

[Spawn-Inc]

lol, funny you should have that happen. i got a bottle of geek beer and was thinking the same thing would happen to me. thank fully, not that anything would happen, nothing happened.

[Omega]

Ooh, "beside the seat" is my favorite, yeah. "Between the legs" and "in the console change bucket cupholder thing" are runners-up.

Good to know about the A/C. At least I won't be using it much, but still.

And that's probably exactly what I would've done in your situation (regarding the window). :D

EDIT: I just noticed you said that the map pockets make good cupholders. What map pockets? Both of the '89s I've had have had said pockets shatter for no good reason (the second one came with them missing entirely). Oh, and the consoles crack too. And the dash. And the plastic things on either side of the parcel-shelf carpeting (in the sedan) turn a funny color and slowly become a fine powder. Maybe it just doesn't happen in Washington because you guys never see the sun, or maybe it's a problem specific to this model year... who knows.

i can give you some info about bypassing the a/c pump and going straight from crankshaft->PS if you need it.


My car is an '85 and I had both map pockets, in uncracked condition, until I angrily dismantled my door after the window broke, leaving me with a pile of cracked plastic that USED to be the driver side pocket. Passenger side pocket is fine, though. :D

Washington? What? I'm in CA! The old plates on the car are Washington because that's where the previous owners lived. They sold it to me in CA and it's registered with a different plate number and in CA. Also, I have a wagon, so I have no parcel shelf.

[crenn]

Amusingly I drink ginger beer... and the shape of the bottle is exactly like something else:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3089/2794644507_016492cbd0.jpg
http://www.annandalecellars.com.au/SiteFiles/annandalecellarscomau/images/large_7854_VB%20Stubbies.jpg

[FuzzyPlushroom]

i can give you some info about bypassing the a/c pump and going straight from crankshaft->PS if you need it.


My car is an '85 and I had both map pockets, in uncracked condition, until I angrily dismantled my door after the window broke, leaving me with a pile of cracked plastic that USED to be the driver side pocket. Passenger side pocket is fine, though. :D

Washington? What? I'm in CA! The old plates on the car are Washington because that's where the previous owners lived. They sold it to me in CA and it's registered with a different plate number and in CA. Also, I have a wagon, so I have no parcel shelf.

Ahh okay. Well it spent most of its life in Washington, then, anyway. That's what I was wondering.

I think I should build my own map pockets out of ABS plastic, maybe even .5mm steel... could be a fun little project. It'd match the sort-of-aligned trim, missing-front-spoiler-thing nature of the car, at least.

If the aircon pump ever combusts I'll let you know. Thanks for the offer! +rep

Last thing: I'm FuzzyPlushroom on TurboBricks too, so's ya know. :)

[Oneslowz28]

Sounds like my DSM days. I drove a 92 Eagle Talon TSI for 2 years and would push 20psi on it daily. it seemed like every time I turned around something was breaking. I finally removed all the accessories except for the ps and alt and after spending 4 hours hunting down a damn vacuum leak I wound up removing all but 8 vacuum hoses and capping the ports. yea the car was ugly, and was constantly broke down but I could still run mid 11sec 1/4 miles in it. :D

[Omega]

Ahh okay. Well it spent most of its life in Washington, then, anyway. That's what I was wondering.

I think I should build my own map pockets out of ABS plastic, maybe even .5mm steel... could be a fun little project. It'd match the sort-of-aligned trim, missing-front-spoiler-thing nature of the car, at least.

If the aircon pump ever combusts I'll let you know. Thanks for the offer! +rep

Last thing: I'm FuzzyPlushroom on TurboBricks too, so's ya know. :)

I figured. you're also FuzzyPlushroom on Jalopnik...

I see you didn't have a hard time finding me.

[luciusad2004]

Cupholders, wtf are cup holders. Apparently when ford designed the interior of the 1st gen probe they decided that no one needed to have a place for their drink. I tried the cup between the legs thing but its hard when driving a stick, I just make my gf hold my drinks :smoker:.

Besides, Not having cup holders makes it a sportscar, you can't drive fast and expect to drink at the same time... at least that's what i tell all my friends.

[NightrainSrt4]

My 240 was a stick, you've just got to learn to move your lower legs without much movement of the upper. Then again I've got long legs so that might make it easier.

[FuzzyPlushroom]

I figured. you're also FuzzyPlushroom on Jalopnik...

I see you didn't have a hard time finding me.

Indeed I am! And I didn't. Though I wasn't looking, I just ran across one of your posts and said "heeeey, that's a familiar 245..."

Lucius, even less-sporty Fords had crap cupholders at that point. The Contour/Mystique are a case in point: the stick-shift models had one, the automatics had two; they popped up and were made of thin brittle plastic.

[Omega]

Besides, Not having cup holders makes it a sportscar, you can't drive fast and expect to drink at the same time... at least that's what i tell all my friends.

haha.


My 240 was a stick, you've just got to learn to move your lower legs without much movement of the upper. Then again I've got long legs so that might make it easier.

autotragic here. i want to do a t5 swap but i don't make enough power to justify it.

i just don't drink anything out of a cup while driving. simple as that. bottles or nothing.

[luciusad2004]

i just don't drink anything out of a cup while driving. simple as that. bottles or nothing.

Thats how i do it myself, Only exception is if my GF is around to hold stuff for me.

[Bopher]

Cupholders, wtf are cup holders. Apparently when ford designed the interior of the 1st gen probe they decided that no one needed to have a place for their drink. I tried the cup between the legs thing but its hard when driving a stick, I just make my gf hold my drinks :smoker:.

I found the spot just in front of the ebrake was the best place on my '90 probe for drinks. Or, and yes I know stupid, stupid, stupid, drink in left hand drive with right power shift to next gear real fast by removing right hand, shift then back in the wheel. Used to drive to work all the time like that.

[luciusad2004]

I found the spot just in front of the ebrake was the best place on my '90 probe for drinks. Or, and yes I know stupid, stupid, stupid, drink in left hand drive with right power shift to next gear real fast by removing right hand, shift then back in the wheel. Used to drive to work all the time like that.

I could probably pull off holding my drink in my left hand. On nice days I tend to put my arm out the window and drive w/ just my right hand. It's not hard assuming you aren't driving stupid fast, or trying to navigate a road w/ lots of twists and turns. I don't really worry about the one or two seconds it takes to shift. My hands are off the wheel for less time shifting than they would be to change the station on my radio.

I know on one of my probe forums there is a mod were people take the cup holders out of another ford car and mod them to fit in the lil cubby hole beneath the stereo. I forget what they took them out of though. I've also seen people fiberglass cup holders in to the center console.

[XcOM]

i tend to drive one handed anyway so it wouldn't bother me, but i don't drink anything while driving, you can get fined and points on your licence here in the UK for that

[FuzzyPlushroom]

you can get... points on your licence here in the UK for that

As if I needed another reason never to live there! :dead:

Nah, seriously though. It's eating that's a problem, crumbs and such, messy - the only time drinks are an issue (assuming they're non-alcoholic, naturally) is if you spill 'em, and... wait, you guys have cupholders in your cars, right? I don't get it.

Sigh. Bureaucracy sucks. The people who came up with that probably get driven to their offices in a limousine anyway.

[XcOM]

they say that drinking, eating while driving is a distraction and takes your hands off the wheels for an un-nessecery reason thus creating a danager, a load of balls if you ask me,

checkout www.abd.org.uk

[luciusad2004]

they say that drinking, eating while driving is a distraction and takes your hands off the wheels for an un-nessecery reason thus creating a danager, a load of balls if you ask me,

checkout www.abd.org.uk

Man, you guys got it harsh in the UK. While i think its good to minimize distractions I don't think taking a sip of pepsi is that huge of a distraction.

What if you get like a camel back and fill it up w/ drink lol. It would be like hands free for drinking. I always thought it would be cool to have a fluid bladder built in to my seat and thermally insulated so i could just fill it up w/ drink and have it w/ me anytime to drink through a tube like a nice camel back system.

[DaveW]

I once had a bottle in the car-don't remember why, I wasn't drinking from it. Maybe a friend was there or something.

Anyway, the bottle fell and rolled under the brake. Luckily, I was able to kick it out before I needed to use the damn thing. Gentlemen, you have been warned.

I know it sounds like an old-man rant but to be honest, the only thing on your mind when you drive should be what's happening around you. I could melt your ears off with tales about how I got out a sticky situation entirely because I was paying attention to the road. Let's just say the close shaves I've had would require my toes to count.

-Dave