My truck is a 2WD. It is in every other way perfect, so I work around that foible by letting it have winters off. It sits in the driveway, slumbering away.
Last year, the battery died. Not a huge deal; I'd never replaced the battery, it was a cold winter, it was time. So we towed it out of the driveway (and the several inches of ice it had frozen into, yikes) and got the battery replaced, problem solved. I had a vague thought of pulling the battery and leaving it inside for the winter this year, but one thing on top of another and I never did.
I was not planning to tackle digging the truck out for a few more weeks yet, but it turns out that we will need to move equipment for work back and forth between three different towns and my truck is the only staff vehicle that can cope with that much Stuff.
Ok; so Tuesday night, I tried to start it. Nada. I called AAA, and they tested it: dead. I faithfully ran it for 30 minutes, then tried again: nada. It's fine, said the AAA guy, who also works for my regular mechanic. This is a good battery, and it's less than a year old, so it's still under warranty. Call us in the morning.
The next morning, I called my mechanic and explained everything to him. He said sure, the battery is probably under warranty, but the warranty does not cover batteries that died due to being left to sit all winter and subsequently freezing. Bring it in the next morning, we'll test it, and we'll know for sure.
So that's where we sit right now. Battery is at the mechanic for the day, but it's almost certainly dead as a doornail and will need to be replaced. I am banging my head against any and all hard surfaces in frustration, because earlier this week I spent $250 I don't have on Tristan's pergolide + pentosan + banamine, and now I may have to spend another $250 I don't have because of a really dumbass mistake. (Oh and that's on top of the $550 I don't have that I have to use to pay our home inspector tomorrow.)
I really flipping hate money. And my own idiocy.
aww boo, that really sucks. it's always something... but hopefully your luck turns soon :(
ReplyDeleteNo! I can so relate to this. I easily could have written this. I swear I do stuff like this all the time. In fact I'm worried now that I've done something bad and haven't realized it yet. I am also banging my head against hard surfaces in solidarity.
ReplyDeleteI did the same thing with my truck, only not quite so bad. I parked it after our last show in September and never touched it again until I really needed it at the end of January. It was all, "Thanks but no thanks." Fortunately, after a week of solid driving (and A LOT of getting jumped) it's gone back to normal.
ReplyDeleteWe left our truck sit a long time and the battery died. We just bought new ones and installed them ourselves. Not cheap, but cheaper than having it done by a mechanic. I'm not a car person either. I can basically replace batteries and windshield wiper fluid and check my oil. I don't change my own oil or do any other car work so I'm just saying if I can do it, you can probably do it.
ReplyDeleteOh, that sucks. If it makes you feel better, lots of people make the same mistake. I hope everything gets better soon.
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