The stars at night are big and bright...

The stars at night are big and bright...
The stars at night are big and bright...

Thursday, September 29, 2011

What Are Friends For?


Car won't start
« on: Today at 01:20:43 PM »


It has been suddenly turning off, often only momentarily for several months.  
Sometimes difficult to start.  Now it won't start.  No fire, plenty of fuel.  
I am thinking coil.  Does that sound about right?

The replies...

Is there spark? (Remove a plug, ground it, turn starter over and see if you can see a spark?)


Did you check the transmission?


Yep, that's why I said 'no fire'


Its your sound card, you need to update the driver...


Thanks!  I was about to call tech support and see if it had a compatible video card!


They'll tell you it isn't their fault and the graphics are state of the art...


In their defense, as much as it pains me I have to confess, when I look through my windshield, the graphics are lifelike, I have all settings maxed and never a stutter.


Did you check the aire in the tyres?


I tried that at the suggestion of www.change.gov


turn signal fluid is probably low.  when was the last time you changed fluids....


More likely it's out of exhaust fluid. Diesels don't use the sparkplugs anyway.


Damn - you guys are smart.  I sure am grateful for this resource.  I might have gone with my own silly instincts, that may have been expensive and time-consuming.

1 comment:

an Donalbane said...

The interwebs can be a great resource, but unfortunately, the post has more than a grain of truth to it. There's as much bad info as good, and not much way to differentiate between them.

I am apparently going to have to replace the alternator on my family-style sedan, but the [Mercury] Marquis de Sade has got that sucker shoehorned in between the engine, firewall, unibody frame, attached with a hodge-podge of SAE and metric fasteners (some requiring deep well, others haven't the clearance), and obscured by the PS pump.

The interwebs offer differing suggestions on the recommended process for removing the errant electricity maker.

My best approach is to locate a midget contortionist with 325 pound-feet of torque in his wrists. Failing that, it appears I have to remove a front tyre (my bad, I'm not really British), so as to remove 2 hex head sheet metal screws from inside the wheel well that support a plastic shroud under the dynamo, er, alternator.

With the shroud gone, I should have access to the bottom alternator bolt and rear alternator bolts, the latter of which has affixed a clamp immobilizing the high pressure steering fluid line. With all that stuff out of the way, I think I can twist the battery charger to and fro and navigate it up and out - then down to NAPA or O'Reilly for a bench test (oldest son was snakebit by an AZ alt - so I'm avoiding them).

I long for the days when an alternator was out in the wide open and could be removed in about six minutes.