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Right on about the battery. More than one rescue of mine has depended on a Walmart with a battery, and its expected 50-mile range. Lucky for me these things have always been daylight events, so turning off the lights was no biggie.
My PM habits are terrible. I have to look up at a white board to remember what to check when changing the oil. Things like tank pump operation, and air in the spare. Have to look at a windshield sticker to know when to do that.
The problem with carrying spare parts, for me, has always been which cars to carry what in. Yes, the spare tire comes with the car, along with the jack and roll-up tool sampling, and so do spare fuses, at the bottom of the panel. So I leave the AMMs and the ECUs in the garage, but have included this tool kit in the glove boxes. The pocket cell phone has changed the whole nature of the automotive reliability fears.
Oleseahorse has taken the extra step of equipping his fleet with cigar-lighter voltmeters. He sent me one to play with. The only thing they lack is an attention-getting device, but I know that is also available, if not annoying in its function. There is a need for a better charge failure idiot light. May be past time to build that mousetrap.
Yet somehow I sense my daughter is peeved with me at having to shell out $450 for an alternator. Could be my warped perception though.
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Art Benstein near Baltimore
"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day." -Frank Sinatra
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