Got up on Tuesday, and took the car to one of those 'squirt it yourself' car wash places to clean some of the road grime off, so it would look nice rolling into St. Louis. Did a fairly good job, got back in, headed towards the Interstate, and decided to stop for coffee at a convenience store. Back in the car, turn the key, and......nothing. Not a crank, not a groan, not a click; dead silence. But, I could see the oil pressure light dim as the key moved to the 'start' position, so I knew I had a good battery, and I figured the starter solenoid spring might be stuck. Went into the trunk, grabbed a hammer, popped the hood and gave the solenoid a couple of taps; got in, turned the key, and she fired right up. Okay, not bad, dodged a bullet!
Out onto I-70 I head, and immediately I realize it's going to be a little different drive, 'cause the sun is already out, and it's getting warm outside. Not good for the temperature inside the car (see my last post). Anyway, made real good time, and had a lot of horn honking and thumbs up from people as they passed me. Even had a couple of people take photos of the car as they went past me! Riding in the right lane at 65, I'm being passed by everything on the road, which is fine. I've decided I'm not going to push the old car any more than I have to. Did my calculations, and figured I want to stop for gas about 20-25 miles from St. Louis. Sure don't want to have to be riding around downtown looking for gas if I can avoid it. Spot a good looking intersection coming up, in Troy, IL. So, off I go, and pull into a nice Pilot gas station/truck stop. Gas in the tank; clean the windshield; check the oil and add a quart; climb back in, turn the key, and......nothing. Just as this morning, not a sound. Must be the solenoid, stuck again. Grab the hammer, tap the solenoid, try the key again, and......nothing. Uh-Oh. Hammer out again, harder taps on the solenoid; try the key again, and.......yeah, you guessed it, nothing. It's dead in the water, stuck right in front of one of the gas islands. In the middle of nowhere (with apologies to the good people in Troy). Spotted a Pilot employee working on a gas pump, so I ask if there's a repair shop anywhere nearby. Says he doesn't know, but his boss, inside, would know, and also has the number of a tow service. Nice fellow, he gives me the number for a tow, says there is a Meineke about a mile up the road, and also tells me not to worry about blocking his pump, he understands I'm stuck. Really nice guy, also gives me the number to the Meineke shop, good idea to call to see if they can/will look at the car. I get Corey, the Manager on the phone, and he says, bring it in, they'll be happy to take a look at it. Frankly, I figure it's the starter motor, and it's going to be a little while to get one, and put it in. Fortunately, there is an O'Reilly auto parts shop, and a CarQuest shop right on the main road here in Troy.
Call the tow....they show up about an hour later. You'll love this, the driver says my call to their shop came in 'just as we started lunch', so they waited 'til they finished to send the truck. Now, in NY, they'd have climbed into the truck immediately, carrying their sandwich, pizza, egg roll, whatever, with them. And I'd have been hooked up a lot sooner. But, I remind myself, I'm NOT in NY at the moment. Tow guy is a nice fellow, he is very careful putting the tow bar on the car, and then drives very slowly and carefully to the Meineke shop. Tow, $45.
Give my information to the receptionist at Meineke, then Corey comes over and says it's going to be a while, he's short handed on mechanics and they're already working on a couple of cars. Upon hearing this, a gentleman sitting in the waiting area stands up and says to Corey, "please take this fellow ahead of me, he's on the road, I live just up the street a bit". Wow. Such a nice gesture. I sit down in the waiting area and have a lovely conversation with this fellow, who's just the nicest guy you'd meet. Not a real car guy, but he's fascinated by the Fish, and we have a real nice time. After what was only 15 minutes, Corey comes in and says "Paul, how quickly would you like that car back"? Of course, I'm figuring it's bad news, but I say, as soon as possible. And he says, "Great, 'cause it's done. wasn't the starter nor the solenoid, you had a bad cable connector on the wire from the solenoid to the ignition. We put a new connector on, and you're good to go". Cost $47 for the diagnosis and the work. Back on the road in less than two hours for under $100? I'd sign up for that in a heartbeat! Pay the bill, give 'em $20 and tell him to buy his guys coffee, thank the nice man who offered to have his repair wait, and I'm headed back to I-70. Major respect to the Meineke guys, who could easily have run the bill up to include a new starter, but didn't.
20 minutes later, and I'm in St. Louis! Avoided a major traffic tie up on my way into town, which was kind of nice, because I got to roll through some side streets and check out the town. And got several comments on the car, which is always nice. Found the Hilton, put the Fish in the garage, checked in, and here's the view from my room on the 20th floor;
That's it for today, I'm not sure when I'll post again, as the next few days will pretty much be going to educational sessions and a couple of meetings, then socials in the evenings. I'm scheduled to be back on the road on Saturday, but I'm sort of thinking I might head out on Friday, I want to leave myself some wiggle room in case I run into issues on the way back. I'll let you all know what I decide.
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