This past weekend, I loaned a car to a very good friend of mine. This friend is both trustworthy and has done far more for me, than I've ever done for her, so I was proud to be able to offer her the car, a Volvo Convertible. Unfortunately the weather was a bit wet to lower the top, but it still looked good with her driving it. Her destination was one of the higher cities in AZ, somewhere up in the mountains. I knew the 5 cylinder turbo engine would do just fine climbing the 5,000 feet to her destination. I spoke with her during her ride up and the car did do fine. On her return ride home on Sunday, this brilliant silver car with a black stunning top contrasted in definition and became, "that car that you gave me". It had been giving her trouble. I was both shocked and concerned that she'd be stranded in the middle of the desert with the car that I thought was so wonderful. Upon inquiry the problems were, the radio won't play and the fan is stuck on high making a loud annoying noise. I immediately thought that the ignition might be in the wrong place and asked if the turn signals were working properly. She told me they were. I still suggested that she pull over and jiggle the key in the ignition, as sometimes it doesn't fall in the right position and you can lose the accessories. That didn't solve the problem, but as long as the car was driving properly, it was something that could be addressed when she got back to town and I expressed my apologies for her inconvenience. The more I thought about it, when 2 separate items quit working on a car simultaneously, it must be a fuse that regulates both. I was going to call my mechanic, but remembered it was not only Sunday, but a holiday and figured it could wait until a work day.
About 45 minutes later, I was still concerned about her and called again. I had a hard time getting through, but after about 7 tries, I was able to reach her. She was driving through the mountains and telephone reception is sometimes difficult. When she answered, she relieved me by telling me that the radio is working again, that where she was, there were no radio stations and that was the problem. I inquired about the noisy fan and she told me it was still blasting away. I told her that there is a zero on the selection for fan speed and asked if it were in that position. She replied no, but when she put it there, it stopped it. She had the fan pointed to "auto" and the temperature set at 55, so naturally the fan was working it's head off, trying to achieve that temperature. We call that "operator error"..
I think that's when she told me that she wrecked the front of the car a little and do I still love her? Now, I was concerned about the damage she had done. As long as she wasn't hurt though, I didn't really care what had happened to the car, cars can be repaired. She was relieved and I was anxious to see the damage. It turned out that the only damage was to the front under skirt, the spoiler under the bumper, if you will and it was done long before she ever laid eyes on that beautiful Volvo convertible. It was unnoticeable. However, when I looked under the car that she had just filled the gas tank to it's maximum capacity, I noticed a horrible oil leak that certainly was not there before. It was just pouring oil out of it and I thought that perhaps, whatever she ran over, either tore a hole in the pan or the oil filter. Then, the more I thought about it, it could have been a transmission line that has been disturbed as the oil was full when I checked it. Now I've been dealing with cars and trouble shooting problems for the past 35 or 40 years and have never confused oil with water. I don't know if it was because her garage floor was painted gray or if the sun were setting, but when I went to leave about 2 hours later, that oil puddle under the Volvo convertible was gone! Once again, I know the difference between oil and water. Oil sits up high and is much darker. Water ripples when another drop falls into it and oil just kind of shocks because it's so much thicker. That oil leak turned to water and dried up. Now that was a miracle!
Mel
5/26/08
About 45 minutes later, I was still concerned about her and called again. I had a hard time getting through, but after about 7 tries, I was able to reach her. She was driving through the mountains and telephone reception is sometimes difficult. When she answered, she relieved me by telling me that the radio is working again, that where she was, there were no radio stations and that was the problem. I inquired about the noisy fan and she told me it was still blasting away. I told her that there is a zero on the selection for fan speed and asked if it were in that position. She replied no, but when she put it there, it stopped it. She had the fan pointed to "auto" and the temperature set at 55, so naturally the fan was working it's head off, trying to achieve that temperature. We call that "operator error"..
I think that's when she told me that she wrecked the front of the car a little and do I still love her? Now, I was concerned about the damage she had done. As long as she wasn't hurt though, I didn't really care what had happened to the car, cars can be repaired. She was relieved and I was anxious to see the damage. It turned out that the only damage was to the front under skirt, the spoiler under the bumper, if you will and it was done long before she ever laid eyes on that beautiful Volvo convertible. It was unnoticeable. However, when I looked under the car that she had just filled the gas tank to it's maximum capacity, I noticed a horrible oil leak that certainly was not there before. It was just pouring oil out of it and I thought that perhaps, whatever she ran over, either tore a hole in the pan or the oil filter. Then, the more I thought about it, it could have been a transmission line that has been disturbed as the oil was full when I checked it. Now I've been dealing with cars and trouble shooting problems for the past 35 or 40 years and have never confused oil with water. I don't know if it was because her garage floor was painted gray or if the sun were setting, but when I went to leave about 2 hours later, that oil puddle under the Volvo convertible was gone! Once again, I know the difference between oil and water. Oil sits up high and is much darker. Water ripples when another drop falls into it and oil just kind of shocks because it's so much thicker. That oil leak turned to water and dried up. Now that was a miracle!
Mel
5/26/08
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