Smaug, the Ford F-250 pickup truck, has been unable to fly from the Lonely Mountain my driveway for the past several weeks, due to what I had fervently hoped was una batería descargada. Fortuitously, an ad for a mobile car repair service appeared this weekend, taped to the cluster mailbox, and I hoped that the mechanic could save me a towing fee. I had to pay for the truck to be towed once, because of a flat tire; before I’m chastised for not changing the tire myself, I’ll point out that a) this is a massive truck that weighs over 6000 pounds, and b) I’m perfectly capable of changing a tire on my Honda Accord, and have done so, without assistance, twice. So, nyah.
I felt pretty certain that the battery was the problem, as I discovered corroded battery posts and leads when I opened the bonnet hood (bruising the back of my hand in the process … I think I would like working on cars if it weren’t for mashed fingers and bruised hands). I tried cleaning the posts with baking soda and water, but that didn’t work, and it made a mess on the driveway. I also tried to disconnect the leads, but that led, inevitably, to mashed fingers and barked knuckles; in any case, I doubt I could have lifted the heavy-duty battery out of its compartment. The battery is over five years old, it’s been beastly hot here for weeks, and the combination of evaporation and sulfation had killed it. Hot weather is actually tougher on car batteries than is cold weather.
In non-hybrid, non-electric vehicles, the battery is usually of the lead/sulfuric acid type, and eventually succumbs to the combination of fluid leakage, lead sulfate deposits, and erosion of the lead and lead oxide plates. Fortunately, over 90% of the lead in a car battery can be recycled, and in most states you receive a recycling refund for your old battery, which promptly becomes a deposit on the new one. Some local ballparks that I remember from my youth had walking paths and parking areas covered with deconstructed car battery cases, which in retrospect seems like an Exceptionally Bad Idea. If nothing else, the fragments exuded or collected some sort of black dust that left pedestrians covered in (probably toxic) filth.
An installed battery, with 800+ cold cranking amps, today
Anyway, after several diagnostic tests and a brief lecture on why I should be more diligent in my maintenance of such a magnificent and hard-working vehicle, the mechanic determined that Smaug did indeed require a new Arkenstone battery and leads, and so off to Auto Zone to purchase these things. For the battery refund and deposit, I had to list Smaug’s specifications (V10 gas engine, crew cab, super-duty, red-golden, etc.), which resulted in yet another lecture, this time from the salesman, about taking better care of such a magnificent dragon vehicle. These lectures, plus $190 ($110 for battery and leads, $80 for housecall/diagnostics/labor), later, and Smaug is roaring to life at the scent of a Hobbit key-flick of an ignition switch, ready for trailer-towing, hay-hauling, kayak or bicycle transporting to local natural areas, and other outdoor adventures.
I’m hoping that Smaug will be the only truck I ever need to own; funnily enough, the maintenance lectures I received today echoed one I received about a week ago, in this case regarding my Accord (which I’m better about maintaining). I know that the stereotypes of American drivers include both the SmugBob Snobpants in new hybrid vehicles, and Conspicuous Consumingtons in new SUVs, but there are also a lot of people who are keeping older vehicles maintained and running, especially if they don’t qualify for the clunker rebate. The cars and trucks that is: unfortunately, there is no human clunker rebate for sagging body parts, worn-out joints, or inefficient distribution of adipose tissue.
Last updated:
Tuesday, 28 Jul
2009 - 03:50 UTC
In France, just yesterday there was a news item saying that insurance companies nationally will now cover the replacement of parts of your car with bits from the impound junkyard (if that’s what it’s called), as long as they are guaranteed for a year.
This seems like an exceptionally good idea, especially for body parts. I know of someone who was forced to not have a car anymore. Once her insurance claim had gone through after someone rammed her, she had to have her fairly totalled car mashed rather than replace its body pieces, in exchange for the insurance check. And of course that was not enough to buy another car. But she couldn’t drive it in the state it was in.
Nice post, Kristi. Give my regards to Smaug. Meanwhile, Caroline, my eVolvo, is on her annual holiday at the garage. She’s been there more than tqwo weeks while my hardworking garageman Dave and his beautiful
assistantapprentice Kayleigh puzzle over her problematic engine readouts.Caroline is 13 years old and has done 120,000 miles, and so, being a Volvo, she’s in her prime. She burns lean and clean, and her engine looks like that of a much younger car. Unfortunately, she burns just a little too lean for the increasingly restrictive government restrictions, which are weighted against older vehicles. It’s all part of a government scam to get us to scrap our perfectly good, well-maintained cars and buy new ones under the pretence of being green. Pah.
@ Heather: Junkyards are big business in the US, particularly in Texas, where there is lots of space. Cars destined to be organ donors also go to Mexico, legally or illegally, where many people keep vehicles running for longer than is typical in the US. There’s a stretch of highway in Houston that is lined either side with junkyards, each typically specializing in European, Asian, or American cars; when we’ve gone looking for parts for my cousin’s old Saab, for example, the offices seem so disorganized. But somehow the owners always know their inventories quite well.
@ Henry: Thanks. I hope Caroline is on the mend soon, and inexpensively. The mechanic who fixed Smaug yesterday was driving a 1988 Isuzu Trooper that he routinely takes off-road. I doubt he’s ever bought a new car – seems to do just fine fixing up old ones. I’ll admit I would love to have a Mini Cooper, or a Honda Insight hybrid, but my Accord is in great shape, after 9 years and 125,000 miles, and I think I’ll hang onto it for awhile.
I hope Caroline is on the mend soon
But that’s it! She’s not actually ill! Sure, she needed a coupla new tires and such sundries, but her engine works absolutely fine – if she was a newer car, my garageman says, she’d have passed with flying colors. It’s a plot, I say, but that dreadful Mr Brown.
@Henry – my brother put about 420,000 km on a Toyota Corolla (um, er… 261,000 miles). Caroline, being a Volvo, ought to be able to beat this I think.
@Kristi – coincidence?. The Ricardimobile, nine years old and relatively lightly driven, just had an electrical freak-out secondary to a failed alternator. The battery, it seems, is just fine, and it’s back on the road happily now, thank goodness.
@ Henry: Oooohhh, I see – Caroline’s computer readout was not indicative of a mechanical problem, but instead a problem at, errr, higher levels. I’m still trying to figure out why taxpayers in the US are expected to bail out American car companies, and then spend more money buying new vehicles from these same companies.
@ Richard: I was afraid that Smaug’s refusal to start might be something other than battery, like an alternator. I’ve heard rumors of major electrical problems in Ford trucks, and Smaug had some weird dying electrical system symptoms prior to battery replacement. Like the windshield wipers moving for no reason, the locks flipping up and down, and the dome lights flashing for eons after the doors were closed.
Speaking of longeval Volvos, my parents showed me an article in the AARP Magazine (I’m not quite there yet, thank you very much) that featured a Volvo P1800S with 2.7 million miles on it. There were several other well-maintained high-mileage gems, but the Volvo beat them all.
I suppose that my reluctance to mash my fingers and scrape the skin off my hands precludes consideration as a potential Top Gear presenter?
:-(
I saw a great big truck on my way into work today that had one of those smug “one less car” stickers on the back that usually go on bikes. It made me laugh. As much as I love cycling to work, I will never, ever display such a sticker!
I read somewhere that nine in ten Volvos ever built are still running.
@Henry – that statistic is almost certainly false, given the number of rusting and dead Volvo hulks around, and also the longevity of the company.
It’s a nice idea though.
I think Henry has confused Volvos with Landrovers.
I am easily confused.
This Thursday, Caroline will have been at the garage for a month.
In relation on my battery is discharged and the alternator has a short circuit (Sunday 2, July). In the inside of car emanated a smell of burned and I told my children descended the car. Then I made a bridge with battery of a large truck and the car moved, but since the alternator was short circuit, the battery is discharge, the car moved about 700 meters. The car is a one nightmare:)
Sorry about the alternator problems, Alejandro; hopefully they’ll be fixed soon.
@ Henry: Is Caroline languishing at the garage because of the government plots? Ridiculous!
This weekend I cleaned and polished Smaug’s dashboard using the appropriately-named (for a dragon) Armor-All. That was to appease him after filling up the back seat with dirty horse tack and blankets to be cleaned.
This Thursday, Caroline will have been at the garage for a month.
Does that count as “still running”?
Also, @Kristi – Armor-All is Teh Win. I even use it on my
crapwagonlovely Mazda (now with new alternator and other shiny bits).Thank you Kristi, I hope…¿What is your opinion of the Hyndai Santamo automatic?
Feh.
My heart is set on one of these
(but petrol. Definitely not battery-powered)
were ideal, exist in chile?