It's becoming a running joke between a friend and I: Every trip I take to Key West has to be accompanied by some sort of mechanical problem. I recently took a slightly longer trip to the west coast of Florida and had no issues, so I was hoping the Key West curse might be broken. Nope. Not to be.
So, for background, here's some of the things that have gone wrong on recent trips:
-Major misfires days before planned trip. Replaced spark plugs, distributor cap, ignition rotor and ignition coil. Didn't replace the wires, as I'd just replaced them due to gnawing critter damage a few months prior.
-Same trip as above, going home, 10 miles out of town, car dies completely. Check it out, and discover the spark plug wires won't stay put. Had it towed back to friend's place. Replaced spark plug wires. Car ran fine with just new wires, so I drove it home.
-Days before another planned trip the brake light switch got stuck in the "on" position. In fixing that, I messed up something in the starting system. I know what's wrong, but I can't find it. The space under the dash is cramped and crowded. Can't find the relay I'm 99% certain is at fault. Rigged half the starting system by running a wire from the battery to the starter solenoid, which is then run into my car and wrapped around the gear shift, where I have to put the key in the "on" position and then touch the ends of the wires together. Still haven't gotten that fixed. Yes, I have a live wire loose in my car. Yes, I could do something about that. No, I'm probably not going to any time soon.
-Child who was instructed to put car back together and put the tools away failed to replace the radiator cap. Vapor lock formed keeping fluid from circulating, making for an interesting last hour of the trip. Car cooled down overnight, vapor lock cleared, I refilled the radiator and reservoir and drove home with no issues.
-Bicycle I was borrowing nearly lost a back wheel. (Same trip as above)
-Foot rest on 11 year old's wheelchair broke (day trip, different from all other trips)
-Friend's car ran out of gas. Finally it wasn't my car!
Then we get to today. I have to go into the lower keys to get my finger prints taken and have a background check done for a potential job. Why they can't use the recent background checks from my county, my state and the FBI, I have no idea, but they want one from that county, so I start making plans to head that direction again. I get things mostly settled and head to the grocery store. On the way home the car starts acting like it's misfiring again. Now, that engine tune up work I did was in OCTOBER. Why the fuck is it misfiring? I get it home, hook up the code reader and it flashes a bunch of codes that basically mean "unspecified misfire, all four cylinders" Huh? How? UGH! That particular combination of codes generally means distributor cap and ignition rotor, but wtf? They're only two months old! So, I pull the cap off. The metal contact points on the inside of the distributor cap are completely corroded! How the hell did that happen? That's seriously weird.
I give up. My car officially hates Key West.
So, for background, here's some of the things that have gone wrong on recent trips:
-Major misfires days before planned trip. Replaced spark plugs, distributor cap, ignition rotor and ignition coil. Didn't replace the wires, as I'd just replaced them due to gnawing critter damage a few months prior.
-Same trip as above, going home, 10 miles out of town, car dies completely. Check it out, and discover the spark plug wires won't stay put. Had it towed back to friend's place. Replaced spark plug wires. Car ran fine with just new wires, so I drove it home.
-Days before another planned trip the brake light switch got stuck in the "on" position. In fixing that, I messed up something in the starting system. I know what's wrong, but I can't find it. The space under the dash is cramped and crowded. Can't find the relay I'm 99% certain is at fault. Rigged half the starting system by running a wire from the battery to the starter solenoid, which is then run into my car and wrapped around the gear shift, where I have to put the key in the "on" position and then touch the ends of the wires together. Still haven't gotten that fixed. Yes, I have a live wire loose in my car. Yes, I could do something about that. No, I'm probably not going to any time soon.
-Child who was instructed to put car back together and put the tools away failed to replace the radiator cap. Vapor lock formed keeping fluid from circulating, making for an interesting last hour of the trip. Car cooled down overnight, vapor lock cleared, I refilled the radiator and reservoir and drove home with no issues.
-Bicycle I was borrowing nearly lost a back wheel. (Same trip as above)
-Foot rest on 11 year old's wheelchair broke (day trip, different from all other trips)
-Friend's car ran out of gas. Finally it wasn't my car!
Then we get to today. I have to go into the lower keys to get my finger prints taken and have a background check done for a potential job. Why they can't use the recent background checks from my county, my state and the FBI, I have no idea, but they want one from that county, so I start making plans to head that direction again. I get things mostly settled and head to the grocery store. On the way home the car starts acting like it's misfiring again. Now, that engine tune up work I did was in OCTOBER. Why the fuck is it misfiring? I get it home, hook up the code reader and it flashes a bunch of codes that basically mean "unspecified misfire, all four cylinders" Huh? How? UGH! That particular combination of codes generally means distributor cap and ignition rotor, but wtf? They're only two months old! So, I pull the cap off. The metal contact points on the inside of the distributor cap are completely corroded! How the hell did that happen? That's seriously weird.
I give up. My car officially hates Key West.
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