A series of unfortunate car events

[PandaBear]

I think *** is trying to tell me it is time for me to give up driving and start taking public transit.

1. 2 weeks ago when I park my car in Oakland, it got hit and run and my door is severely dented. The dentless repair man decline to take the job, say it is too severe.

2. Last week the same car got its window smashed and my $60 radio got stolen. I put in 4 screws to hold the stereo down and it took the thief a few attempts and finally give up, have to remove the whole stereo panel to take it out, and earn his money hard. The cop said the steet had a massive break in that night and a few cars got broken into.

3. Yesterday, my wife's car seems to develop a coolant leak, on a 175k mile old engine that didn't even burn a drop of oil. The coolant was about 16oz low and the car will start with a puff of white smoke when it was sit for about 4-6 hours. Will do a UOA to see if it is head gasket. My plan is either a used engine to replace it (30k miles import from Japan), or a head gasket job. Meanwhile just do frequent oil and coolant change.

 

[LubeOiler]

I think security is going to be a major problem. I parked my 11 year old Nissan PU in the 3rd floor of a airport parking garage right in front of the camera and the elevator. My after market fog lights were stolen. I made a report but nothing ever done. With the same truck I was golfing on a saturday in a very busy course. The alarm went off my work bag was stolen from the extra cab area.Nothing ever reported other than a phone call by a company that found my work bag in a dumpster intact. So you see what happened to us is not reported enough and even if it is nothing is every done about it.

 

[Shannow]

I've had my cars broken into three times (that I know of) out the front of my house.

After replacing broken windows, I decided to leave the most likely break-in unlocked.

 

[oilyriser]

Make it look like someone has already broken in.

 

[Al]

quote:

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Originally posted by PandaBear:
Will do a UOA to see if it is head gasket. My plan is either a used engine to replace it (30k miles import from Japan), or a head gasket job. Meanwhile just do frequent oil and coolant change.

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I wouldn't bother..seems pretty clearcut. Don't chance bearing damage. The only other option is to pull an oil sample now and wait for the results before driving. If you are getting smoke, that's a lot of coolant. Just my opinion though.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

What make of car? Could it be the water pump?

 

[1sttruck]

The second biggest problem after vehicle security are vehicle security alarms, where they sometimes go off for 30 minutes at 11:30 at night, while the person is gone. That provokes the 1st problem again, where someone takes an ax to car, hacking the hood open and chopping around the engine until the alarm stops.

 

[Vuser]

What gets on my nerves is the ONLY thing to work properly in my wife's old Mitsu' Diamante was the alarm system.

 

[TooManyWheels]

Gas prices are up, so instant-reward crime is also.

 

[LarryL]

Years ago my car was borken into, a Toyota with the ice pick open door locks. I called the police and they said they could not take a report over the phone and to mail it in or wait a couple of hours for an officer to stop by. I told them one of the items was a hand gun. A cop was there in five minutes to take a report. By the way, the hand gun was returned two years later. I was used in an armed robery and when the case was over, they traced me down from the serial number and asked if I wanted the gun back. It was delivered to the local police station and I got it back, with new grips, a new carry bag and a new cleaning kit.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by LarryL:
By the way, the hand gun was returned two years later. I was used in an armed robery and when the case was over, they traced me down from the serial number and asked if I wanted the gun back. It was delivered to the local police station and I got it back, with new grips, a new carry bag and a new cleaning kit.

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At least it got good care while it was out on "loan". Sounds like it was a BITOG member that "borrowed" it?

 

[PandaBear]

quote:

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What make of car? Could it be the water pump?

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97 Integra, should be the water pump because of white smoke. The pump was changed 85k miles ago (OEM) and it should last longer than that.

 

[robbobster]

They say bad things happen in threes...looks like you've met the quota, perhaps you're in for some smooth-sailing for a few years.