Help get my car back on the road

Help get a broke college student's car back on the road. There will be prizes!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Well, I thought I fixed it..

Some updates on my car. I repaired the broken tie rod, got some new tires and pieced back the body into a reasonable state. Unfortunately at this point in time I haven't got the cash to really get the bodywork done. The drivers side fender is banged up a little, but its really the rocker panel and door that got the worst of it. The headlight mounting tabs and the bumper got pretty thrashed, but they're good enough for now.



All of this is well and good, I thought. I figured once I reached this point I'd at least have a working, usable car, even if she was a bit banged up.

Yeah no, that would be too easy.

At first I simply thought it was a dead battery. The car had been sitting for 2 months and that wasn't too much of a stretch to me. Hell it made a lot of sense. But when after checking to see if it could still hold a charge (it couldn't) and eventually replacing it, I was still without and internal combustion to power my new fangled horseless carriage.

Then I remembered the inertia switch in the trunk. Ford installs a switch in the back that is supposed to detect a crash or even some other harmful scenario for the car and cuts the fuel. It's basically so you don't just piss a lot of gasoline into the ditch you've buried your car in. Good feature. I chalked it up to the switch temporarily. I tried resetting it (though for some reason, the car started right back up when I crashed.. I had to even use the car's power to help the tow truck get it out) but to no avail. Eventually a friend of mine came over with his Mustang and we did some sciencing.

We turned the ignition to the ON position without starting either car. In his car, you could hear the fuel pump start to prime the system. On my car, only an annoying clicking sound. Next we tried the same thing, but with the switch disconnected. My car still made that stupid click, but the other car was just silent. Still not sure what the hell this means, but thats where progress has taken me so far. I fixed all that I had thought I broke, but I guess thats part of the deal.

On the plus side, the rebuild of my other car is going rather well, and should be finished up not too long from now. But I'll tell you more about that juicy story later.

24 comments:

  1. i hate car trouble. I recently blew a tire and then the nut was stripping. Had to go somewhere to get it off with the gun. Good luck with your car.

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  2. hopefuly u get it running soon

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  3. Ah damn. Well you'll figure it out. Best to you.

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  4. Damn man, I've been starting to get a really bad noise every time I make a turn.. Gettin' it checked out tomorrow..

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  5. Best of luck mate. I'll tell you what through, cars are nothing but trouble you solve one problem and another pops up a week later....

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  6. wait what? why did your car make that click sound?

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  7. Damn I'm sure you'll figure it out..!

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  8. I always have car trouble in the morning, when I wanna drive to work!

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  9. Car trouble is the worst. Good luck with that.

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  10. I was going to suggest a bad fuel pump, but it shouldn't even be trying to do anything when the inertia switch is '(fuel)off'. You should check it for diagnostic trouble codes.

    Hope you get it straightened out soon. I finished fixing my car a few hours ago.

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  11. that is too bad. hope you find the cause.

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  12. Can't wait for the other "juicy" story lol
    Hopefully you get this one working though

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  13. Good luck, sounds irritating!

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  14. Jesus you know way more about mechanics than i do hehe

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  15. Sucks man, hope you get it repaired soon. Following and supporting. alphabetalife.blogspot.com

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  16. I need a cool car like yours, time to go shopping

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  17. I bet you will get it running in no time.

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  18. that is too bad. hope you find the cause.

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  19. sorry to hear about the mustang's troubles, hope it goes well

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  20. hopefully you can get it fixed

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