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Our Awesome Travels

Our Awesome Travels
Taken In Quartzsite Arizona Dec 7th 2015

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Sunshine, warm weather and a broken car :<(

Where are we today ?
New Hamburg Ontario

       Getting warmer, everyday all is looking good. Coffees and computing then visit with Sandy and her Grandson in the house for a bit. While she was doing laundry.
helping with laundry
       Then took Suzie to the doctor in Stratford for and 11:30 appointment, just a routine to refill prescription. Then our plan was to grab a quick cheap lunch at KFC (twoonie tuesday). Thats two pieces of chicken and fries for two bucks. But with inflations it now $2.79 still a good deal and a treat. But it just so happens that this was not to be!
       Back to the car in Shopper's Drug mart in Stratford and the car not going to start. Hmmph. Call our mechanic and ask him. Is the security light lit up on the dash. Yep it is something to do with ignition and maybe the key is no good. Well spare key it at home in our RV. Suzie called her Dad and they not busy so they picked up our spare car key and came for a drive to drop it off. 
        By now it 1:30 and they are here, great! Try the key still not start, same security message. Call mechanic again turn on ignition and wait 10 minutes. Nope that does not work either. 
       Now 1:45 Suzie calls our roadside assistance and after more than 1/2 hour on the phone the women says she will check out and send a text message to our phone in 10 minutes. We are now getting hungry so I went across the street and picked a tuna sub for Suzie and I to share, no KFC today.Waiting for text, now 3 pm call them back, they still have not found a towing service.
       Getting rather annoyed we cancelled the tow service and said we would call our own tow truck. Called Hillcrest service in New Hamburg and 30 minutes later the car was hooked up and heading back to Hillcrest Motors in New Hamburg. So simple, guess this roadside service will be going away. 
        We had good Sam for a few years and had a similar experience so we switch. Had CAA and again not too good either especially for a large motorhome. Hillcrest will give us a good price on the towing because they know Suzie's family quite well. May as well get them to fix the car while its there too. I used to fix all my own cars for years, brakes, engines, transmissions etc... but now with all this computer crap that is not and option anymore. You need to have a special computer to read the computer in the car to translate what might be the problem. Then you need special tools for almost every car.
30 minutes after the phone call we are hooked up
         Now at 4:15 at Hillcrest motors in New Hamburg and Suzie is there to pick me up with her Dad's pickup truck. She rode home with them and waited for me there.
So here we are back at the farm with her Dad's pickup
         A frustrating day and did not go the way we had planned at all. Now relax for a little bit then heading to Suzie second cousin's Phil and Joyce for a get together and supper. Just down the road a bit between Tavistock and Shakespeare.
         So this posting is before we go as probably not gonna update when we get home. Now we can end a screwed up afternoon on a good note, visit with more friend and relatives and a nice meal.
          Thanks for stopping in today, hope your day was a little less troublesome than ours. But hey at least it was a warm and sunny one that we enjoyed a visit with Suzie'sMom and Dad and a tuna sub in the parking lot.
Check out the map below to see where we have been this summer
View Summer 2013 in a larger map

24 comments:

  1. We had the same thing happen to us in the motorhome our first year on the road. We had to be towed two hours away. The guy plugged in the computer and instantly found the issue. Fuel filter dirty.

    Hope the repair doesn't set you back too much.

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  2. My money's on the "neutral lock-out" or whatever it's called. It's the little switch that won't let you start the car if it's not in "neutral" or "park". The switch gets oxidised in older vehicles, and suddenly one day, it won't start. Everything works, electrically speaking, but turning the key does nothing.
    Sure hope it's something as simple as that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well it turnes over fine and fires but no fuel. And thats what the security light does, shuts down the fuel pump.

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  3. Hope you get the car issue solved quickly and cheaply, which is normally not the case. Very frustrating!

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  4. Sorry that you had a bummer of a day. Sure hope there isn't anything to serious with the car. Today will be better I am sure.

    Ruth
    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The days ended up[ wonderful anyway. We will deal with the car on Wednesday.

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  5. Seriously? KFC??

    I last ate there about 8 years ago. At the time, I said never again.

    Kevin

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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    Replies
    1. Not our favourite but enjoy it here occasionally in Canada, not at all in the USA for some reason.

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  6. Oh dear.... hope it is not too serious on the car repairs. Your right, you cannot fix them anymore yourself... way too technical and you need a special tool for everything! Glad to hear it is getting warmer up there... we are a couple days out!

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  7. Had Hillcrest Motors pick up my Mazda pick-up truck on the New Hamburg by-pass back about 93 or 94. Can't remember the guys name who picked me up but we knew each other. Probably from high school days at Waterloo-Oxford.

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    Replies
    1. They are a decent local place to get work done. Gotta love small towns.

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  8. Unfortunately, we all have some bad days mixed in with all those good ones. Glad to hear the weather's warming

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    Replies
    1. It wasn't that bad,just frustrating, and don't mind lunch in a parking lot when we have our coach and can make it myself. Everyday is good, just some better than others.

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  9. That wasn't a fun day at all. Hopefully, it's a little fix and it won't take long or cost much.

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  10. Good thing you were home and not somewhere in along the road. My experience with the CAA is not too good either. Some times they really fuzz around and are not very efficient. Hope they find the reason for this without too much of a cost.

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  11. Thankfully, I've never had to use our Good Sam Roadside Assistance program so I have no personal experience with them. I hope that continues.

    I'll be anxious to hear the solution to your car problem - I haven't got a clue what it could be.

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  12. Maybe that squirrel was not only licking salt......:))

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