Saturday, May 27, 2006

posted by: copernicus on 5/27/2006 01:26:00 AM
My beloved Saturn has a serious illness.

Driving to work today, pulling out of my parking lot, i hear a clunk and see something rolling away in my side mirror.

"Oh, ran over a rock." Keep driving.

About 5 miles later (1/2 way to work) OIL light comes on.

"What the fuck is going on here? I checked the oil last tank of gas, right? Shit. As soon as I get to work i'll add more oil, ok Saturn?"



All lights come on as the engine stops........

I pull over.

"Shit."

I pop hood, check oil.

Bone dry. "Hmmm..."

I get bottle of oil out of trunk and add to engine.

Oil goes straight thru engine and out the bottom, forming a thick black puddle in the roadside gravel.

That wasn't a rock i ran over, it was the drain plug to the oil pan. Those things don't just pop off. The shop that did my last oil change didn't tighten the plug properly and now i have a crippled engine. I just drove 5 miles while 5 quarts of oil spilled from the heart of my beloved Saturn, which then seized as it ran dry.



Realizing a piece of my engine was 5 miles back in my parking lot, and with an hour til the tow truck would get there I decided to try to hitch back to my apt. and then back to my car before the tow truck got there.

I decided to be optimistic and hope that if I could get the plug, reinsert it and refill the engine with oil I MIGHT be able to get it moving and at least get to work.

So with my bald head beard and purple scrubs i stuck out my thumb and waited...........a while.......until some hippie-stoner college kids from UMASS pulled over. They took me back to the apartment, helped me find the drain plug and took me back to my car, refusing gas money. When they found out we just moved there they invited us to a party tonight and gave me their number.

Very cool. Reminded me of living in Lawrence.

So I got under the car, found the hole in the bottom of my beloved's heart and plugged it properly, refilled it with 4 quarts of oil and kissed the steering wheel...........click............nothing.

It's fucked.

Tow truck driver took me to his shop by my work, then dropped me at the hospital (2 & 1/2 hours late) for a grand total of $50.00

Another travel nurse at work works the same shift and lives in my apt. complex. She gave me a ride home tonight, and will take me round-trip tomorrow.



THE HOPEFUL NEWS: I heard no clangs, bangs or clunks, no rods shot out the engine block and no flame erupted. I know those are BAAAAAAD signs, and to my knowledge, no such deathblow did occur.

THE NOT SO HOPEFUL NEWS: Running out of oil is about the worst thing that could happen to an engine. My beloved Saturn could have caught fire. We could be talking about $1000.00+ in engine repairs, and the only way I'll get that from the oil change place is to sue them which will take a long time.

So, I'm renting a Dodge Neon at $38.50 a day for an undetermined amount of time. Thanks to the holiday weekend, it will be Tuesday before I can rent a car AND before my car gets looked at. I'm pretty sure it's going to be bad news. As it turns out, my boss is related to the owner of the repair shop.

She said to name-drop.

If the engine is fucked and we're looking at a $1500+ repair............

Damn.

I don't even want to utter the words.