Yesterday afternoon I got the dreaded phone call from Victoria. “Daddy, the GEN/FAN light is on.” Okay, it could have been FAR worse than a thrown fanbelt, but it was still not a pleasant interruption to my work day. She’d immediately shut the car off and parked far off the interstate before calling the lovely Loriann to “bring them a ride” (there’s a story behind that phrase that I’ll someday share). Wanting to deal with the car in the daylight, I left work a little early yesterday. After getting home, changing clothes, and grabbing some tools, V and I hopped into Lucy and headed to her car. During the drive, as we were cruising down I-70, Lucy’s TEMP-PRESS light came on. I immediately turned off the engine and coasted off onto the shoulder. I hopped out and opened the engine lid expecting to smell burning oil or something equally nasty. Nothing. Everything looked, felt, and smelled normal. I let the car cool down for about five minutes and then checked the oil level – above the Add mark. Okay, must be a short in a wire somewhere. With the radio off and us listening for pinging, I cautiously drove the rest of the way to Glinda. We arrived uneventfully - TYL - and about five minutes later the new replacement belt was installed and we were both on our way home.
As I was installing the belt, I noticed there’s still way too much oil leaking out, so after dinner I went leak-hunting again. I finally found a small spray coming from between the harmonic balancer and the block. The drops would be blown against the back of the balancer and immediately shot up and into the engine compartment. I’m going to replace the crankshaft seal Wednesday evening (Girl Scout night).
Then I took a look at Lucy’s wiring to see if I could get the idiot light to go off. I tugged and pushed and then fired up the engine – light still on. I decided to call it a night at that point. This morning I started up the engine and the light stayed on. I drove about a half-mile and went down a street that’s notoriously bumpy and pot-hole ridden. Lo and behold, the light flickered a while and then went out and stayed out. We’ll see how long that lasts.
The third automotive issue is the Suburban is leaking coolant. What an annoyance!
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