I had to go to NAS Oceana for a fairly major Engineering Investigation, of which I was assigned the lead. These are like accident investigations, and everyone and their admiral want results NOW! I drove 890 miles straight as soon as I was told to go.
I spent the past 10 days working my tail off looking at data and finally finished on Friday. Rather than using commercial shipping for some parts that need to be examined, I offered to drive them home where we could examine them more carefully. The parts were put into reasonably large foam rubber sections, and I could fit two of these guys in the back seat no sweat. However, I had to move the driver's seat up a bit so they didn't get crushed. No big deal. Except...
My Lincoln MKZ has this feature that when you pull the key out of the ignition, a small motor moves the driver's seat all the way back to aide the elderly driver to get out of the vehicle. I hope you're beginning to see where this story is going.
Saturday morning at 5AM, I check out of the hotel, pack my bags in the trunk and start the car. NOT. I could hear the starter solenoid click, and everything else was working but not the starter. Oh shit...I have a dead battery. My car was parked head first on a slight downgrade, so I did not know how I could get it jumpered. I go to the local Wawa gas station, but they don't carry starter cables. I ask the hotel clerk if she could recommend a wrecker, and she said her husband can give me a jump, just wait a few minutes. Sure enough he shows up with these jumper cables that were rather small in diameter. We pushed the Lincoln uphill until it was clear. We jumpered the MKZ but it didn't work. I'm starting to get nervous that my car had broken down, in a strange town on Saturday at 5AM and would have to be towed to a mechanic around 8. The husband went across the street (I think to a Uhaul) and another guy came with quality jumper cables. We jumped the car and it started. Whew! No indicator lights on that charging was not working.
I knew that if I turned the engine off, I may not ever get it started again, so I drove until I nearly ran out of gas and stopped where someone could jumper the car if necessary. Car started right up.
I figured out what I think happened: that damn seat motor ran all night and ran the battery down just enough so that it couldn't start the car.
So...the lesson I (re-)learned is to always carry quality jumper cables in the trunk, no matter where you go.
I spent the past 10 days working my tail off looking at data and finally finished on Friday. Rather than using commercial shipping for some parts that need to be examined, I offered to drive them home where we could examine them more carefully. The parts were put into reasonably large foam rubber sections, and I could fit two of these guys in the back seat no sweat. However, I had to move the driver's seat up a bit so they didn't get crushed. No big deal. Except...
My Lincoln MKZ has this feature that when you pull the key out of the ignition, a small motor moves the driver's seat all the way back to aide the elderly driver to get out of the vehicle. I hope you're beginning to see where this story is going.
Saturday morning at 5AM, I check out of the hotel, pack my bags in the trunk and start the car. NOT. I could hear the starter solenoid click, and everything else was working but not the starter. Oh shit...I have a dead battery. My car was parked head first on a slight downgrade, so I did not know how I could get it jumpered. I go to the local Wawa gas station, but they don't carry starter cables. I ask the hotel clerk if she could recommend a wrecker, and she said her husband can give me a jump, just wait a few minutes. Sure enough he shows up with these jumper cables that were rather small in diameter. We pushed the Lincoln uphill until it was clear. We jumpered the MKZ but it didn't work. I'm starting to get nervous that my car had broken down, in a strange town on Saturday at 5AM and would have to be towed to a mechanic around 8. The husband went across the street (I think to a Uhaul) and another guy came with quality jumper cables. We jumped the car and it started. Whew! No indicator lights on that charging was not working.
I knew that if I turned the engine off, I may not ever get it started again, so I drove until I nearly ran out of gas and stopped where someone could jumper the car if necessary. Car started right up.
I figured out what I think happened: that damn seat motor ran all night and ran the battery down just enough so that it couldn't start the car.
So...the lesson I (re-)learned is to always carry quality jumper cables in the trunk, no matter where you go.
