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| Look its my car when it is working and pretty. |
But I have a tale to tell...A very important tale that needs to be told. It is a cautionary tale not for the faint of heart.
I will start with a question...do you get your car serviced like you are suppose?
I bet you think you do. I bet you are thinking I get my oil changed, rotate my tires, have an emissions test, and do all the other things you have heard about. But did you know that there is a belt in your car and if it brakes it can ruin your engine in a matter of minutes?
That's right if you have a timing belt and if you don't have it checked regularly or replaced when the manufacture recommends you have it changed you can end up paying thousands of dollars in repairs. I know this because it happened to me.
On Thursday as I was innocently driving home, with the "Pseudo" Step-Kids in the back, my car made a horrible horrible noise. I tried to get home quickly knowing that whatever is about to happen next is going to be bad. But we didn't make it. Soon all the warning lights started to flash and my car stopped...just stopped.
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| My car in happier times...despite the snow. |
I coast to the curb, put the car in park. Told The BF the car was dead (I was already on the phone with him having called him the moment I heard the horrible noise). The BF said I am on my way at the same time the "pseudo" step-daughter started saying "MJ I have to pee really bad."
Great just great I am stranded on a hot hot day with a 6 year old that needs to pee.
I sent the kids to the local fast food chain to use the rest rooms and waited for The BF to rescue me. When he arrives he messes around with the car and tells me he thinks its the timing belt....WTF is a timing belt.
I didn't even know I had a timing belt in my car. And no one ever told me I might need to get it changed. Not my dad, brother or the people that regularly do the maintenance on my car. NO ONE TOLD ME!!!!
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| Slightly less happy times but at least my car started. |
This upsets me...I am not very car savvy person but I am not an idiot either. I should have been more proactive, I did the things to maintain it that I am suppose to do but I some how missed the part about the timing belt.
When the timing belt decided to go it cause a lot of damage poking holes in pistons, water pumps and a bunch of other things that are under the hood of your cars. Which then costs over $2000 in repairs.
Yup over $2000.
I am working on paying for the repairs....I think selling my kidney or prostitution may be the best solutions...don't you?
Please if you are reading this, dont let my suffering be in vain, go get your owners manual or look it up online but find out when you need to replace your timing belt.
If you drive a Chevy Aveo...its 60,000 miles.
Oh yeah, I'm a "car" person so I know about these kind of parts YET a timing belt in my old 88 Mustang left me stranded on the highway, far away from home. Oh yeah and that booger of a belt if VERY costly. My goodness....ever since that day, many MANY moons ago, I am very up on my car/truck maintenance. Hate the feeling of being stranded! :)
ReplyDeleteLet me tell you what I will never again neglect...Its beyond crazy how much damage was done to my little car.
DeletePlease, lets not add undo fear where it is not needed. There are 2 types of engines that have these cursed things. There is a non-interference engine and an interference engine. When the timing belt goes on a non-interference engine the engine stops, will not start again until it (timing belt) is replaced, no damage done, it can be a $40 repair (+ labor if you have someone else do it). If the belt (or timing chain on some engines) goes on an interference engine, the top half (heads) of the engine will be destroyed and need to be rebuilt. This is because all the valves (intake and exhaust) continue to move, out of time with the pistons and go crashing into them. At this time you should think about just replacing the entire engine (with a new timing belt). So when this happens, all is not lost, just do some research if you have a non-interference engine, dont let some unscrupulous mechanic tell you that you need a new engine.
ReplyDeleteI hate car maintenance :-(
ReplyDelete