Tweet
Left Z-Max as soon as we could hoping to make Cookeville or Nashville Friday night. Had headlight problems around Asheville, NC around dark & had to grab a room there. Left early & had the alternator go south between the two exits for Vienna, IL, about 40 miles north of Paducah. Managed to limp off of their second exit ramp & about half-way to the town. That was about 3 Saturday afternoon. Heat of the day on the side of the road. Hood up, no idea yet & I asked Laura to grab something out of the car but the key fob will not open the doors. Or the trunk. The guy that built this car wanted all of the modern stuff on his '63 Chevy & for once I was glad that he did. Obviously the battery was dead.
But the electric fuel pump was now inop too. A guy with cables stops & we confirm the battery theory. But of course it should run off of the alternator. Quick trouble shooting made easy. Cops stop & say it has to be off of the road so they will call a hauler to tow it to town. One-half mile or less. $50. Could have been worse. Driver was a nice guy. Towed it to their lot & even parked it in the shade for us. They, & everything else in town closes at noon on Saturday. Yes, I remember growing up in a small town.
We have a daughter & son-in-law in Paducah but they were supposed to be in Florida on vacation. A quick call confirms that they got home that morning. So they came up & got us & we went back there. Dan & I chasing parts & Laura & Kimm hunting us down a room for the night. Of course the alternator had been updated & we had no idea what it was. But between the two of us & the O'Reilly's guy we narrowed it down to what fits an '84 Chevy pickup. We had the battery being charged somewhere else while all of this was going on. Got the new alternator & recharged battery & got back to the car in time to replace everything & get half-way back to Paducah before dark. And then spent some time trying to sort out the headlight issue.
First time that we have had an issue on the way home. But dumb luck prevailed with it being so close to Dan & Kimm & them being home. Some easy trouble shooting, a creative O'Reilly's guy & a son-in-law not that familiar with the old stuff but that had ran into the headlight relay issue that I was unfamiliar with. So we spent the night in Paducah & Sunday on the road. Finally pulled into the driveway about 8:00 Sunday night.
But the electric fuel pump was now inop too. A guy with cables stops & we confirm the battery theory. But of course it should run off of the alternator. Quick trouble shooting made easy. Cops stop & say it has to be off of the road so they will call a hauler to tow it to town. One-half mile or less. $50. Could have been worse. Driver was a nice guy. Towed it to their lot & even parked it in the shade for us. They, & everything else in town closes at noon on Saturday. Yes, I remember growing up in a small town.
We have a daughter & son-in-law in Paducah but they were supposed to be in Florida on vacation. A quick call confirms that they got home that morning. So they came up & got us & we went back there. Dan & I chasing parts & Laura & Kimm hunting us down a room for the night. Of course the alternator had been updated & we had no idea what it was. But between the two of us & the O'Reilly's guy we narrowed it down to what fits an '84 Chevy pickup. We had the battery being charged somewhere else while all of this was going on. Got the new alternator & recharged battery & got back to the car in time to replace everything & get half-way back to Paducah before dark. And then spent some time trying to sort out the headlight issue.
First time that we have had an issue on the way home. But dumb luck prevailed with it being so close to Dan & Kimm & them being home. Some easy trouble shooting, a creative O'Reilly's guy & a son-in-law not that familiar with the old stuff but that had ran into the headlight relay issue that I was unfamiliar with. So we spent the night in Paducah & Sunday on the road. Finally pulled into the driveway about 8:00 Sunday night.
Comment