Boiled over in the driveway

[slant6billy]

So my coworker has a car club Cruise night at a micro brewery in Aston Pennsylvania tonight. I got home from work and started the Evil Eve. She was idling in the driveway and I was checking tire pressure. My wife starts talking to me and then stops.She asks, "Is it supposed to drip green stuff from the front. apparently the 30 Amp fuse for the electric fan blew. Lost a bit of coolant as she shot up to 235 degrees. a trip to Napa and I go to get to the cruise.... a little late but the Volare' made it to the cruise

 

[Justwondering]

So let me get this straight ..
Your car had a mechanical issue.
You diagnosed it.
You got a readily available part at a cost that did not break the budget.
You repaired it.
You still made your evening activity and had a good time.

Lets contrast that with the average jelly bean car.
Your jelly bean has a mechanical issue.
You have to call the towing company to get it to a mechanic ($$$).
They have connect a computer to the data port so the computer can tell them what's wrong.
You get contacted a couple of days later about the 7 different things that are wrong.
The labor to get half the engine out so they can fix the one busted wire in the engine compartment will cost you $580 while the wire is $180.
It will take 3 days to get the part.
By the time the part comes in, all the rental cars are gone and you have to make do for transportation.
Ten days after the problem occurred, you get your jelly bean car back and its now leaking oil.

 

[BudW]

That’s happened to me before.

Thirty years ago, I installed electric fan(s) on my 340 (‘67 Plymouth Satellite), because I was tired of looking for, and installing, pre ‘70 small block water pumps (thinking the fan might have had something to do with it).
I installed an Imperial high temp switch into intake which turned on a light under dash. I went on to install a toggle switch by the light to turn on the fan motor (or motors, I can’t remember) manually.
The system worked great for me for some time, until one cold winter morning, I started car and let idle. Forgetting the car, I went out to get into it, and it was boiling over. The fan (or fans) was turned on and temp went down fairly quick.

I continued to drive the car for a couple of years later and apparently it didn’t suffer any problems. Also, I didn’t go through any more water pumps either.

Note: many of the ‘70ish Imperials had a low coolant temp switch, a high coolant temp switch and coolant temp sensor (for the gauge). The first two drove dash lights and the sensor was a typical Chrysler gauge system.

BudW
--- Post updated ---

Ten days after the problem occurred, you get your jelly bean car back and its now leaking oil.

Smiles

 

[slant6billy]

I had packs of fuses. Got to have a good number of backups in the glovebox. I knew I needed to let it idle. Just proves when these cars come out of hibernation (even in my case, it was only 2 weeks), they need a good set of checks. Pilots, Military, truckers, etc....... Preventative Maintenance Checks. It will save some towing if some run through checks get done in the driveway.

 

[Jack Meoff]

I had packs of fuses. Got to have a good number of backups in the glovebox. I knew I needed to let it idle. Just proves when these cars come out of hibernation (even in my case, it was only 2 weeks), they need a good set of checks. Pilots, Military, truckers, etc....... Preventative Maintenance Checks. It will save some towing if some run through checks get done in the driveway.

Yep. I fully agree although shit happensout of the blue sometimes.

Went to get the Volare out of hibernation last year. All looked fine. Started it up and was putting the car cover in the back seat and I smell gas. The rubber return line from the fuel filter called it a day. I walk to the front of the car which is running and there's gas raining off the K member.....in an enclosed underground garage full of other people's classic cars. Shut it off and cleaned up the gas
Scared the crap out of me. The what if's going through my head. Jeez.

But.....as Justwondering said....instead of any dealer or diagnostics being involved. I had fuel line in the trunk. Swapped it and was on my way.

But sometimes you just never know when something is going to call it a day even with a pre check.

 

[slant6billy]

I'm strapped in the trunk with extra ballast resistors, ignition boxes, 3 jugs of coolant, brake fluid, and fuses. I re-purposed my kids backpack from last year as a tool bag with most of what I need for my car. Not too mention a spare tire, lug star, scissor jack, and I do check the air pressure in the spare each time I go out in the car. Wife made me get AAA towing, but I use that as a last resort to get it home.
--- Post updated ---

Good thing I showed up. This was the lone other mopar at the cruis-in

 

[Jack Meoff]

Sweet ride!

 

[rcmaniac791]

Similar thing happened to me awhile ago:
Driving home after something, and my voltmeter started jumping all over the place. Not 2 seconds after I noticed it, I said to my dad, "voltage regulator died". Got a new one and it was fixed within the hour.

You can't properly diagnose the new jelly beans without a scan tool that sometimes costs more than the car...

 

[Darth-Car]

That is a Fabulous Green Machine!