OP
OP
Snowbound
Jim
Jack got his license on April 23rd and he took sole possession of the vehicle. I do miss driving it. It rides good and reminds me of my Denali in a way. But that’s what I bought the truck for, he’s mobile and I don’t have to pick him up or drop him off places anymore.
So one week later, it’s Saturday evening and I’m getting ready to sleep so I can go to work at 3am. It’s storming pretty bad, hail and high winds and I get a call from Jack saying he’s having issues with Caddy. Said the battery light is on and nothing is working. No radio, no wipers no power windows but it’s running. He said his mom is on her way with jumper cables but was wondering what he should do. I asked where he was and he said Orland Park mall. “What in the £¥<% are you doing at Orland Park mall on a night like this when you’ve only had your license for a week?” He said he went to Joliet mall with Josh but they had to be 17 to get in so they went to Orland. Still couldn’t get in, too young so they went to Five Guys to get some food. When they came out the hail and heavy rain hit and they made it across the street into Petco parking lot and stopped because no wipers or nothing.
“What is your mom gonna do with jumper cables if the truck is running?”
So I called the ex. I gave her an earful. Why the HE LL would you let him drive to Orland in this weather? Are you dumber than you look? I was tearing into her and told her to just go home and I’d clean up her lack of parenting like I always do. She said her husband Dave was with her and they could take care of it. “Dave’s not an idiot ya know!”
“When I need a pole barn built I’ll let him know but there’s no way I’m gonna let someone else put their hands on any of my vehicles because I’ll have to fix what they screw up.” But a lot more curse words in there. That was about when I hear Dave say “let him take care of it”. I was on Bluetooth over her radio and Dave and his son were both with her. Hahaha. I don’t care! And he knows it.
So I grab some tools and head to Orland which is only 11 miles from me but 23 miles from Plainfield where she lives and that’s where Jack started from.
I get there and the truck was off and I jump in and try to start it. The ignition tumbler had some resistance to it which I thought was odd. So I messed with shifter and rocked steering wheel but no change. Let me see what happens here. I turn key to start and click click click. Wtf!! I grab my jumper cables and get it hooked to my truck in the pouring rain and same thing. Click click click. Check connections and same thing but I notice smoke coming from right side of engine from under the hood. Starter is smoked! Tell them to grab their stuff and get in the truck. I called for tow and had to drive them to Plainfield to drop them off. Get back home about 9:45 and waited for tow truck. Dropped vehicle off just before 11pm and I went to bed to get my 2 hr nap before work!!!
I get off at 11am and Jack comes over in his moms car to help me work on the starter.
First things first, hooked up battery charger after disconnecting the battery and took the column apart to see what the issue was with the tumbler. A while back I replaced the gear shifter because the spring was broke not pushing the shifter forward when shifted into park. There’s a small cable that clips in under the tumbler that keeps the shifter locked in park until key is turned. That clip slid out some which put a bind on tumbler. I was able to slide that back in and I had to put a small piece of tin like a shim in behind the locking tab to keep it from sliding back out. Sorry, I didn’t take any pics because I was tired, crabby and just wanted to get this thing done.
After that, the key turned like normal and everything worked as it should so I put the covers back on the column. Got the truck in the air and pulled the starter. Fought me a little because there wasn’t much slack in wiring but I got it out and seen the back of the starter motor was twisted on the nose cone. Them long 4mm bolts that hold the motor to the nose were twisted at a 45° angle.
So what happened was the key stuck in the start position and kept the starter motor engaged until the stator locked up in the housing and it twisted the motor. Thankfully the ring gear on the flexplate wasn’t damaged. Ran and got a new starter and put it in and truck was back up and running. Another $240 later.
So now it’s 2:30pm on Sunday, I gotta be back at work at 11pm that night so I called Chrissy and told her Jack was on his way back to her house with her car and I would appreciate it if she could run him back out to get his truck. She had the audacity to tell me she doesn’t feel like it because she’s laying in bed watching Ozark. I’m like the Hulk when I’m running on fumes and she’s already not my favorite person so of course I blew up!!
“I’m on 2 hrs of sleep because of yesterday, I brought them back out to you last night, I paid $200 for a tow, $250 for a starter and fixed the thing so I think it’s your turn to step up!” CLICK, she hangs up on me.
So Jess had to go get Jack and bring him back to get his truck. She used my truck and my fuel all because his POS mother couldn’t be bothered with any of it. I’ve never loathed someone as much as I do her.
So yeah, that was an ordeal but we got thru it. For now. Sorry about the lack of pics, I wish I would have gotten one of at least that starter.
So one week later, it’s Saturday evening and I’m getting ready to sleep so I can go to work at 3am. It’s storming pretty bad, hail and high winds and I get a call from Jack saying he’s having issues with Caddy. Said the battery light is on and nothing is working. No radio, no wipers no power windows but it’s running. He said his mom is on her way with jumper cables but was wondering what he should do. I asked where he was and he said Orland Park mall. “What in the £¥<% are you doing at Orland Park mall on a night like this when you’ve only had your license for a week?” He said he went to Joliet mall with Josh but they had to be 17 to get in so they went to Orland. Still couldn’t get in, too young so they went to Five Guys to get some food. When they came out the hail and heavy rain hit and they made it across the street into Petco parking lot and stopped because no wipers or nothing.
“What is your mom gonna do with jumper cables if the truck is running?”
So I called the ex. I gave her an earful. Why the HE LL would you let him drive to Orland in this weather? Are you dumber than you look? I was tearing into her and told her to just go home and I’d clean up her lack of parenting like I always do. She said her husband Dave was with her and they could take care of it. “Dave’s not an idiot ya know!”
“When I need a pole barn built I’ll let him know but there’s no way I’m gonna let someone else put their hands on any of my vehicles because I’ll have to fix what they screw up.” But a lot more curse words in there. That was about when I hear Dave say “let him take care of it”. I was on Bluetooth over her radio and Dave and his son were both with her. Hahaha. I don’t care! And he knows it.
So I grab some tools and head to Orland which is only 11 miles from me but 23 miles from Plainfield where she lives and that’s where Jack started from.
I get there and the truck was off and I jump in and try to start it. The ignition tumbler had some resistance to it which I thought was odd. So I messed with shifter and rocked steering wheel but no change. Let me see what happens here. I turn key to start and click click click. Wtf!! I grab my jumper cables and get it hooked to my truck in the pouring rain and same thing. Click click click. Check connections and same thing but I notice smoke coming from right side of engine from under the hood. Starter is smoked! Tell them to grab their stuff and get in the truck. I called for tow and had to drive them to Plainfield to drop them off. Get back home about 9:45 and waited for tow truck. Dropped vehicle off just before 11pm and I went to bed to get my 2 hr nap before work!!!
I get off at 11am and Jack comes over in his moms car to help me work on the starter.
First things first, hooked up battery charger after disconnecting the battery and took the column apart to see what the issue was with the tumbler. A while back I replaced the gear shifter because the spring was broke not pushing the shifter forward when shifted into park. There’s a small cable that clips in under the tumbler that keeps the shifter locked in park until key is turned. That clip slid out some which put a bind on tumbler. I was able to slide that back in and I had to put a small piece of tin like a shim in behind the locking tab to keep it from sliding back out. Sorry, I didn’t take any pics because I was tired, crabby and just wanted to get this thing done.
After that, the key turned like normal and everything worked as it should so I put the covers back on the column. Got the truck in the air and pulled the starter. Fought me a little because there wasn’t much slack in wiring but I got it out and seen the back of the starter motor was twisted on the nose cone. Them long 4mm bolts that hold the motor to the nose were twisted at a 45° angle.
So what happened was the key stuck in the start position and kept the starter motor engaged until the stator locked up in the housing and it twisted the motor. Thankfully the ring gear on the flexplate wasn’t damaged. Ran and got a new starter and put it in and truck was back up and running. Another $240 later.
So now it’s 2:30pm on Sunday, I gotta be back at work at 11pm that night so I called Chrissy and told her Jack was on his way back to her house with her car and I would appreciate it if she could run him back out to get his truck. She had the audacity to tell me she doesn’t feel like it because she’s laying in bed watching Ozark. I’m like the Hulk when I’m running on fumes and she’s already not my favorite person so of course I blew up!!
“I’m on 2 hrs of sleep because of yesterday, I brought them back out to you last night, I paid $200 for a tow, $250 for a starter and fixed the thing so I think it’s your turn to step up!” CLICK, she hangs up on me.
So Jess had to go get Jack and bring him back to get his truck. She used my truck and my fuel all because his POS mother couldn’t be bothered with any of it. I’ve never loathed someone as much as I do her.
So yeah, that was an ordeal but we got thru it. For now. Sorry about the lack of pics, I wish I would have gotten one of at least that starter.
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