Unusually high tow volume…
Kris has been experiencing some trouble lately while driving the rallycar to and from work. Today, after thinking the problem was fixed, the car died on the way to work. Kris luckily received some help to push the car into the nearest parking lot and got a ride to work. With AAA card in hand, I picked him up at the end of the day and we went to check on the poor Neon. She’s been through a hellish week, what with the hood flying up, breaking the windshield in the process 
, and then the fuel overheating, expanding, etc due to the desert heat and new skidplates reflecting the heat back onto the lines. All these things probably lead to the failure of the fuel pump, which is what Kris was able to diagnose the actual problem as. I’m relieved that this problem didn’t happen during the middle of a rally, but it still sucks that it’s another part to fix.
We were able to use our new, free upgrade to AAA Plus to get the car towed up to LA for free (up to 100 miles!), after waiting about an hour for the tow truck. I’m surprised at how quick they actually were - the longest part was the initial call to AAA. And they were really prompt about calling back to say how long it would be, and to double-check the location. Things have gotten a lot better since the last time I needed a tow (ran out of gas going up a steep highway off-ramp). Thank goodness for AAA!
Crap! The hood came up? That’s my one and only phobia when it comes to racing…and I mean it’s a true doublecheck-the-hood-pins-after-every-stage phobia. I can handle the possibility of crashing but just the thought of the hood letting go scares the crap out of me.
Comment by Sean — August 11, 2005 @ 1:25 pm
Yeah, the hood came up. It sucked. It didn’t even happen during a race - which makes it double suck. There’s a reason why the co-drivers’ sites mention writing “pins out” at the end of every stage, and “pins in” at the beginning. I’ve added this to my list of “pre-rally checklist” items and as part of my notes/route book organization. At least we know the pins work - I had my doubts that they were actually strong enough to do that.
Comment by Christine — August 12, 2005 @ 3:01 pm