I had a rotten day today. I woke up this morning to warm up my car so I would be nice and cozy on my way to work. Damn thing wouldnt start. I was too lazy last nite to drive the car in the garage. Big mistake........ Called my daughters boyfriend to help me push the car out of the driveway to get my wife's suv out of the garage. Man was that a task. Called roadside assistance to get a tow into the dealership and was told I would have to wait 2 to 3 hours. I hate winter...... But luckily after only 15 min the tow truck arrived. Great I thought, now I wont have to sit around for hours picking my nose until they show up.

Hooked the car up on the flat bed and we were on our way. After driving a few blocks I thought I better call the office and let them know I was going to be late... While I was on the phone calling the office I was looking at the side view mirror and noticed the rear of my car shifted a little, I thought no big deal he fastened it tight. A few seconds later during a left turn im screaming MY RIM MY RIM and the next thing you know the rear of my car shifted and bang my wheel hit the side rail on the flatbed. I told the driver to stop the friggin truck. So he pulls over and says no worries doesnt look like there is any damage. Im thinking this little ***** wait until we shift the car over and then we will see. After shifting the car back into place what do I see............ 2 major dents where it hit the rail. At this point I was really pissed. The driver had to take the car down and reposition it. But this time he chained down all 4 corners of the car. And I tell him why didnt you fasten the rear of the car in the 1st place? Of course he didnt say anything cause he knew I was right...

Finally got to the dealership got the car off the flatbed and was told the car would be ready for 4. The day at the office is another story that is way too long to type. But I spent almost 3 hours on the phone trying to get through to CAA to put through a claim for my rim. I called the dealership at 2 to find out what time my car will be done, they tell me it could be picked up at 4. 4 PM finally arrived and I cant wait to get my car and finish up on some last min christmas shopping and put this day behind me. I get to the dealership and they tell me it will be done at 5. 5 rolls along and the car is still not done. Then they offer me a ride home because they dont have spark plugs for my car so it wont be done till tomorrow at noon. At this point I start to lose it. I cursed up and down for wasting my time and now I dont have a car to go shopping and no way of getting to work in the morning.

 

Dude.. I so feel for you. =(

I get pissed off just doing the christmas shopping!

Hope the claim works out, and the car gets fixed ASAP.

 

One thing after another, man. Feel for ya, been there... done that... got the T-Shirt!!!

learn and live on this one for sure starting with putting it in the shed for the night. I phoned family last night in Ontario (Niagara Falls) and they are wicked cold for them; -30 windchills and ambient temps of -18 to -22. In Ontario with that humidity I would do what my Grandmother used to do (she was one of those smart turn of the century Prairie women), and after you drive it in and shut it off, open the bonnet and place over the engine a non-flammable blanket (wool like would work), then lower the cover and remember to remove it when you start it up again in the morning. Since we don't have Block Heaters for this car, that is the only advice I can give someone from down there.

 

RX8George: I started up OK this morning and again getting back from work and I live on the border of Oakville and Mississauga. But I will say that when it caught (fairly quickly), it kept increasing revs until 4K all by itself and then went down to 2200 rpm (Usual choke idle). 10 seconds from start to reach 4 k and go back down to 2500RPM. First time this happened to me and ir felt weird.

George, tell us what actually happened and why it didn't start.


BY the way, you wouldn't have lived around Weston and Lawrence once upon a time?

 

The dealer said it was flooded. I tried cranking it twice for 5 seconds each time before I gave up. The car didnt sound right to me so I thought this thing is not going to turn over. I just dont understand how it got flooded. I took a drive out to Kitchener the day before and it took me 3 to 4 min to unload the car and then I turned it off. So I am puzzled. I grew up in Toronto (Bathurst & Bloor area) moved out to Mississauga/Oakville area 13 years ago.

 

If your engine was flooded, why are they changing the plugs? In the manual it states how to deal with flooded engine. It might be worth a read. I would have kept cranking the engine at least for 20 seconds about 5 times and then try it another 3-4 times with the car floored. But if you heard something funny, that is a concerns. But it really doesn't sound like plugs. Oh well.

Sorry for questioning you where you lived years ago. I just thoguht you may have been someone I knew a while back.

Regards,

 

Yeah I dont understand why they had to change the plugs, but hey im getting new plugs free of charge so I'm not going to complain. No need to apologize for your question I assumed that's why you asked. In case we did know eachother at one time.

 

Had that happen to me about 1.5 months ago.

They also changed the spark plugs AND the oil.
Supposedly, when a car gets flooded, they recommend to change the plugs and oil because the gas got in there. Never heard of that before.
Whatever - I didn't care - I got free oil change and free new plugs out of it.
This kind of made up for the aggrevation because I had to wait for a tow truck for 1.5 hours.

On the bright side, I believe you'll have a new computer program installed. That's what they do to the cars that flood. Once this program learns your driving habits (took mine around 2 weeks), you should see better gas mileage.

I started getting about 40-50 km extra out of each tank with this program and I'm much happier now. Also, it hasn't flooded itself since.

The aggrevation sucks now but you'll be happy in the long run.

 

I've been reading quite a bit about people having trouble with starts on cold days.
So far I haven't had any trouble. Its been down below -15c here a couple of times and still no troubles. What I have noticed is that when I crank the car over when it's that cold, if the car doesn't catch after a second or two of cranking I just put the gas to the floor and it starts everytime.

So what I've started doing is when its very cold out I just go directly to placing my foot to the floor.

 

I got a call from CAA today and they ordered a new rim for me. Dealer tells me it should be in tomorrow. These guys are pretty quick to settle a claim, I'm happy again

 

Good. Merry Christmas.. finally
Shamblerock, I understand that when it's flooded 'beyond cranking' as mine was in Timmins last summer, they can pull and clean the plugs or replace them, in case the coils are shot. The shop in Timmins opted for the new ones. They were Purolated up from Toronto the next day by noon and I was on the road in 3/4 hour, all under warranty..

 

Interesting!