My van now sits in the driveway, a victim of over-the-counter repairs.
I noticed I was slowly leaking water out of the radiator a couple weeks ago. I had been filling it every other day without incident. Then I purchased some "Bars Leak" and antifreeze (pre-diluted). Read the directions carefully, put it in (after work), and drove home.
Made it to within a mile of home, too!
First, the van started sounding like there was water in the cylinders (so I assume the head gasket broke). That caused it to slow down, so I pulled over. I noted as I pulled over the the temperature was pretty high as well.
About five minutes later, after I made a phone call to Triple-A to be towed the rest of the way home, as I sit in the back of the van reading, I here a muffled "pop" sound, and then I notice FLAMES coming out of the hood. I guarantee you've never seen me jump out of a van so fast in any lifetime.
I stood there amazed at what was happening. "What do I do," I wondered. I remembered that I still had a quarter-gallon of anti-freeze fluid, so I carefully felt the hood (the flames were only peaking through at this point) and opened it cautiously. I really didn't want the van BLOWING UP, especially in my face. I saw that basically all of the hoses and wires on top of the engine (including the one leading to the carburator) were on fire. I sloshed the liquid onto it, while at the same time trying to keep my distance. The fire goes out, and that's it.
So, my van, which I've had so much fun with, including the mounted laptop, the "MALENA" license tag, the dual subwoofers and MP3-player soundsystem... is dead. I am certainly NOT going to attempt any repairs (it's a 1996). I am now down to my one vehicle, my 1997 Taurus (which runs very well, knock-on-wood). Worst part is that now I need to find a second vehicle so that Anthony, and then Christopher, will have one to use during their first few months of driving. (sigh)
And that is how Bars Leak destroyed my van. I wonder if I could sue them for the destruction of my van..?
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i am so sorry...but i couldn't help but laugh so hard as your description of what happened. LOL
ReplyDelete<3 dani
No problem. It *is* funny... in HIND sight... :-P
ReplyDeleteIsn't it more likely that the underlying cause of the problem you've had for several weeks is what caused the ultimate failure? I'd bet it was a coincidence that it happened after adding the stuff.
ReplyDeleteReally? That's not how I interpreted it. It was simply leaking slowly from the radiator before. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteI have a 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer in really good condition (I bought it brand new and took good care of it) except the engine is totally toast for sale. I would imagine you could get a new engine on ebay for 1K and another 1K to get it installed. I think it might be perfect car for the kids? Let me know, otherwise it is going to the junk yard :(
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