Lessons Learned the Hard Way

Last week I talked about how I learned to back up (and fix) my car as a teenager. Lest you think that I believe myself to be some sort of superhero, let me impart upon you some of the stupid things I have done and some of the mishaps I have had in relation to cars, aka, how I learned the hard way. I probably could write an entire book, or at the very least, many chapters, on my car mishaps, but for now, here are a few to get started. 

Ka-pow. I blew up a battery by accidentally putting the red lead of the battery charger on the black side and vice versa. It made an explosion, and luckily I pulled it off super fast, and only messed up the battery itself, which is replaceable, and didn't set fire to the entire vehicle. The silver lining is that I was charging the battery, so it was probably on its last legs anyway before I killed it. Cost of new battery $100. Lesson learned: how to tell the difference between two colors. 

Beep. Beep. I backed up my Dad's truck, yes, the one with the beeper, into my parent's driveway and misjudged the length of the bed just slightly enough to run into his other car which was parked there. Cost of new fender: just a ding luckily. Lesson learned: how to back up a car properly. 

Dehydration. I was having some issues with the car overheating, which I figured out was because of the belt that runs the radiator. The TDLR is that the radiator keeps the car cool, and is similar to your sweat in that it moistens your skin and then the air helps keep it cool. However, the process requires a water pump and a fan, which require a belt. Have I lost you yet? I replaced this belt, and was very proud of myself. I then started a long drive from Sacramento to Novato, and was going over a causeway on I-80 between Sacramento and Davis when my car just stopped moving. On the freeway. Somehow I managed to get over to the right, where I was barely off the lane, and the cars were still whizzing by at 80 mph. I honestly cannot remember if I had a cell phone at this point (I think so? I think it was one of those old brick Nokias) but somehow I got in touch with AAA. They came and got me and towed me back home. Turns out that after you replace the belt, you are supposed to put water back into the radiator, so that the car doesn't overheat. The result? I blew a head gasket, which to put it bluntly, means I F$%^#ed up the engine. Cost of new engine: $2,000+ Lesson learned: painful.

This is me "helping" to fix the engine.
Yes, same photo as last week, but I didn't tell you the whole story, did I?

Toll booth Willie. After I blew up the engine on one car, I was borrowing a VW Rabbit from a family member to use when I was commuting from Sacramento to San Francisco for my new job (don't ask). It was an old little stick shift (weren't they all?) that made me feel like the poor relative when I drove it to meet my friends for drinks. 

It looked like this, except red and rusty
 and with a VERY loud muffler, which was 
 even more embarrassing than the backup beeper.

It was having some overheating issues (do we sense a pattern here? why yes, yes we do) and I often had to pull over to let it cool down or to put more coolant in the radiator. On this particular day, I was almost to the Bay Bridge toll plaza, which will take you over the Bay Bridge into San Francisco, and of course the traffic was stop and go, which was the worst scenario for the overheating problem. Each time I stopped, I could see the temperature gauge go up a little bit more, but here I was, in the middle of 18 lanes of stop and go traffic. Of course, it was rush hour and there was not much I could really do but hope and pray. I was about four cars from the toll, where the traffic would open back up a little and the car stopped and steam started billowing from the hood. Cars started honking at me, as if they thought this would make the steam go away and my car to start moving again, and all I could do was sit there. I could not get out of the car into the traffic, but I could not move forward. Luckily a tow truck came in about 4 minutes and towed me from the toll booth into the city and dropped me at a garage. Cost of toll and tow that day: $0 Lesson learned: If you ever want a free tow and toll, just pretend to break down in the middle of the toll lane. Just make sure you do it before you pay the toll. 

Thankfully, my Dad and Uncle are quite good with mechanical things and many of these mistakes were fixed by them with my help (but not too much of it after some of my gaffs!). I don't know what I would have done without them. I am pretty sure they were probably talking smack about me a lot, especially after the very expensive engine fiasco. Dad, are you reading this? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

Where is the worst place you have ever broken down? What is the most expensive car related mistake you've ever made?