May 23, 2011

Susie Subaru is Sick

I love my car.
She's treated me well ever since I got her right after returning from my mission.
She's taken me across the country three times; on road trips and site seeing; to ballgames and birthdays; to countless triathlons and races; and in my daily commutes to work, church, friends' houses, and running errands.
As I like to do, my Subaru was named using a little alliteration: Susan Subaru.
Clearly she's a sporty gal, so she goes by Susie for short.

Here is a Disney short about another car named Susie. While Disney's Susie is a blue coupe, and my Susie is a green wagon, the video alludes to today's events and the purpose of this post (if you're strapped for time just skip the video):
Today my beloved Susie got sick.

She started squealing and giving off a faint burning smell, so I pulled over and checked under the hood. There was definitely a little smoke rising up around the belts, so I used water to cool her off and let her sit for a few minutes. I decided to head straight home and take her into the shop first thing in the morning.

We didn't make it home.

About 6 blocks from the check stop, and 6 blocks from home, she gave up. Engine died and all the check engine, oil, etc lights came on. No more smoking or flames or explosions, but still not good signs.

Some nice passers-by gave me a push so I could get onto a side street, which was greatly appreciated. After sorting things out with AAA and waiting a considerable amount of time for the tow truck, Susie had been carried to a nearby repair shop and we'll find out what the damage is after they've run some diagnostics.
Get better soon, Susie!

Update on 5/24: Picked her up from the repair shop today.
2 days and $988 later, she's back on the road.

2 comments:

  1. Good thing it didn’t explode! Smoke could mean battery failure, or a leaking and poor tensioning of the belt. But there is another possibility - the alternator case might have malfunctioned. It could be an electrical problem, which would definitely lead to smoking, burning, and eventually, an explosion.

    Sebastian Gaydos

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Sebastian! We fixed her up and she survived another 5 months, then died for real. So now I have a new car :)

      Delete

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