So, Wednesday, the water pump dies. Had that replaced.
Thursday heading to Cape Cod the van dies on the highway. Get a tow to a autozone, as the code was showing it was the coil. Replaced that ($40) and then still no spark. So after a few hours and another $120 in parts, i had to have it towed to my local shop. I am now waiting on a reman ECM. Very mad. Also dropped like $700 in June for a new fuel pump $400 for the water pump. $300 for the ECM plus towing, and labor.
Its been a very expensive summer with the house, van, and also I spent $500 to have a tree taken down this week.
Acually, myself and my wife drove up there, inside the tow truck was my wife's sister and her two twin 7 year olds. We were only going like 1 mile to get off the hyway, so it was that or wait. ya, it was hairy and probably illegal. But under the circumstances , we had little choice. The second tow truck took just me and the van back like 50 miles to my local shop, then i grabbed the magnum and had to go back and pick up the family. So it was a total wasted day.
update, I got the replacement pcm for the replacement pcm today. Bring it over to the shop. We plug it in, cross my fingers......He turns the key......Its cranking........still not starting......Cranking some more........Poof...the replacement pcm, 2nd one, goes up in smoke.
So i have it towed from that shop to a dodge dealer to start again. They cant even look at it till Tues.....(Voices Carrie)....
So at this point, Its either another bad pcm, or a short in the wire harness going to the pcm. Either way its going to be $$$.
Im at the point of looking for stuff to sell to make a few bucks. May be selling the 54 olds and or the bmw bike. I still need to finish my house addition, I need plane tickets to FLA in Dec, and also plane tixs to Ireland for April...
very unhappy....I realy dont want to sell my shite...
As my online source for the pcm was taking forever to send out a working pcm, I looked online thru my partsfinder thing. So I found one in a N.carolina junkyard for $20. Great. So I call them and the thing is, they are a upull it type offit. So I posted an ad on CL in the winston salem wanted section. "someone to uninstall a pcm and ship it to MA, $30" About 20 minutes after posting, I get an Email from John. He lives near the junkyard, and, Get this, works at a shipping place, like a UPS store or something. So he went there, got it and shipped it up to me. $20 for the part, $20 for shipping, And the $30 for his time.
It shocked me that some random person would do that. I will deffinatly remember him this XMAS. And he thanked my for the chance to earn a few bucks. Kinda made me sad to think that $30 is important to him. Anyway, when I get a few extra bucks, I will throw him another $50 for being such a nice guy.
I didnt have the heart to tell him it was now in vain, as I paid the dealer to get one for me as getting the van running was more important right now then saving a few bucks. But I will have a spare, or may sell it on ebay and send him the money I get for it, as its worth like $200-$300.
Lastly, the dealer raped me for $750 for the new pcm. Plus labor and another coil. All said and done, about 2k on the van for this whole ordeal.
Glad it's behind you but still.... That's a good thing you did for that guy. $30 is the world to some. Some can spend it on one lunch yet others can buy food for their family for a week with it. Debit/credit cards have given ppl the illusion that it never ends. If we did away with all plastic it would force everyone to consciously budget themselves. You would HAVE to at that point. You can't over spend what you don't have right?
Sadly with the economy the way it is just about every industry has taken a bite. Ppl just don't have the money to spend like they used to. That also means ppl are neglecting things like maintenance on their vehicles, putting a lot of service personnel and mechanics out on the street. Then when something like this happens they jump on you like bees swarming a recycling can in the summer. When you eat less often you tend to fill your gut when it's in front of you. It puts so much stress on the remaining few who are trying to make ends meet.
Take the housing market. Foreclosures are at an all time high. Millions are months behind and face eviction every day. When you don't pay your taxes the state loses money, money they eventually try and get from those left who still pay their bills. I own a tiny 3 bedroom rancher with 1/4 acre. I pay $5000/year in taxes. In my area that is considered high, mainly due to the new schools just built. My property was recently reassessed and because of it my taxes went up $600/year. To me it's criminal when they can raise my taxes on a whim yet my property value is plummeting due to the market.
Instead of cutting the nonsense spending and responsibly handling the state's money corrupt governments insure their lifestyle and stick it to you and me. Growing up my parents always said the rich get richer while the poor get poorer and the middle class keeps getting squeezed like a tube of toothpaste. Well the tube is getting flattened out. The economy has bottomed out (so they say) and economic analysts are confident for 2010. Well what about the lives of the countless families where it's already too late? Homes/jobs lost, credit destroyed, unemployment run out.......how's America going to help them? Does anyone know how hard it is to buy a home today? Even with the billion the banks got from the bailout they are not about to lend it to a risk, they'd rather buy other failing banks with it and send corp execs on vaca with their bonuses.
For some this recession was a blip on their screen. No change in lifestyle whatsoever. They didn't even have to sell one of their shore homes. They are fortunate. Others have lost everything and have to start from scratch.
Glad you got it fixed man. We all know the feeling of having a broken down vehicle.
Agreed 100% Paul. I think you should.....no, I DEMAND that you run for President in the next election. I will even paypal you one dolla to help get you on your way, 'cause those presidential campaigns aren't cheap.
I will even paypal you one dolla to help get you on your way, 'cause those presidential campaigns aren't cheap. 