Four Lives Down, Only 5 Left for My Civic

Two big missed opportunities this weekend because of car trouble.

My white ’95 Honda Civic is my first (and only) car. Got it the summer after high school. It’s been through 3 major accidents — twice declared totaled and registered as a salvage vehicle.  But I’m still alive and have traveled over 150k miles in it. I’m on my 4th hood. All in all, she’s been good to me.  If my Civic was a cat, then it died its 4th death today.  But I think the Civic’s got one (or five) more lives left in her.  She’s a frugal trooper. We’ll know more on Monday when the shops open.

Starting a few months ago, I noticed that the car would run a bit hot and when I checked the coolant reservoir, it would be empty.  So every week or so I’d refill the reservoir with coolant.  The mechanic I brought the car to couldn’t find an obvious leak, and since there didn’t seem to be other problems, I kept up with the weekly workaround.

But last night, the problem escalated itself.

Heading up to Oxnard on the 405 last night to see my friend Amy before she left town again, the temperature started rising rapidly around Skirball Center.  I pulled over to check the coolant levels — bone dry.  Uh oh.  Better check the radiator too seeing how wisps of smoke were floating off the engine block.  After waiting 15 minutes for the engine to cool down, I opened the radiator and found it bone dry too.  Double uh oh.  So I filled it up with nearly a full bottle of coolant and got back on the road. I headed north thinking the problem had been licked for now.

Not 5 minutes later, I found myself off the road again with an overheating car.  Filling the radiator with water at a Denny’s, I noticed that a puddle was forming below the car.  There was definitely a leak now, and it wasn’t small.  This is when I figured I wouldn’t be able to make it all the up to Oxnard and back.  So I turned around to limp back home. Ugh. (Sorry Ames, I’ll make it up to you in 6 months!)

Having to stop 3 times on my 20 mile trip back home – each time waiting 15 minutes* for the engine to cool enough to open the radiator cap to add another gallon of water — I figured I wouldn’t make my flying appointment with Thanos this morning.  Double ugh.

* On the bright side, I’m now almost finished with Brad Thor’s Path of the Assassin because I’ve been sitting around so much. This Scot Harvath series is not bad.  My only gripe is that Secret Service agent Harvath is too perfect.  A little depth please.  But as far as paperback thrillers go, it’s got enough bad guys, shooting, and international intrigue to entertain me.

When I tried to start the car, the lights came on but no sound came from the engine.  That’s when I called AAA and snapped this picture.  I wanted to get a shot of the engine/hood on the left with a bunch of cars rushing by on the right.  But not wanting to die for a stupid picture, I opted for this less dramatic picture. :)

The rest of the story is uneventful. A tow truck from a AAA affiliated shop comes by, tows me to Source, and I borrow my sister’s Camry. AAA was super easy as usual*.  Just hand over the card and sign. Maybe tip the guy if he makes nice chit-chat.

* Sometimes I think AAA is not worth the price. But then when this happens and I need to be rescued from the side of the road, or I leave my lights on and need a jump (at least once a year, usually around the first rainy days of the season), I don’t want to think about the hassle of not having AAA.  So yeah, AAA is worth it.

Tagged as: car