I was on my way to work earlier this afternoon (2nd shift is sooo much fun). I'm already having a small problem with my transmission. Then it just dies drive-wise. The engine still runs, but it don't go. The lady who was driving behind me told me (after she pulled over to see if I needed help. Bless her heart) that all she saw was a cloud of smoke. I could only smile slightly and say that that's what usually happens when you burn a clutch. The smoke was still continuing till 10 minutes after stopping the truck. At least it kept me warm for a bit as NY is not exactly warm right now.
I called my roommate and he gave me the number to call into work and some towing companies. I told work that I will try and make it in... it isn't looking like it will happen. The tow truck driver shows up and the truck is towed back to my place. My roommate has left. He flew his girlfriend in from CA for the weekend.
This is the kicker. I go to pay the bill with my card. It gets denied. I know there is money in the account. I put some in last week and have not even used the card since. They allow me to pay with a check. They normally don't do that for people that are from out of state. However, because of my job (Navy) they are letting me do this. Much thanks to them for that.
All in all I am sitting at my house not able to go anywhere, but I can call dealerships and ask for estimates. Looks like it's going to cost about $600. Not bad. The automatic transmissions I've had to replace in the past cost me 1400 to 1500 dollars. Since I'm only doing the clutch and the throw out bearing it is substantially less.
However, it still doesn't stop me from
This just in: Adding insult to injury. I called the bank about the card problem. "we are experiencing technical difficulties. Please hang up and try again."
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
Yay! Card is fixed. The bamk security people saw charges being made in MI, NY, and Canada. They thought some fraudulent charges were being made so they cancelled my card. I told them over the phone that I had gone home for the weekend and I drove through Canada to do so. The fixed it then.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Yeah, that can happen. Credit card companies are getting better about spotting potential fraud, but it tends to inconvenience their customers at the same time.
Good luck with your clutch. That sucks, dude.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
You want to hear a credit card story--fly 14 hours from US to Moscow, land in the evening and not get into hotel untill 11pm. Be exhausted and ready to collapse, and have your card denied because they didn't like the charges being made so far away--even though we bought the #@$@$ airline tickets on the same card.
Good luck with the vehicle.
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
Thanks, yeah I got my roommate to give me a lift to work. Then one of the guys I work with gave me a lift home. Trouble is going to be in getting a rental when I have truck towed into the dealership later. BTW, I may work on cars alot, but I frickin hate transmissions. I have bad memories of them.
Best part of the day: The Cheif that I work for was upset at me because he thought I had called in saying that I was too busy to come into work today. Oh yeah, I decided this morning to open the clutch housing and throw in some pebbles and a wrench to see how long it would take to catch fire. Because you know I enjoy that kinda thing. Let's just say that someone else had to explain it to him about what happened. I was just a little too livid to be civil about it.
![[Grumble]](graemlins/grumble.gif)