Farewell SamSam

[fivecats]

On the Street Where I Work
Summer 2006 Chapel Thrill, NC
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The drive into work relatively uneventful for most of the trip in. Traffic was a bit heavier than normal getting onto the freeway, but once there it was relatively smooth sailing. I decided to forgo XM radio for the morning and, instead, work on some things in preparation for the 6-hour long manager’s meeting that was going to start my work day.

So, my mind was preoccupied with coming up with Common Themes and Intelligent Things to Say about the 30 page document we had to read in preparation for the meeting.

A few miles before my exit I happened to look down at the dashboard. That’s when I noticed that all of the dashboard lights were on.

Now, I’m one of those typical Yankees – I put the key in the ignition, turn it and hope to God the car starts up. If it does, alls fine with the universe. If not, I’m all but worthless.

Still, I was able to look at that long row of orange lights warning me of everything from my ALT to CHECK ENGINE and quickly make the assessment, “This is not good.”

When I stopped for traffic at my exit I saw thick white smoke billowing out in really interesting waves from the driver’s side of the hood. I got out, opened the hood and through the smoke I could see the tell-tale sign of antifreeze on the road as well.

Those quick analytical skills kicked in again and added, “This is definitely not good.”

And the rest of the story? Abandoning the car on the side of the road blocking the exit wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do. Besides, I did have this Very Important Meeting to get to. So, following a rule in my father’s playbook I got back in the car and decided to see how far I could drive it before it completely died on me.

Once I was moving again the thick white smoke was dissipated enough so I couldn’t see it. The car seemed almost fine, in fact.

Off the freeway the last stretch of road is fairly flat and straight, until just before getting onto the campus grounds. To get there you need to climb a long, steep hill. I looked at it as my car’s Last Challenge.

I crept up the hill, slowly but surely. Then the car seemed to slow down on its own accord as a Death Rattle started sounding from the engine.

Bonn had long ago named my car SamSam after one of our neighbor’s outdoor cats who whines much like some of the sounds my car makes. They’re both old and seem to complain easily. I offered SamSam lots of encouragement as he continued up the hill.

At the stop light at the top of the hill there was a line of cars. The light turned green just as I approached the back of the line and I thought I had it made. Except for the bus right at the light which had stalled out and wasn’t going anywhere. I stopped, too, and SamSam died, followed by a bigger burst of white smoke.

“Come on, SamSam, we’re almost there,” I said.

Turning the key I was pleasantly surprised to hear SamSam’s engine turn over and start up. Some bewildered people to my left allowed me to cut in front of them and go around the bus.

The death rattle continued, the steering wheel was like turning through cement and smoke started coming into the car through someplace that looked like the radio.

We puttered onto campus, made it through all of the turns and limped into the parking lot across from the Press. I backed SamSam into a space and he died one more time.

After the six hour long meeting I got back to work and was telling my networking manager and good friend Zheeeeem about my morning adventure. He asked if I wanted him to take a look at it. “Sure, why not?” I said.

Up popped Bart from behind a partition wall. “Was that your car in the parking lot? Can I come look, too?”

Sure, why not?

If nothing else I figured we could all bury SamSam together.

Zheeeeem was able to quickly diagnose the problem – part of the crank assembly had somehow been drawn back into the engine block, thus sheering off some of the engine belts. Most of them, in fact. The only one left was the belt to the non-working air conditioner and that wasn’t going to get me very far.

Three trips to various places later we actually had the right sized belt and, by flashlight, Zheeeeem got the belt on, tightened and the alternator back in place.

I drove it across the street to the back of the Press building and we tried filing the radiator reservoir, only to find that there was a leak with that somewhere. Back against the front firewall there was a miscellaneous hose with a trip-switch assembly piece at the end of a hose where water was gushing out almost as fast as we could pour it in. It looked to all three of us like the end had been blown off by something and we couldn’t see where it was supposed to go. The best thing we could think to do was to plug up the end of the hose and hope for the best.

We searched around for something to plug it up with and decided that a thick highlighter was the best fit. That’s how a pink highlighter ended up as an Emergency Auto Part tonight.

SamSam started up just fine and I took off down the road, calling Bonn to say I was on my way home.

And five miles later SamSam started slowing down. And slowing down. And then going through the same Death Rattles as before, only worse.

He carried me down to the next exit and around the curve into a mall parking lot before dying for good.

Bonn came and picked me up. I emptied out all of my trash, junk, papers, etc., from SamSam and said a long goodbye to a great car that tried very, very hard for me and kept me safe on many a journey.

Our last one was one to remember.

...

Comments

[ruralrob.livejournal.com]

Never have car troubles sounded so interesting - and suspensful.

Bye bye Samsam!

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

I wrote most of this in a Barnes & Noble bookstore waiting for Bonn to pick me up. (It ends a bit abruptly because she arrived and I had to finish it after I got home and was very tired)

But thanks. :-)

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[basefinder.livejournal.com]

Major suckage about the car.

Reminds me a bit of the Audi we had in Germany back in 1979; an engine bearing failed on the Autobahn. We barely made it down an exit, and as we came to a stop in a gas station parking lot it seized completely.

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

Breaking down on the Authbahn sounds extremely dangerous. Glad to know your Audi managed to get you to safety as it's last effort to keep you safe.

What was driving on the Authbahn like?

...

[basefinder.livejournal.com]

Driving on the Autobahn was fun, but scary. I had the old Volvo up to about 110 a few times, but that was extreme -- took a long straight downhill stretch to accomplish that. Was able to cruise about 90 fairly easily. But even doing 90 or 110, you'd have Fast Movers zipping by in the left lane.

[smileyfish.livejournal.com]

Ummm... If water being put into the radiator came out this disconnected hose, then you were runnign your car with no cooling what-so-ever. What may have been a fixable problem turned into engine cookage, by the sounds of it.

And yes, this is Toni.

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

Well, of course it's Toni. :-)

SamSam had developed major transmission problems over the last 6 months or so and I knew we weren't going to be able to afford to have that repaired. We bought SamSam for $350US (on eBay) and a $1000US transmission replacement wasn't in the cards at all.

I'm planning on turning the car over to a charity organization and allow them to see what they can do with it. Perhaps he'll have another life to him yet.

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[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

Bought the Demon Truck for 2500.00

Spent 1500.00 with the first 3 weeks to fix the tranny.

Spent another 1500.00 within the next 6 months to fix the torque converter and the tranny again.

Spent another 300.00 to fix the fuel pump 2 months after that.

Knock on wood that this last time only cost me 1.69 for brake fluid.}:P

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

SamSam, as I said, was all of $350.00 (on eBay). We drove a rental up to NJ, stayed a night in a hotel and had to pay for gas up and back. Beyond that -- and the 2 quarts of oil a week he was going through -- we didn't have to put any other money into him at all.

Personally, I'd take the $1.69 repair over any of the others any day. :-)

...

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

You and me both}:P I was thanking it for the rest of the week, lol.
SamSam was a good deal, by far, that's for sure}:)

[velvetink.livejournal.com]

Yep, you definately seized the engine, might have been fixable if you didn't drive it any futher after discovering the leaking radiator. * sighs....too bad you didn't have a mechanically minded woman about!.

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

well, to be fair, SamSam had developed serious transmission problems over the past 6 months or so (I had to park facing the road at night -- reverse on a cold engine was a slow, difficult process) and I knew that we weren't going to be able to afford that repair anyways.

Still, you are so true. Having a mechanically-minded woman about would have made a difference. :-)

...

[new-brunette.livejournal.com]

Poignant, man. I'm nearly in tears, here!

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

I think we've all had those valliant cars which no one else entirely understands our attachment to. The kind of car that you know is trying really, really hard to hold it all together for you. When they go out getting you out of a potentially dangerous situation and managing to keep you safe, it's a testiment to the relationship you shared with the car.

Not to get all mechanically-minded mushy or anything...

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[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

Wow, and here I thought the Demon Truck gave me interesting stories.}:)

At least you were near home when SamSam died for good.

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

Definitely. I think somewhere in these back pages I wrote about our minivan starting to die while we were 350 miles away from home at a show in the mountains of Virginia. It was during the Summer of My Unemployment and we were doing the show to make the mortgage payment.

I spent a Saturday in the mountains of Virginia trying to find someone who would (a) work on the car (b) and not rob us blind. Fun times.

The jury-rigged temporary fix that should get us home -- provided we carried many gallons of water with us and refilled the radiator every 100 miles or so -- managed to get us about 150 miles down the road. On a clear Sunday late afternoon our minivan, laden with all of our show stuff and camping gear, went through a very sudden, very harsh engine meltdown.

(I'm used to seeing dark black oil at the end of a dipstick. Seeing coffee/mud colored sludge, on the other hand, was something new to me)

...

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

Now see, for me, it was just the ooposite direction.
I was headed to Wilngton Beach, when I noticed white smoke pouring out the back(doing 75 on 40).

Finding someone to work on my tranny(a 'bolt' came loose and blocked to fluid return hole, forcing all the tranny fluid out the front seals and pump) on a late Friday, *Good Friday* at that, the weekend of Easter?

Nearly impossible. Demon Truck spent a week in Warsaw, NC before I could go back down to get it. That return trip is a whole other story, as the Banshee Car decided to act up on the way home. Sheesh.

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

At least you had a rest stop in Warsaw!

(And next time, let us know. We're just off of I-40 before the Raleighwood exits) :-)

I had a late afternoon/early evening U-Haul adventure on Labor Day many years back with a truck full of all of our belongings and a car being towed on a two-wheeled towing mechanism that, as it turned out, was illegal to use on the New Jersey Turnpike. Have any idea how to get through New Jersey and not take the Jersey Turnpike? And then figure out what to do when that two-wheeled device comes down with serious problems? And the car has been drained of transmission fluid so it can be hauled on one of those things?

Lets just say the mildly intoxicated gentleman from the company who came, beer in hand, from a barbeque to our rescue treated it all as some sort of enjoyable adventure.

At the time I was thinking "yeah, that's because it's not happening to you!"

Now I tend to think he was the one who was right all along.

...

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

Ack! Simply driving on the NJ turnpike is an adventure in and of itself}:P

Next time I head your way, I'll let you know}:) It won't be with the Demon Truck tho! LOL

[zeppo-marx.livejournal.com]

I've have that tendency to drive cars until they die to. And, even though we bitch about their creaky, annoying, idiosyncratic ways - it's still a sad day when they finally give out on us.

My last one like that was an '86 MAxima. Had it up to 460,000 on the odometer, and about the only thing still working on it was the engine. Couldn't open the sunroof. The trunk lock was seized (hooray for split-folding rear seats to still make it accessible), one of tha back doors didn't open. The radio sounded as if it were submerged in water. The AC? ha!

But the engine would fire up and run smooth as silk, right to the end.

Of course, when the tranny siezed up, that became rather irrelevant. A smooth engine in a permanently parked car is of little benefit to your morning commute.....

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

Sad, but true.

I was definitely sad to leave SamSam in the mall parking lot last night, warts and all...

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[drood.livejournal.com]

I read this entry entry with a big Eeeeeeeeeeeeek! running through my head.

I can still hear the echoes. Sigh.

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

The Death Rattle sound was more of a thunkathunkathunka Thwap Thwap Thwap thwapthwapthwapthwapthwapthwapppppppppppppgggggggggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

I still hear the echoes, too.

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[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

Ack! Simply driving on the NJ turnpike is an adventure in and of itself}:P

Next time I head your way, I'll let you know}:) It won't be with the Demon Truck tho! LOL