Vehicle Swapping

Above, the Mustang before the electrical issue cropped up. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It has been said that "everything happens for a reason."

That seems to be the case over the past several days. Last week, I had to have the Jeep brought into Gallup to my mechanic as it broke down over the freeway bridge. Luckily, I had enough momentum so that it rolled across the bridge so not to block traffic coming from the Flying J. 

Then Friday evening, I left the headlights on the Mustang for about four hours before discovering it. I figured the battery would bounce back overnight or, if not, I'll charge it with my battery charger. It didn't bounce back and the charger was hooked up to it. 

After about an hour, it still wouldn't start. It just made the solenoid noise and the needle on the charger's meter was acting peculiar. Greg Lucier came over with his charger and it would act odd as well. Also, the car wouldn't make the solenoid noise and there was no indication of power. 

We then tried jump-starting it, but it caused the battery cable to heat up and smoke was coming from Greg's car battery. We immediately unhooked the cables and I decided to bring it to the mechanic when the Jeep was done, which was yesterday.

I needed to go to the market, so I got The Beast out and used it for the shopping trip. Nothing like having a third vehicle available.

Thankfully, the Jeep was done yesterday and I had the Mustang towed in with me riding along. As I said at the outset, things happen for a reason. Instead of asking for a ride with someone to the mechanic, I was able to go with the tow truck and then drive the Jeep home after leaving the Mustang at the mechanic's. A little vehicle swapping.

It turned out that the electric fuel pump went bad and I had it replaced with a better one by a different company. Unfortunately, it was two months out of warranty. But I got a good deal though. 

At least these mechanical problems happened now instead of during the dead of winter.