On Thursday I woke early, and remembered I had not set the phone system at work to run the 4th message on the 3rd. Didn't even know we would be off on the 3rd till I was walking out the door on the 2nd. I had set the 4th recording and schedule when we retuned from Memorial Day. Not a huge task, just a quick jaunt across town and it was done.
The boy had a Dr. Appt. in Tulsa at 10, and I was going to be hijacked into going, so I thought I'd make the best of it. A quick trip through McDonalds, hell on earth, by the way, and we were on our way. Or so I thought. As we approached Preston, the car quit. Just died like the key had been shut off. I coasted to the cross street and turned into the mini-storage drive. The car just cranked. For some reason, I just knew the timing belt had broke. I called my dad to come pick us up. We then went to U-Haul to rent a tow-dolly to get the car back home.
Tow-dollies are a hot item and are almost non-existent, at least here, so I had to settle for a car trailer. Not a big deal, or so I thought. While entering info, their computer said we couldn't use this combo with the Chevy 1500 extended cab truck we had. It had to be a Silverado. Same truck, same frame, same engine, our 1500 even has the tow package and oversized brakes, but because it didn't say "Silverado" on the fender, we were not going to be able to rent the trailer. After about an hour of the clerk fumbling with the computer, we were on our way to get the car.
Loading wasn't too bad. We got a downhill run and shoved it on the trailer. Unloading is where it got fun. Dad tried to back into the driveway, which worked great till the front of the trailer got stuck on the hump. My friends know how steep my driveway is. After a little work, we got free and drove through a couple of yards to get up there. Car unloaded, and trailer returned, now the fun begins.
Of the 8-9 codes stored in the cars computer, most were cam and crank position items. I cracked open the case at the top and had the engine cranked to verify it was the belt.
In hindsight, I should have stopped right there and taken it to a friends shop. This is a PT Cruiser. I now think each person, who worked on the design of this "car" should have one greased and shoved up their ass! What a nightmare! There is no room at all to work on these things. All the videos I found don't really show "How" they get the fuckin motor mount off, they all just show the guy throwing it on the ground. Once I got it off, I know why they throw it. Two days of working on it and countless bursts of profanity later, I had the damn thing off.
In the middle of all of this are two ungrateful kids, who think cooking a meal for them is going through the drive through at McDonalds. For fuck's sake, I'm not made of money, but these heathens are trying to spend it faster than I can make it. The worst fuckin restaurant on the planet, and I have the worst one in the whole chain where I live, and this is the ONLY place they want to go. AHHHH! The food sucks and it isn't good for you. I spend my frustrated time working on a piece of shit car, yelling no to my spoiled kids every 5 min about going to get "food" at fucking McDonalds! My daughter even somehow, got her boyfriends mom to get out at 11 at night and bring her something from there, because we "were drunk and wouldn't cook and there Was no food in the house!"
Yes, my teenage daughter is now grounded. We have so much food in the house, I have boxes of cans on the dining room table, because the pantry is full. The freezer is so full, you can't even gaze into it or your stare will knock something out. And our being " drunk" was us sitting on the patio with a couple of friends who had stopped by, and having an adult beverage, while I was relaxing from a day of hell with a car. I was on my second beer, when she called them.
The car is now back together, and it runs, although not smoothly yet. I spent two hours installing and re installing the new belt, because it would be a tooth off on one or the other of the three gears it had to line up. I finally got it so all were lined and rotated the engine over by hand several times to make sure. I do not ever want to have to get back into that belt compartment again. Yes, I did replace the water pump while I was in there, for all if you who know about these damned cars.
I still have the front tire to put on and the fender liner, after I retrieve my socket that fell behind the A/C compressor. Then time for a test drive to the nearest cliff???
I am sitting here this morning, beaten, brushed, scraped and sore. Usually cars are not that difficult, but this one is a mother! Seems like everything had to come off, but the bolts that hold everything are under the part they hold. I can say with all confidence that whatever the price to replace one of these at a shop, it isn't enough for the work involved. Along with a resounding "Fuck You Chrysler!" You made a car my wife wants, that I can't get my fat hands into. I have done a couple of water pumps on my friend's Dodge Ram pickups. Those were an asinine item too, so I don't know why I thought this would be different.
My life is already Hell, or has been since May, when everything else started turning to shit, so why change. Even my ass hurts from the butt-fucking this car has given me in the last three days.
Bottom line, don't get a PT Cruiser, unless you can afford to take it to a shop for repairs. Beat your kids every time they mouth off and act ungrateful. Avoid McDonalds at all costs, and just say "Fuck it" and crack open another beer!
Cheers!
