> So if you break down across the street from a different
> garage, you get to stare at their tow truck
Well, I carry AAA, costs $70 a year, and somehow manage to need a tow
close to once every year. Last time was coming back from an autocross
about 30 miles to the north. My old '85 cargo van has dual fuel tanks,
and the work the DPO did on it rivals any bungling one might find on an
old British car. Anyway, as I start getting close to my freeway exit,
the van starts behaving like it is running out of gas. I flip the
switch to the other tank, no difference. Cough, sputter, wheeze and
finally die. I assume the fule system wiring is once again misbehaving,
and coast to a stop on I-15. Fuss with a few things, then call AAA, as
well as my buddy. My buddy comes out to the scene prepared to haul the
trailer, we wait for the tow truck. Basic AAA will only tow the van, and
leave the trailer and race car where they sit.
Of course, where they sit is the problem. I was just starting to move over
to the exit I wanted, almost back to the shop. We sat there for about an
hour staring at my shop just on the other side of the freeway. Frustrating.
Of course, when the driver did finally get there and ask where we needed to
go, it was pretty easy to just point ;-)
Turns out it was actually an oil problem, a hint provided by the large puddle
underneath the van. The filter housing had managed to start coming loose
from the engine block, oil started pumping out the gap, the pressure dropped
to the point where it was low enough to trigger the oil pressure relay to
cut off power to the fuel pumps. So I guess spending some time wishing the
van had gone just a few blocks further was better than spending many hours
rebuilding a seized engine!
mjb.
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