As a few of you may know, I've been having some freaky-ass problems with my car. It's driving me bananas, and I just paid a sizeable chunk of money to be told that I'm crazy and there's nothing wrong with it. Which is funny considering it doesn't exactly START!
Anyway, i'm sick of being pushed around by repair and part shops around here that are more interested in playing politics than actually help people. I ask 10 mechanics and I get 15 answers then told the whole reason is because I went to one place or another instead of them. I figured if I ask 10 different people for advice on this forum, I'll get 15 different answers without the bullshit.
So, here's a breakdown of what's been happening:
2 1/2 weeks ago: My car dies. I check paperwork dates with the car's deadness and discover it's time for a new battery. So I buy new battery and am happy.
Earlier this week: On the way home from work, the dash, interior, and headlights all go dim. The wipers refrain from working. The heater dies. I barely make it home before everything goes dark. Connections are all fine, belts are tight. I ponder this new problem and remember it's exactly the same as in high school when my alternator died. I grumble and get a few jumps here and there to get to work.
Mid-week: After multiple run-arounds, begging, pleading, and frustrations, I convince a mechanic at WM's auto center to put the alternator in for me for free since I blew all my money on the part. He reluctantly agrees. He tests the alternator and agrees with me that it does need to be replaced. I grumble something about warranties.
Thursday night: He proceeds to freeze his ass off in the parking lot after dark to install the alternator for me. I rejoice. I need a jump to get it started, but figure since I was driving on battery only for a bit, it could use some charging. No biggie.
I drive to a friend's house and stay for a few hours, figuring if the car needs a jump, I can get it done there no problem. Car starts fine as I leave. Half a mile or so later, the interior and panel lights dim, the heater stops working, the wipers refrain from proper movement, and the blinkers are reluctant to work. I'm now pissed.
I start playing with dials and discover that when I turn the heater on, the radio goes from the auto preset, to the last station left, to the time. Time shouldn't show unless it's off or the tape is playing. When the lights get brighter, the radio goes to the station I left it on (though the radio hasn't worked in a really long time).
I pull into Safeway and leave the car running with all the lights off. When I come out 15 minutes later, the lights are properly bright when I turn them on. Just past the end of Safeway, they all go dim again, and proceed to act just as possessed as they were before.
Friday: I wake up pissed and call in to work to get time to get the car fixed cause if it isn't, then I can't get to work at all. Especially on the days I have to be there at 7. I call all over town for help and am told everything from the parts I bought are pieces of crap because I went to this one place that doesn't charge twice the cost for the same part to there's a short in the system to aliens are invading. Most places can't take me til Monday, but I finally find a place who tests the car for me (after using my 3rd of 4 free roadside assistance thingies for the year to jump it). They tell me that I'm crazy, there's nothing wrong with the car other than dirty battery terminals (which weren't dirty), they started it fine 7 times in a row, and here's your bill thankyouverymuch!
I get in my car. Not only does it start fine, but the squealy noise that tells me the key is still in the ignition is screeching like crazy at me and I haven't heard that sound in a long time. I drive home, pissed. I call a friend and she talks to her dad who says it's electrical and to take it to this electrical place (the only place) in town. Her roommate offers to look at it for free, but I really don't want to leave my car anywhere anymore and I give up and drive to work. The car started just fine, though the squealy noise disappeared.
A few hours later, I leave work early since between walking in below zero temps to get anywhere, lack of sleep, and constant worry, I am now officially sick as a quadruped. The car starts just dandy and I drive home. Oh, and this whole time since being told there's nothing wrong with the car, I've had the heater on full so I can hear if it starts to go funny again. I drive home, go to bed...
Saturday: ...and wake up at 6:30am to tell a manager that I'm too sick to come in, knowing this will screw me on my next paycheck. A good many hours later (like 11am), I wake up and decide to test the car for the hell of it. It almost didn't start, but it finally caught and everything seemed fine. I turned the car off. I paused, and turned the car on. Nothing.
45 minutes ago (3pm), I tried the car again. Still nada. The lights work, the heater, everything, though the car's clock now says 12:00, which only happens when the battery is removed.
So, that's my story. Am I crazy? Am I destined to spend the next several paychecks fixing problems that don't fix the problem? If anyone can tell me anything helpful about what to do, I'd be more than grateful. Of course, nothing here is open on Saturday or Sunday, and Monday and Tuesday I have to work, so the liklihood of getting anything fixed before the apocalypse is pretty slim.
Oh yeah, the electrical place in town said they'd look at it, but it will cost me $58. Which I don't have anymore. I had to cash my stock out in order to pay for the freaking alternator.
