Ever have a night where nothing goes right?
I left work early so I could go register my Barracuda, since the local DMV's open 'til 7 on Thursdays. It's also a good excuse to burn up the old gas, fill the tank for the winter, and give the gas an additive for long life.
I knew ahead of time that the alternator isn't charging, and that the only other time I had the car running for 15+ minutes it overheated. With that in mind, my wife followed me in her car while we drove for about 15 minutes to the DMV. This thing goes through gas like it's free, so most of the way there, I stop to fill it up (I've never had more than a 1/4 tank for the 7 months I've had it so far).
All good to go, I fire it up again and arrive at the DMV. Just as I pull in to park, it overheats out of nowhere (in sub-40 degree weather), spraying all over. I don't remember what the needle said, but it was WAY past 210.
So I let it cool, we go in and get the paperwork, and take a quick trip for antifreeze. When we get back, I fill it up and the battery's dead. Kind of expecting that, we jumpstart it, and I pull around for my "VIN check". What didn't he check? He said he won't pass the car because "the exhaust has been modified to make the car louder than when it rolled out of the factory." I asked how is that? Straight pipes and new mufflers. While he's inspecting the kitchen sink and telling me how I should never drive this in CT, I notice the oil pressure is at 25 (it's normally at 75!). WTF? So I shut it down.
When he's done telling me no, a hundred ways from Sunday, the battery's dead again and I can't start it. By the way, the engine temp was about 160 when I started it again, and it climbed back up to about 210 before I shut it off. So I put it in neutral to back it up so we can jumpstart it again, but the two of us can't push it. WTF? The only thing I can think is that the brand new Baer brakes must be grabbing the rear wheels. Hmpf.
As I start it, the kindly officer of the law points out that I'm leaking gas,dripping off the bottom of my Holley woodchipper blue electric fuel pump, but dripping isn't a strong enough word. So we fire it up, park it, and pay for a tow home.
On the bright side, when we arrive at home, I fire it up, drive it into the garage, and noticed that the oil pressure is back at 75 where it belongs. I recently changed the oil (Valvoline 20/50 to Castrol Syntech 5W30).
Is there any way I can just erase this night? Is there a delete key or something? Sheesh.
Any ideas why oil pressure would do that? That scares the crap out of me. I have to admit, I'm wondering why I love these things and own it, if I can't even register it...and I hope that feeling wears off tomorrow.
Just had to vent I guess.
