This week's car fun

So I'm at home this past Tuesday, and I get a call from Grace. She says the car is riding like it's got a flat tire, but it doesn't feel like it or look like it, so she's not quite sure what to do. Since she's not far from home, I jump in the Integra and head out to check out what the deal is. I get out there, and the tire appears to be fully inflated. Using my light, I look around, and see a bolt head sticking about 3/4" out of the tire. Well, that explains the "thump thump thump" sound she described, thing's pretty big.

So, I swap on the space-saver spare... does anyone routinely check and fill the pressure on their spares? Yeah, well, I don't, do so. It was pretty damn low. Still, it was wickedly cold and only about 2-3 miles to home, so I decided to try it, and just take it slow.

Just as I'm lowering the car, Grace says "is that your car making that noise?" I don't know what she's talking about, all I hear is the motor of the Miata. Then, when I stand up, she asks again -- "is your car smoking, or just steaming?" Oh, shit, indeed, you can see *something* wafting through the headlights. And, now that I'm standing up and the bitterly cold wind has died down just a little, I can also hear what sounds like a cross between a low whistle and a kazoo.

Oh... shit...

I chuck her bad tire in the back of my car, and pop the hood. The whistling is coming from steam escaping from the top of the radiator, apparently where the plastic end tanks are crimped onto the metal. Well, damn. Not much I can do here, though, so I give her the Integra, jump in the Miata, and we drive home slowly with now TWO injured cars.

We get home, and I air up the spare. (Better late than never.) Despite the slow drive in blisteringly cold temperatures, it's warm to the touch. Oops. I bring the damaged tire inside, and check out the bolt. It might be big, but it's stuck in, and no air is leaking out. In fact, the tire's completely holding its pressure. Well, until I pulled the bolt out. Lost it pretty quick, then. (Bolt was surprisingly big, too. Check out the attached picture! Looks like it is a piece of a rusted out exhaust U-clamp.)

Thankfully, I've got a tire patch/plugging kit, and set about doing that. Got the hole plugged and holding air quickly, and just for good measure, I threw in the remainder of a bottle of Stan's Notubes tubeless tire sealant. This stuff does some pretty amazing things on mountain bike tires, and is actually rated for car tire use as well, so figured it couldn't hurt. Got the tire back on the Miata and we're all good to go. Rechecked the pressure the next morning, and it was still where it should be. Sweet.

The Integra, though... not so good. Once, a long while back, damaged the radiator when the car slipped off a jack as I was lowering it. The block of wood I was using as a jacking pad hit the junction between the plastic end tank and the radiator, and broke the seal. That time, I managed to fix it by pushing it back into place, and re-crimping the aluminum over the plastic. This time, trying the same thing, I couldn't tell if it worked. I took it out for a spin, the temperature came up, heat worked, all that, so I'm hopeful. Can't really tell the level without opening the radiator, and I worked with a guy who tried that. OUCH.

Today, Grace was going to take it to the studio, since that's only a couple miles away, it'll heat up but won't strand her if it has problems. Well, I go out to watch when she starts it up, and when she does, a bunch of antifreeze comes out of the area I "fixed". :P So, she takes the Miata, and after a phone call to Jeff Taylor, I'm in touch with a friend of his who has a new radiator on hand in Old Bridge. (still can't hear that town name without thinking "ahhh... hahahahah... raceWAY... PARK!")

Jeff, you rock!