saturnmodder
07-10-2010, 02:50 PM
Well, my girl and I drove the Civic to Hilton Head Island, SC last weekend for a week long vacation with her family. We had a great drive down, and a great week, then we left to come home today, and I'm at a loss of words. First off, we got on I-95 to head back home after filling up with gas. We made it about 3 miles before traffic came to an abrupt stop. I noticed something sounded a little off while we were barely moving in traffic. I just chose to pay closer attention to the car, but continue on.
Well, the car starts running hot, so I check, and only one of the radiator fans is working. Awesome, so I just cut the A/C and rolled the windows down until we were moving steadily again. That worked out fine as far as coolant temp goes, so I didn't think much of it, rolled the windows up, and cranked the air. We were about to cross the North Carolina line, and we'd burned a little over 1/2 a tank of gas, so I pulled off to get gas because SC gas is awesomely cheap in comparison to NC. So I fill up, check fuel economy, and we only got a whopping 27 MPG. I just figured it was all the sitting that did it, but I still felt like it was low. So I start the car, it does its normal, then when the A/C compressor engages, the engine stalls. WTF? is all I'm thinking, so I start the car again, and it stalls again. Then I start it and give it a little gas, then I hear the most horrible grinding, rocks in a can type noise I've ever heard. I turn off the A/C and it stops.
So at this point, I'm assuming the A/C clutch/pulley bearings are shot, and we have to drive the rest of the way home with no A/C, which SUCKED HORRIBLY, especially once we hit Asheville and had to sit through construction traffic.
I'd planned to replace the tie rod ends and sway bar endlinks this week, now the A/C is out, and to make it all better, I stop to get my paycheck only to find out that the raise I was promised isn't on there. Needless to say, I'm excruciatingly pissed off at my job and my car right now. And all this after I replaced the rear brakes and rotors, both front wheel bearings, all 4 tires, and a dead battery all within a week.
That being said, damn Hilton Head is a NICE place to vacation. I'd recommend it to anyone.
Well, the car starts running hot, so I check, and only one of the radiator fans is working. Awesome, so I just cut the A/C and rolled the windows down until we were moving steadily again. That worked out fine as far as coolant temp goes, so I didn't think much of it, rolled the windows up, and cranked the air. We were about to cross the North Carolina line, and we'd burned a little over 1/2 a tank of gas, so I pulled off to get gas because SC gas is awesomely cheap in comparison to NC. So I fill up, check fuel economy, and we only got a whopping 27 MPG. I just figured it was all the sitting that did it, but I still felt like it was low. So I start the car, it does its normal, then when the A/C compressor engages, the engine stalls. WTF? is all I'm thinking, so I start the car again, and it stalls again. Then I start it and give it a little gas, then I hear the most horrible grinding, rocks in a can type noise I've ever heard. I turn off the A/C and it stops.
So at this point, I'm assuming the A/C clutch/pulley bearings are shot, and we have to drive the rest of the way home with no A/C, which SUCKED HORRIBLY, especially once we hit Asheville and had to sit through construction traffic.
I'd planned to replace the tie rod ends and sway bar endlinks this week, now the A/C is out, and to make it all better, I stop to get my paycheck only to find out that the raise I was promised isn't on there. Needless to say, I'm excruciatingly pissed off at my job and my car right now. And all this after I replaced the rear brakes and rotors, both front wheel bearings, all 4 tires, and a dead battery all within a week.
That being said, damn Hilton Head is a NICE place to vacation. I'd recommend it to anyone.