My car started like normal. Turned the ignition, backed out of my parking spot, and pulled out onto the street. Then, when I stepped on the accelerator, my car kind of went, "Roo roo roo." And did nothing.
Panicking--and very thankful that no other cars were on that road--I turned the car off and back on. Everything seemed to be fine. The check engine light came on a little while later, but the car was otherwise fine.
Still, my parents were leaving with the truck in the morning and I was making my way (via a few stops you'll read about over the next few days) to Oklahoma City, so Dad wanted to get the car checked out.
We got up early and, after a few tries, the car ran okay. Heading for Pep Boys, we stopped to get gas before pulling onto Houston's Westpark Tollway. (Which, if you don't know, is a raised highway with narrow shoulders and no possible way to escape.)
The car, of course, died completely about a quarter mile down the road.
Thankfully we made it over the hill and onto a safe stretch of shoulder. Just as I was calling AAA (not very promising this early on a Sunday morning) a Harris County Constable pulled up behind us. He called for a tow truck and, after waiting about twenty minutes, we were in the cab of the truck and on our way to Pep Boys.
What is most amazing about this is the fact that, because the tow truck driver is part of the county's Safe Clear program, we didn't have to pay a cent. (We tipped the driver, of course, because he took us more than ten miles for free!)
Pep Boys checked the car out and, after a mini-expedition to Burger King, we learned something truly appalling. Apparently, when Jiffy Lube had changed my air filter a couple weeks earlier, they had neglected to tighten down the bolts on my air filter cover. Did you know that when your air filter cover comes off YOUR CAR CAN'T RUN?!? Neither did I.
Anyway, Pep Boys fixed us up, didn't charge us for fixing the air filter cover (Jiffy Lube, on the other hand, is refunding some of what I paid for that service) and did charge us for a new battery (which my car aparently needed).
Whew! My car was good to go. My parents headed out with the truck. I stayed one last night in my apartment before my travel adventures began.
Tune in tomorrow to find out where I went first.
Hugs,
TLC
2 comments:
Oh my! I will remember the filter cover thing since our most recent filter cover-replacer is a member of the family. I'm glad everything worked out--safely and CHEAP. Jiffy Lube! AWK!!! You want stories? Talk to my daughter who at sixteen worked at the one in our neighbor for a very short period of time. Long enough for me to have a very serious conversation with the guy at the "executive" (har har) level of the entire company. Don't go to J.L. EVER. Like I said, SO glad you're safe! Bless your parents for sticking around to make sure you were driving a safe vehicle!
BOO YOU JIFFY LUBE! Poor car!
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