Tuesday, August 17, 2010

But We Checked That!

Our mechanic just called and said the only problem with our van is that the battery is dead.

The first thing Shane did when the van wouldn't start was pop the hood and check the battery with his multimeter. It tested dead, so he pulled the battery and was going to buy another when he decided to test it again for some reason. The second time it tested good, so he thought maybe he'd reversed his positive for his negative or something.

So, the good news is that the van has no serious problem. The bad news is that the tow fee cost us every bit as much as the new battery.

I don't know whether to be embarrassed or relieved. Both, I guess.




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8 comments:

Sheila said...

Good news--at least it wasn't something more serious. I'd say a small price to pay for peace of mind.

Quiltgranny said...

I'm surprised that Shane doesn't have one those electic tricle charger auto-charging thing-a ma-jigs like K has. (Notice how technically inclined I am?)Whenever we've thought there a battery problem, he just hooked it up, put a charge on it, then took the battery in for a replacement if it was bad. Save our bacon quite a few times with the kids' cars, too. What a bummer to pay the tow bill.

Annie Jones said...

Sharon: We do have one, and why he didn't try it I'm not sure. But it wouldn't have made much difference anyway, according to the mechanic. He also got the battery to test good in terms of volts, but it failed the load test, which is amps. Shane the difference to me, and I got the gist of it but it's more than I can explain...LOL!

Basically, the battery was going to fail sooner or later, and luckily it happened in our driveway and not while I was halfway across the city.

Alea Milham said...

I had a battery fail on my truck and it really seemed like it was something much bigger. I was relieved that all I had to do was buy a new battery! Sometimes it is hard to figure these things out.

slugmama said...

No embarrassment needed on this one....just one of those DOH! moments in life.lol
I'm glad it was an easy fix....easy and relatively cheap fix even with having to pay for a tow. ;-)

Annie Jones said...

Sheila: Yes, peace of mind is worth a dollar or two. :)

Alea: That's just it...it did seem like a bigger problem. Usually a dying battery will at least try to turn over, but it didn't do anything.

Sluggy: I felt less embarrassed after the mechanic, via Shane, explained how we got a good reading on a bad battery.

Lisa B. said...

Glad to hear it was nothing major!

Frances said...

Be relieved it was nothing serious. I, too, have had a bad battery test as good. It is weird, but it happens.