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lwoodFriends and neighbors, I'm an animist. Damn near anything with an individual identity has got some spirit to it, and that which is loved, can love in return, and occasionally perform when really it just ain't got no logical reason to--and I like to think that's love.
Herewith, the Tale of the Taurus That Could, and the Death of Its Transmission.
Our heretofore nameless 1999 Taurus SE has 143,000 miles on it. He's having a graceful middle age with a few dings here and there.
Monday night, the transmission died, but not without warning, not without a fight.
After the Seidhjallr meeting,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hilarypoet and I were the last two to leave Greyhaven--she's carless at the moment, due for knee replacement to boot, so the mile walk to her place from Hayward BART is not okay, let alone any Thing I have about "women alone on public transit at night".
We pulled away from the curb reasonably enough, but the transmission disengaged when trying to go from first to second ("really slow" to "normal residential speed"), but it caught after a couple adrenaline-laden seconds--and that was my first clue, but I figured we were going from a "mild" issue to a "moderate" one, as the Taurus had been making mild transmission-related complaints for weeks, ameliorated by an oil change, as those top off the transmission fluid--I certainly didn't think a critical failure was imminent, or the cell phone would have called AAA then and there.
It behaved reasonably well all the way down 13 from Greyhaven to Hilary's, with high RPM's at the third/fourth gear boundary ("the engine was going really fast at the low end of highway speed"), although the Check Engine light, and a slight petroleum-based smell, happened about halfway down the road. Our CEL lights when it notices a slight emissions issue, and blinks for OMGWTFGBBQ ones: I believe this incident and the one just before, on CA 92 between CA 1 and CA 35 on the way home from an event atbright_valkyrie's house, meant that the transmission was nearly out of fluid, causing the engine oil to run hot and burn a little, accounting for the smell. Alternately, I was smelling transmission fluid.
Anyway, the Taurus, bless it, worked all the way to Hilary's, which is near 92/238 and includes a steep, short, hill on a curve.
Nor did it die coming north on 580 through the Oakland Hills, although I caught another whiff of Something Oil-Based and drove slower as a result. I calledcountgeiger, too, and reported all this.
Those of you who have been to my place know that the first block after the on-ramp sports several fine transmission-stressing features: it's steep, you have to get to speed fast, and to approach my place you have to do all this, usually from a standing start, while crossing three lanes.
Now we started having our Critical Failure: CEL was lit, sure, but now, blinking, was "O/D OFF", which when steadily lit means that you have asked the transmission not to engage overdrive--I'm guessing in this mode it means transmission fluid pressure failure, because what happened was that the transmission would engage for a second or few, disengage for a second or few, then re-engage--I admit my time sense was not what it should be just then, as I was rather occupied with "DON'T PANIC!" and "OMGWTFTRANSMISSIONBBQ!" in fairly equal quantities.
Happily, this was all at 11:30 or so--little traffic but not late enough for drunken crazies, else my trip up the hill might have been "assisted" by another car in my rear end.
Going up the hill, therefore, was like this:
RevrevLURCH!
RevrevLURCH!
RevrevLURCH!
I made it up the hill and onto the side street alongside my building. I did not dissolve into a little puddle of pear-shaped wibble by main force of will and experience with previous crises--oddly, there's nothing like dealing with freaky magical shit gone pear-shaped to help keep your head when the car goes similarly. Go figure.
I carefully proceeded in first gear along this fairly level side street. The driveway of my building, however, is another incline, and when I made the right turn, the transmission completely Left the Building: RevrevVROOM!, but without movement.
I swear the car was apologising for it, too.
I pulled out a phone. "countgeiger? Hon? Please put on some clothes and help me push the car into the garage? The transmission has failed, and I am in the driveway."
Actually, that didn't work (even when two more tenants turned up to help), but that's all right as it would have made things more annoying for the tow truck, who was called as soon ascountgeiger couldn't get the transmission to re-engage either.
Still: if it had to die, you can't ask for better than "the driveway of your very own home".
Goooood car.
Gooooood car.
I am an animist; what is loved, lives. What lives, can love.
A rebuilt transmission will run $2000, and that'll take a goodly amount of juggling to achieve, but we'll do it--if for no other reason than that loyalty on a level roughly equivalent to the original marathon run really ought to be rewarded.
The little Taurus That Could loves me lots and now, big strong mean tough silly me, I am crying for it, at work and everything.
Good car. Mommy and Daddy fix.
-- Lorrie
Herewith, the Tale of the Taurus That Could, and the Death of Its Transmission.
Our heretofore nameless 1999 Taurus SE has 143,000 miles on it. He's having a graceful middle age with a few dings here and there.
Monday night, the transmission died, but not without warning, not without a fight.
After the Seidhjallr meeting,
hilarypoet and I were the last two to leave Greyhaven--she's carless at the moment, due for knee replacement to boot, so the mile walk to her place from Hayward BART is not okay, let alone any Thing I have about "women alone on public transit at night". We pulled away from the curb reasonably enough, but the transmission disengaged when trying to go from first to second ("really slow" to "normal residential speed"), but it caught after a couple adrenaline-laden seconds--and that was my first clue, but I figured we were going from a "mild" issue to a "moderate" one, as the Taurus had been making mild transmission-related complaints for weeks, ameliorated by an oil change, as those top off the transmission fluid--I certainly didn't think a critical failure was imminent, or the cell phone would have called AAA then and there.
It behaved reasonably well all the way down 13 from Greyhaven to Hilary's, with high RPM's at the third/fourth gear boundary ("the engine was going really fast at the low end of highway speed"), although the Check Engine light, and a slight petroleum-based smell, happened about halfway down the road. Our CEL lights when it notices a slight emissions issue, and blinks for OMGWTFGBBQ ones: I believe this incident and the one just before, on CA 92 between CA 1 and CA 35 on the way home from an event at
bright_valkyrie's house, meant that the transmission was nearly out of fluid, causing the engine oil to run hot and burn a little, accounting for the smell. Alternately, I was smelling transmission fluid.Anyway, the Taurus, bless it, worked all the way to Hilary's, which is near 92/238 and includes a steep, short, hill on a curve.
Nor did it die coming north on 580 through the Oakland Hills, although I caught another whiff of Something Oil-Based and drove slower as a result. I called
countgeiger, too, and reported all this.Those of you who have been to my place know that the first block after the on-ramp sports several fine transmission-stressing features: it's steep, you have to get to speed fast, and to approach my place you have to do all this, usually from a standing start, while crossing three lanes.
Now we started having our Critical Failure: CEL was lit, sure, but now, blinking, was "O/D OFF", which when steadily lit means that you have asked the transmission not to engage overdrive--I'm guessing in this mode it means transmission fluid pressure failure, because what happened was that the transmission would engage for a second or few, disengage for a second or few, then re-engage--I admit my time sense was not what it should be just then, as I was rather occupied with "DON'T PANIC!" and "OMGWTFTRANSMISSIONBBQ!" in fairly equal quantities.
Happily, this was all at 11:30 or so--little traffic but not late enough for drunken crazies, else my trip up the hill might have been "assisted" by another car in my rear end.
Going up the hill, therefore, was like this:
RevrevLURCH!
RevrevLURCH!
RevrevLURCH!
I made it up the hill and onto the side street alongside my building. I did not dissolve into a little puddle of pear-shaped wibble by main force of will and experience with previous crises--oddly, there's nothing like dealing with freaky magical shit gone pear-shaped to help keep your head when the car goes similarly. Go figure.
I carefully proceeded in first gear along this fairly level side street. The driveway of my building, however, is another incline, and when I made the right turn, the transmission completely Left the Building: RevrevVROOM!, but without movement.
I swear the car was apologising for it, too.
I pulled out a phone. "
countgeiger? Hon? Please put on some clothes and help me push the car into the garage? The transmission has failed, and I am in the driveway." Actually, that didn't work (even when two more tenants turned up to help), but that's all right as it would have made things more annoying for the tow truck, who was called as soon as
countgeiger couldn't get the transmission to re-engage either.Still: if it had to die, you can't ask for better than "the driveway of your very own home".
Goooood car.
Gooooood car.
I am an animist; what is loved, lives. What lives, can love.
A rebuilt transmission will run $2000, and that'll take a goodly amount of juggling to achieve, but we'll do it--if for no other reason than that loyalty on a level roughly equivalent to the original marathon run really ought to be rewarded.
The little Taurus That Could loves me lots and now, big strong mean tough silly me, I am crying for it, at work and everything.
Good car. Mommy and Daddy fix.
-- Lorrie
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no subject
Date: 2006-09-13 06:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-14 02:10 am (UTC)-- Lorrie
no subject
Date: 2006-09-14 04:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-13 07:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-14 02:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-13 10:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-14 02:10 am (UTC)-- Lorrie
no subject
Date: 2006-09-13 11:02 pm (UTC)Sparrow
no subject
Date: 2006-09-14 02:18 am (UTC)Right now, offerings to the car wight include the rebuilt transmission, the associated torque converter and transmission fluid pump--collateral damage, alas, as shrapnel apparently flew all over the damn place--and other miscellany, which brings the estimate from $2000 (doable with juggling this pay period) to the much more daunting $2800 (verrrrrrry, um, exciting).
When that's all done, the Taurus gets three presents:
1) An oil change!
2) A washing!
3) Aaaaand...a trip to Modesto. Which isn't glamourous for people, but if you're a car it means you get to go places, and going is good for cars.
The car appears to be fond of feathers, seeing as various feathers I've collected over the years never quite leave--the raven feather stuck in the noose on the rear view mirror is obvious, but there's a collection of goose and turkey tucked between the windshield and the dashboard. If another feather happens my way some time soon, I shall add it to the car's collection.
-- Lorrie
no subject
Date: 2006-09-14 12:18 am (UTC)(Of course, at that point in my life, 500 bucks was four months wages....Mommy and Daddy (and Grammee) Fix!
no subject
Date: 2006-09-14 02:19 am (UTC)On the other hand, it's rather less than four months' of my current wages, so at least that's something...
Thanks!
-- Lorrie
no subject
Date: 2006-09-14 08:04 pm (UTC)-smk
no subject
Date: 2006-09-15 12:03 am (UTC)-- Lorrie
no subject
Date: 2006-09-15 04:01 am (UTC)I have had a series of POS Vehicles, all loved for themselves (even the REALLY POS wagon that stalled when it turned left), and you're right, we need to care for them.
I'm currently in love with "Da Beemer" (Dunnhiryn, as I recall her spelling) and "Da Volvo" (Russel Hall) but the same, although I spend more time in the convertible. Still. I am so very grateful that neither is a POS..
NOT that the Little Taurus that Could Is! NOT AT ALL! Just sayin'...be grateful what with which ya gots and stuff.
So why are you going to Modesto?
no subject
Date: 2006-09-15 04:46 am (UTC)I am! Very much! Not at all a POS, s/he is a Good Car! (Frankly, like the computers, I've never really perceived the car as a gendered being, so)
So why are you going to Modesto?
The Sainted Grandmother is coming to town with her sister, and would like to spend time with me as I drive the two of them to visit yet-a-third sister. After a night in Modesto, they get to go to Sonora, on Yosemite's front porch, the lucky thus-and-so's!
-=- Lorrie