The Diurnal Precedent in NY
Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 5:30 pm
Yes, there was a day before the Night Of Pray in upstate New York. It had its own amusing moments that I was going to share with y'all.
After Vdubtech and I got Rustybus running in Syracuse on the afternoon of May 13th, I decided to pay a call to my poor languishing automotive lions in the barn in upstate New York, not five miles from the already posted nocturne of the pickup nutcase. When I arrived, it was a year and a day since I last saw them. I saw a pool under the Mercedes. It smelled of gas. I looked under the rear axle and there was a drip, about a drip per second. Blocked in by the Lincoln, I had to get these cars started carefully and quickly and out of that big wood barn with hay bales in the loft and boats galore below.
For the first time, the Lincoln's 17 year-old battery finally decided that it would not fire up that engine. Brought the Lexus over and jumpered the batteries. Spent five minutes trying to get a fast idle out of the Lexus with various pieces of wood. Gave up. Lincoln started right up anyway. Got those cars out of the way of the impending explosion. Squareback started so quickly it was as if I had just shut it off from last year's trip to Vermont. Had to drag a four-wheeler and a riding mower out of the way to get it out of its doorway.
Now the Mercedes. Will the fuel pump wiring ignite the fuel pool under the car? Will the antenna motor combust the entire proceedings? Will the starter solenoid explode the vapors that wafted up under the hood area? How about the ignition switch, will it immolate me in a ball of fire right in the driver's seat? None of the above, the car started and drove out of the barn with the fuel gauge reading a half tank remaining. At the current drip rate, that calculates to this leak having started less than 36 hours before I drove in. Glad I decided to stop by.
My poor old cars . . . the damage from last year's promised-but-never-repaired barn roof leak is maddening. Mold on the leather seats. Pitting in the chrome. Rotted hoses. Corroded brake lines. Musty interiors, the list is endless. Look at the floor after just one year . . .
Mercedes gas leak to your far left, Lincoln automatic transmission leak to your right, Lincoln differential leak to your near left:
Turned the Mercedes around with its butt hanging out the doorway so I could scoot my winter-pudgy carcass under it with an empty gas container to catch the leak:
Went over to the Lincoln. There was fuel dripping on the A/C clutch, which thankfully was not actuated. This gas leak was from the fresh 5/16" AutoZone fuel hose I had put on two years prior:
OK, I have two fuel leaks, one coolant leak, an automatic transmission leak, a differential leak, oh, and a transmission leak from the Mercedes now visible on the floor:
The Lincoln fuel leak, I was able to stop just by shutting off the car. The Mercedes was trickier. Millions, oh stop exaggerating, thousands of hoses under the tank with dampers and filters and accumulators and which one will stop the leak? Any of these hoses look like they will just crumble if I attempt to clamp them. Pulled out the factory manual. It is in German. Achtung. Finally guessed a hose to clamp and watched to see if the drips would eventually cease. You have to be patient when draining dampers and accumulators, you know. The fumes are delightful, so buzzed . . .
to be continued
After Vdubtech and I got Rustybus running in Syracuse on the afternoon of May 13th, I decided to pay a call to my poor languishing automotive lions in the barn in upstate New York, not five miles from the already posted nocturne of the pickup nutcase. When I arrived, it was a year and a day since I last saw them. I saw a pool under the Mercedes. It smelled of gas. I looked under the rear axle and there was a drip, about a drip per second. Blocked in by the Lincoln, I had to get these cars started carefully and quickly and out of that big wood barn with hay bales in the loft and boats galore below.
For the first time, the Lincoln's 17 year-old battery finally decided that it would not fire up that engine. Brought the Lexus over and jumpered the batteries. Spent five minutes trying to get a fast idle out of the Lexus with various pieces of wood. Gave up. Lincoln started right up anyway. Got those cars out of the way of the impending explosion. Squareback started so quickly it was as if I had just shut it off from last year's trip to Vermont. Had to drag a four-wheeler and a riding mower out of the way to get it out of its doorway.
Now the Mercedes. Will the fuel pump wiring ignite the fuel pool under the car? Will the antenna motor combust the entire proceedings? Will the starter solenoid explode the vapors that wafted up under the hood area? How about the ignition switch, will it immolate me in a ball of fire right in the driver's seat? None of the above, the car started and drove out of the barn with the fuel gauge reading a half tank remaining. At the current drip rate, that calculates to this leak having started less than 36 hours before I drove in. Glad I decided to stop by.
My poor old cars . . . the damage from last year's promised-but-never-repaired barn roof leak is maddening. Mold on the leather seats. Pitting in the chrome. Rotted hoses. Corroded brake lines. Musty interiors, the list is endless. Look at the floor after just one year . . .
Mercedes gas leak to your far left, Lincoln automatic transmission leak to your right, Lincoln differential leak to your near left:
Turned the Mercedes around with its butt hanging out the doorway so I could scoot my winter-pudgy carcass under it with an empty gas container to catch the leak:
Went over to the Lincoln. There was fuel dripping on the A/C clutch, which thankfully was not actuated. This gas leak was from the fresh 5/16" AutoZone fuel hose I had put on two years prior:
OK, I have two fuel leaks, one coolant leak, an automatic transmission leak, a differential leak, oh, and a transmission leak from the Mercedes now visible on the floor:
The Lincoln fuel leak, I was able to stop just by shutting off the car. The Mercedes was trickier. Millions, oh stop exaggerating, thousands of hoses under the tank with dampers and filters and accumulators and which one will stop the leak? Any of these hoses look like they will just crumble if I attempt to clamp them. Pulled out the factory manual. It is in German. Achtung. Finally guessed a hose to clamp and watched to see if the drips would eventually cease. You have to be patient when draining dampers and accumulators, you know. The fumes are delightful, so buzzed . . .
to be continued