Monday, March 05, 2007

Warning, You're Going to Windsor

Okay, every time I drive to Windsor, my Check Engine light comes on. Maybe not every time, but that last three times this has happened.


Caution, Hillbillies Ahead

The Check Engine light doesn't come on at the same point of the trip or anything like that, that might clue me in to what it's telling me.

The first time I was on my way to pick someone up before heading up when it came on. I changed my plans that day. The second time I was going up by myself and it came on somewhere on East St, a mere mile from my house. Yesterday I picked up someone and was driving down Dalton Division Rd, still in Pittsfield (or maybe that side of the double-yellow line is Dalton), when I pointed it out to my passenger. "See, I told you the car knows" I explained.

Saturday night we agreed that in the morning we would not discuss Windsor, Notchview or anything that might clue the car in on the fact that we'd be driving up there. It was supposed to be a total surprise, but then Natasha (my Garmin navigator) spoke up and blew our spot, telling the car where we were going. The next thing I knew the Caution, Hillbillies Ahead light was on and my theory was once again supported.


A Quick Google Search

Later that day, the light had turned off again, leading me to believe that there's something none-too-serious wrong with the car. Typical causes of the aforementioned light coming on include loose gas cap, bad oxygen sensor and engine on fire. I guess the Grade A, #1, Top Choice cause is the loose (or bad) gas cap so I thought I'd see if that's my problem.

I always tighten the cap to the prescribed three clicks when I fill the tank, but I have also always wondered if the sludge build-up on the cap is affecting the output of my high-performance automobile. This morning I took some Simple Green to the cap and where the cap threads into. It was fun-ky!

The next step is to drive to Windsor to see if the light comes back on. If it does, I'll try a new cap and pray to God that the light isn't trying to tell me the engine is on fire.


You May Have Noticed

If you've been keeping up to date on my blogging, you might have noticed that I've already written three posts today, each one a small little morsel of bloggetry. I'm going to try it for a while and see what sort of feedback I get.

Over and Out,
Old Coot

3 comments:

Abbey said...

Hm, here's some feedback: it's a pain to have to click 5 times (including "back") to read what I could have clicked twice for. The service around here just isn't what it used to be.

A side note: Soy milk and Milo isn't always a great combination.

Todd said...

When I asked for feedback, I didn't mean guff. Kwitcher bitchin', and shutcher pie hole.

But surrisly, if it's a pain I can go back to the old way. This new technique would help get the stories out to the people as quickly as possible, because I don't have to work on several at a time.

B Side Note: Lite Soy Milk is nas-tee, or a-skus-ting.

Unknown said...

so Nikki's CEL just came on and I'll tell you a OBDII reader is a hell of a good investment. Its even a better if you can get a friend named John to buy one that you can borrow. Anyways, her's popped up a code that seems like the thermostat, thank goodness for certified pre-owned volvo's!

"Something inside of me just said 'Hey, wait a minute, I want to beat him.' and I just took off." -Pre