val922's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trouble Light We picked up the truck on Saturday January 14th. That night D had taken it inside his parents� garage to closer acquaint himself with the features as he has never owned a truck before. When he finished he went to move it back out into the drive way. It was running very rough and the check engine light was illuminated. This did not portend well especially since we hadn�t even been in possession of it for a full 12 hours and already there was trouble. The next morning we tried again with the same result. We drove out to the dealership which of course was closed as it was Sunday. Faced with the possibility of having to wait until Monday to do anything about it we decided that I should stay behind as D had to be to work the next morning and C needed to be at school (she has already missed 6 days another 9 and she is automatically flunked). Being that I would be spending another night far from home I decided to make a run to Wal-mart for supplies ( i.e. Dr. Pepper and a word search so as not to be bored). Upon starting D�s Malibu I discovered we might indeed have more problems than first surmised. A belt in the engine was squealing and the check engine light was illuminated. Upon further inspection we learned that the temperature was � 20� Celsius outside. During the night with the wind chill factor the temperature had dropped to well below -37� the temperature at which anti-freeze will freeze. We attempted to experiment with the Malibu only to discover that after 30 minutes idling that the belt noise went away and the car ran smoothly. We tried this with the Dakota with the same result. By 3 p.m. that afternoon the check engine light had gone out on the Malibu but remained on in the truck. It was thus determined that while the anti-freeze might not have frozen that it had become thickened due to inclimate weather. Neither vehicle acted up during our 4 hour drive home but the check engine light remains illuminated in the truck. We shall have to take the truck to the dealership to make sure that the problem is nothing more serious than the cold. I am much relieved not to have been left behind and that at this time it appears not to be something more serious. 3:56 p.m. - Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2006 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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