crustycurmudgeon
Well-Known Member
I'm in the process of moving to Chino Valley, Arizona. Last weekend, my brother flew to San Jose to drive a cargo truck full of my belongings while I drive the Mustang. The plan is to drive to another brother's house in northern San Fernando valley and drive to Arizona the next day. We get to a rest stop near Kettleman City on Highway 5 and the car won't re-start. A jump start from the truck gets it going. A few miles further down the highway near Lost Hills the car stumbles a few times and dies. It's nearly midnight and very cold. We're about 160 miles from the night's destination and I've got a Premier AAA membership which should get me a 200 mile tow. I call AAA and arrange for a tow and am told I only get 100 miles tow. We arrange to have it towed 100 miles to Lebec and while en route I confirm that I'm supposed to get 200 miles tow. I call AAA and after WAY too much effort (and my service call somehow getting canceled!) finally get through to a human being and explain the problem and get my service call reinstated (after the tow truck driver has pulled off the road to find out why the tow was canceled). After more time on hold, call getting dropped, more time trying to get a human back on the line, they finally admit I was given bad information at the outset and they would arrange for another tow truck to take my car the final 60 miles. The first driver was great, knew what he was doing and did it fast. The second driver, not so much. He took a long time to secure the car on the flatbed but finally we're on our way. We lose track of the tow truck near our destination. I get a call from the driver who says that the car has come loose and he's resecuring it. 10 minutes later I get another call saying the car had come loose and rolled forward and hit the front of the flatbed, suffering "some damage". He finally shows up and we get to my brother's house and the car is unloaded. Both fender extensions destroyed, bumper bent, grille molding panels damaged, horse and corral bent, grille damaged and stainless grille trim destroyed.
Later in the morning, my brother puts my battery on the charger and we go to Autozone to get a new alternator. I install the alternator and the battery and the car starts right up. We get going east toward AZ and stop to fill up at a Costco in Redlands. Gas up, car won't start. My brother thinks it's the battery despite it being less than a year old. Well, it's a Costco battery so I take it in and tell them it's defective and they charge me $20 and give me a new battery. Car starts right up. I'm thinking the problem might be the voltage regulator and/or the condenser, so we find an Autozone a few exits down the road that has the regulator in stock and another one a little further that has the condenser. Only the condenser doesn't quite match the one in my car. The new one is smaller and has a fork connector instead of the bullet connector. A few minutes of work and my brother changes the fork connector to a bullet connector, we install the parts and head down the road again. Next stop is just past the AZ border. I shut off the car, hold my breath and try starting it again. It fires right up, no problem. The rest of the trip is uneventful except for a coolant leak and another trip to Autozone for a radiator hose.
Here's the carnage:
Later in the morning, my brother puts my battery on the charger and we go to Autozone to get a new alternator. I install the alternator and the battery and the car starts right up. We get going east toward AZ and stop to fill up at a Costco in Redlands. Gas up, car won't start. My brother thinks it's the battery despite it being less than a year old. Well, it's a Costco battery so I take it in and tell them it's defective and they charge me $20 and give me a new battery. Car starts right up. I'm thinking the problem might be the voltage regulator and/or the condenser, so we find an Autozone a few exits down the road that has the regulator in stock and another one a little further that has the condenser. Only the condenser doesn't quite match the one in my car. The new one is smaller and has a fork connector instead of the bullet connector. A few minutes of work and my brother changes the fork connector to a bullet connector, we install the parts and head down the road again. Next stop is just past the AZ border. I shut off the car, hold my breath and try starting it again. It fires right up, no problem. The rest of the trip is uneventful except for a coolant leak and another trip to Autozone for a radiator hose.
Here's the carnage:
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