When it rains, it pours...

[Flybrian]

Well, Thursday the SES light illuminated in my Aurora, which coincided with an increasingly loud growling noise from the engine bay. Over the course of the day, it grew louder and was noticable under acceleration close to the shift points.

Since I finished up work late, I had to wait 'till Friday to get it looked at. Took it to a local Gemini/Goodyear shop since I know the gents and they were able to squeeze me in as soon as they opened and they, well, couldn't get at it to figure it out. I call Scott Buick and they were apparently so swamped it wouldn't be 'till 2pm that I could take it down. Damn.

Next stop, Dick Norris B-P-GMC where we bought our Bonneville. I know those guys better, so they were able to get me in rather quickly. Well, they found out generally what the problem was - SES light was throwing off a code for the transmission speed sensor and the growling noise was related to it. However, they couldn't get a better look at it or fix it because they don't have the tools needed to work on my engine. No charge for the diagnostics, though, and off I go to Dimmitt Cadillac to have them take a gander.

I pull into the service bay and this kid my age comes out and asks what they can do. I explain briefly to him and he looks at me, looks at the car...looks at me again, looks at the car some more, and then gives me the best response ever...

"This is an Oldsmobile."
"Yeah..."
"Its not a Cadillac."
"...Yeah...?"
"We sell Cadillacs here."
"...Yeah...?"
"Yeah."
*PAUSE*
"Okay, well. Can I just speak to a service tech then?"
"Yeah, okay. But I dunno if they'll be able to work on this. I mean, its not one of the cars we sell here."

So, the tech comes out, confirms they indeed can work on it since they have the requisite tools and such, and I'm scheduled to bring the car in first thing Monday to have it worked on. All under warranty, too, thank God because we're talking possibly a $30 part with a 10-15hr shop time requirement since they have to tear apart the transaxle to replace it. That's not counting whatever else could be wrong with it or anything else they find while they take it apart.

Chapter II comes when I'm driving home from that. I see my girlfriend after her work and I'm about a mile and a half from home when I hear a subdued but noticeable "BANG." I think I hit a pothole until the VOLT light comes on, my DIC tells me to CHECK CHARGE SYSTEM and the steering boost goes dead. So, here I am at 5:30pm on a Friday afternoon driving down US19 at 55mph driving a two-ton car with manual steering. Fu-un. I obviously pull over into a Honey Baked Ham parking lot when I notice a little bit of smoke coming from the engine compartment. Ah, shit. Got out, popped the hood, and WOO-HOO! FIRE! Not a big one, though; a flame about an inch high coming from the alternator area. So, what do I do? I lean in and blow it out. I looked like an ass probably. Oh well.

I managed to limp the car home after waiting awhile to make sure it wouldn't flare up or explode or anything. Car drove fine otherwise.

So, now I get to have Dimmitt do both things. Oh well. I guess this is as good a time as any since I have about 400 miles left on my GMPP warranty.

I should get a rental on Monday or at least a loaner car. My policy covers me $35/day for about 5 days, so it should be fixed(?) by then. Enterprise knows me by name now probably.

Oh well. Its not so bad I suppose, I mean, it'll be repaired at a total cost of $100 for me. It also gives birth to...

You Know You Own a Classic Aurora When...
You have to drive to four different shops to get one part fixed.

Also, thank you, GM, for providing Buick dealers the tooling and manuals to repair Oldsmobiles so problems like this wouldn't inconvenience Olds owners like you said you would do. Oh wait. You didn't. Thanks again.

So, how was YOUR weekend? :P

[Drew Dowdell]

I thought all Aurora owners were supposed to go to Caddy dealers and all other models were supposed to go to Buick/Pontiac/GMC dealers <depending on which model your car was platformshared with>

[Cory Wolfe]

Sorry to hear about that, Fly.

Anyways, manual steering is fun. My dad had to have it disconnected (or whatever he did...) while he was working on it recently. I drove it between the two times he worked on it. He said it was fine to drive... It was, but damn, you literally have to force it around turns. It was alot tougher than I expected... but fun. :D

Anyways part II, my day was alright. I bought some bright new fog lights to replace my burnt out ones. Silverstar, I think, costing me $18 each. Yeah... expensive, but they bright and they're white. Just like I want them to be. A bitch to replace, though, since there was this stupid make-shift... mud flap? I guess? protecting them. Ridiculous. My stupid malfunctioning headlight stalk is still being a bitch too...

Anyways part III, I seen alot of interesting cars today as I went to Clarion... more on that in the Car Spotting thread...

[Sixty8panther]

Wow... clueless punk kid. That's like pulling into a Lincoln dealership with a Grand Marquis and having the idiot say that they don't specialise in those. That's probably happened too somewhere out there...

[Flybrian]

Oldsmoboi, I've been told both things, usually by alternate sources; Caddy tells me go to Buick because of the platform and 'its not a Cadillac', Buick tells me to go to Caddy because 'its a Cadillac engine.'

I realize more and more that to be a Classic Aurora owner, you have to love the car because it can very much be a pain in the ass to deal with. At least the 2nd-gen shares alot more in common with later-model Sevilles, Bonnies, and LeSabre/Parks, whereas the closest cousion to my car is the Riviera, which shares virtually nothing in regards to the drivetrain. Worse, there were only about 90,000 '95-'99 Auroras sold, so going to a junkyard is almost futile.

BV, yeah, I gained a new appreciation for power steering.

[Cory Wolfe]

BV, yeah, I gained a new appreciation for power steering.

Power brakes too... Those were disabled/disconnected/whatever-ed at a different time. I didn't go far without 'em. It was almost impossible to stop... probably because of the discs up front (that's what I think atleast... I mean, cars use to come without power brakes with all drums). That and my lack of good rear drum brakes... they barely work.

[NOS2006]

Well, my bestfriend definitely backed into the Camaro, leaving a nice scratch in it and a very unnoticeable crack in the fender. Niiicee..

[Croc]

Wow... clueless punk kid. That's like pulling into a Lincoln dealership with a Grand Marquis and having the idiot say that they don't specialise in those. That's probably happened too somewhere out there...

[post="39084"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

NO. Every Lincoln dealership is a Lincoln-Mercury.

[Cory Wolfe]

Well, my bestfriend definitely backed into the Camaro, leaving a nice scratch in it and a very unnoticeable crack in the fender. Niiicee..

Damn teens... they can't drive worth shi... Wait.. :unsure: Nevermind. :rolleyes: :lol: :D

[NOS2006]

Damn teens... they can't drive worth shi... Wait.. :unsure: Nevermind. :rolleyes: :lol: :D

[post="39139"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Really, he's a terrible driver. He just assumed my car was in the garage while he backed in, but my car was in the driveway.

Then, tonight we're going to the grocery store and he almost hit an Aveo backing out. Then he turned and almost rammed into a Dakota that "jetted out in front of him" although the Dakota had the right away and was already going when he pulled out. :rolleyes:

[Cory Wolfe]

Yeah... some drivers just suck. A semi-friend of mine has a Mini Cooper. He doesn't drive it to school. He has a beater... a 94 Grand Am SE sedan (yes, the one with the GT bumper, school stickers on the windows, and a dent in the side-rear that once had a dead porcupine strapped to the hood that I talked about). I kind of understood why, but it never really became appearant to me until someone backed into him.

[ocnblu]

It's worth the trouble, don'tcha think, Fly? The first-gen Aurora is a great car, as you know.

Croc, you are such a dickhead. As if you didn't know. Edited November 6, 2005 by ocnblu

[Flybrian]

Well, I have a gold '05 DeVille rental for the day. Woo.

[Croc]

It's worth the trouble, don'tcha think, Fly?  The first-gen Aurora is a great car, as you know.

Croc, you are such a dickhead.  As if you didn't know.

[post="39264"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Your personal attacks are getting tiresome. I have told you numerous times to take it to PMs or to just ignore my posts if they bother you that much. Your childish insults are just that: childish. There wasn't anything "dickish" about my post; though I really don't know why you went out of your way to call me out on something that wasn't really even there...? Especially since you EDITED your post to add that in. Grow up. Edited November 7, 2005 by Croc

[ocnblu]

I was merely attacking your unnecessary attack on another member. What? :unsure: :AH-HA_wink:

[Croc]

What attack?

[Flybrian]

Both of you need to stop this. Seriously. Expect PMs.

[Sixty8panther]

Ocnblu: Although Croc drives me nuts as well, he was right in this instance... water over the damn... I thought about it and yes, every local dealer that sells Lincoln also is a Mercury dealer as well... I'm no Ford buf so I never noticed this trend. I think my point was still somewhat valid but whatever. Thanks for sticking up for me Blu. :)