80 amp fuse update

The new fuse is in, and all is well. No more blown fuses after they drove it last evening.

Thanks, there is now another happy Miata owner in Austin. That was fast and cheap.

pat

Reply to
pws
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I don't recall what was causing the fuse to blow, did I miss that?

Reply to
XS11E

I promised not to tell on them. You can probably guess at it based on that.

If that doesn't do it, the only "repair" was a new battery and fuse.

Pat

Reply to
pws

Sounds like something involving jumper cables, a lot of sparks, and some unintentional welding.

Reply to
Grant Edwards

Not that something like that has ever happened to _me_...

Reply to
Grant Edwards

Bingo. I think this was a case of the clamps contacting each other, which is actually pretty easy to do with that small battery with very little room above the terminals.

Reply to
pws

It's especially easy in an NB when you're also trying to hold the trunk carpeting and other stuff up out of the way. I liked the NA battery access a lot better.

Reply to
Grant Edwards

OK. High up on the list of the dumbest things I've ever done was shorting across the starter and solenoid on my 1976 VW Rabbit to diagnose a starting problem. *Unfortunately*, the car was in gear and the emergency brake was off. *Fortunately*, I was standing off to the side of the car and not in front of it. Had I been in front I would have been pinned between the car and the chain link fence that stopped it from dropping over a 10 foot ledge.

Reply to
Frank Berger

OK, what is everyone's dumbest thing done to or with an automobile?

This will take some thought for myself, as there are so many mistakes to choose from. ;-)

Pat

Reply to
pws

For me, it was changing oil and forgetting to replace the drain plug. I replaced the filter, poured in the first quart and noticed the puddle spreading out from beneath the car.

I knew instantly what I'd done and can't even begin to describe how stupid I felt....

Reply to
XS11E

I drained the antifreeze one time and drove off without filling the radiator when I was 16 or 17. Oops, that may be #1 for me as far as non life-threatening stupidity.

That van heated up very quickly. The engine was a 1982 Ford 300 C.U. straight six and it seemed to run fine after that, but I did not have it for that much longer either.

What exactly will that do to an engine/cooling system anyway? It was not driven far, but that can not have been good.

Pat

Reply to
pws

I was changing the spark plugs (probably for the first time on my own) on my first car and snapped one off and then realized that I had been turning it the wrong way! I had (an adult) neighbor who was a diesel mechanic (iirc) and I had to go over and ask for assistance. Of course, I just told him that I was trying to get it out when it snapped off! He was kind enough to help me and NOT to say anything that made me feel any more stupid than I already did UNTIL after he completed the job! Then he just looked me in the eye and said 'you were turning it the wrong way, weren't you?' I couldn't lie or deny it, he knew! I like to think that he said something like 'everybody does something like that one time' but, I can't say for sure on that ;-)

Oops, cd

Reply to
Chris D'Agnolo

I have a funny motorcycle one; first bike, occasionally overheated and would stop running until it cooled off a bit. One day on the way to work, it died and I coasted to a stop cussing up a storm. My (non car/motorcycle) brother happened by and stopped to see what the problem was. I rattled of the problem between expletives and he just blurts out ' do you have gas?'

Well, I don't know if he could tell I was lieing but, I blurted back 'of course I have gas! You think I'm stupid?' I told him I'd let it cool a bit and it would start right up. He left and I let him get out of sight before I flipped the petcock over to reserve and fired it up! :-)

Chris

99BBB
Reply to
Chris D'Agnolo

That's funny, and sounds like my kind of cover-up, though this was really not my blown fuse this time.

No dumb motorcycle stories, though if I had owned one and survived it I would have a few, no doubt. Knowing myself, I would probably not make it even one year without a serious bike wreck.

Maybe in an area with less traffic, I dunno, but I am dangerous enough on a bicycle. The ability to go well over 100 mph on two wheels, and to get there so quickly while sharing the road with inept drivers in their huge vehicles, would scare the shit out of me, maybe literally.

Pat

Reply to
pws

Of the posts so far I'm still dumbest, but I may be able to top myself twice. In high school I had two cars a '56 Dodge Coronet for about a year and then a '57 Chrysler Windsor I took to college. I don't remember which car it was, but the upholstery was all torn up. I was driving slowly down my street with a cigarette in my mouth. It dropped between my legs and disappeared into the upholstery. I couldn't fish it out and it started to burn. I had to get home quick and dump a bucket of water into the seat to put out the fire. A few days later, with the seat still wet and a plastic cover on it so I could drive, I was driving in about the same spot, rolled my window down a bit and flicked my cigarette out the window. It hit the top of the window, hung there for a moment and then dropped straight down, coming to rest outside the car against the window on the top of the door. I thought to dislodge it by rolling the window back up. Unfortunately, I cranked the wrong way and the window when down, sucking the burning cigarette into the door. A bit later, black smoke started coming out as insulation or something started burning. Back home, got the bucket.......

Reply to
Frank Berger

We are only two months in, but I already nominate this one for best r.a.m.m.m. post of 2010!

Nothing coming out of my computer has had me laughing so much in a long time. That reminds me a lot of my parents. :-)

Pat

Reply to
pws

At least the petcock wasn't already _on_ reserve when you reached down to flip it to reserve. My last two motorcycles have had fuel gauges, so that hasn't happened to me for a long time.

Reply to
Grant Edwards

Glad you enyoyed it. To add to my legacy - I'm in Israel visiting my daughter & family. Earlier today I was pushing a stroller with a box of books in it down a hill, lost my balance and fell forward. My football training kicked in and I tucked and rolled and popped up without a scratch. Not bad for a 62 year old.

Reply to
Frank Berger

I never trusted the fuel guage on my bikes, I always reset the trip meter when I filled up and used that as a gas guage. I now do the same on my cars.

Reply to
XS11E

I'm a pretty aggressive driver but I've made it over 300,000 miles on motorcycles w/o any major wrecks.... One minor one I do recall is riding into San Diego on a MotoGuzzi and needing gas. I got off the freeway, pulled into a station, stopped and fell over! The Goose had fairly high foot pegs and my leg had gone completely to sleep, I did put my foot down but it couldn't hold any weight.....

BTW, that trip was where I set a World Land Speed Record, 85MPH past a CHIP officer on I-8 nearing downtown San Diego during the 55mph days w/o a ticket!

I needed gas (see above), was in the middle lane watching for an exit when I heard a honk, looked to my left and saw I was passing the CHIP .

He pointed to his speedometer, I rolled off the gas and we both went on our way, me a 54 mph, you better believe it!

Reply to
XS11E

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