Closure On The Issue
1/4/2
I haven�t finished some of the repair stories that I�ve started. So here goes.
The Computer
I got the computer back on December 24th at around noon. The problem with it was that my old 8-gig drive was so big that in the new case it was pushing on a capacitor. It was very loose and that is what caused the beeping.
The messing up of the OS, I could have just formatted the disk at home and installed the OS again. I had them wipe it, but they also made the machine work again.
Since the motherboard was messed up, I had to get a new one. They don�t sell ones as old as the AMD board I had. And the new boards don�t accept that old AMD 400 chip I had. So, I got a new motherboard and a Celeron 850 chip. The hard drive still wouldn�t fit unless I got a new case. I�d rather pay $80 for a new 20 gig hard drive than $30 for a new case when I have a new case. And they only charged me for an hour of labor even though Chris worked on it for 45 minutes while I waited on Christmas Eve.
Joshy...quit your day job.
Josh had �worked on it� for two weeks. Chris did it in 45 min while I waited.
Total bill $325 and it was one of the cheaper and better upgrades I�ve done on my system. If only I could get that 8 gig drive into the machine.
The Car
On New Years Day, around 8 p.m., Aisai�s car wouldn�t start. It wouldn�t even dimly light a bulb. I jump-started it and she drove home, about a 20-minute drive. Trying to crank it at home didn�t work, nor did it light up the interior light.
On 1/2/3, I jump started Aisai�s car and left it running. She�d drive it to work and then I�d jump it again after work and we�d go to the AutoZone on Huff Rd. The car died somewhere between me jumping it and Aisai�s coming outside to it. I drove home and jumped it and we went to AutoZone.
AutoZone tested it and said that the battery was not charged, but fine, and that there was a bad alternator. We drove it to Clark�s Honda and left it overnight. Clark�s found that the alternator was fine.
So, when we picked it up from there, we took it back to AutoZone. They said the battery was fine, and also that the alternator was fine. I called Clark�s and let the man there talk to the AutoZone guy on my cell phone. They chatted and then the AutoZone guy got off the phone and we were kind of scratching our heads about it. And freezing, it was freezing out.
So, Aisai�s car is fine and we just needed to go home. A freak anomaly. Well, Aisai�s car wouldn�t start. It wouldn�t light a dim bulb.
AutoZone dude came back out and looked at it and scrubbed the corrosion off the positive terminal. He had Aisai turn on the headlights and they came on for a second and went out. He used some spray on the corrosion and tightened the thing on the terminal.
They headlights didn�t come on.
Lots of frustration, etc. Then, I, thinking that the lights might not give us enough glow or something, ask Aisai to honk.
�No, it�ll be too loud.�
She does honk however, and it was very loud...a full honk.
Key: The 1987 Camry has a feature where if you turn off the car with the headlights on they will turn themselves off. When we were jiggling the wire, it triggered this. The headlights would not come back on until Aisai cranked the car.
Aisai cranked the car and we went home. I�m supposed to put some grease on the terminal so it won�t corrode. I also need to put in a new brake light and possibly a headlight. The brake light is burnt out, but I think the headlight just has its wire loose since it�s right next to the battery. Aisai won�t be driving at night any time soon anyway.
Total cost: $22 for Clark�s to look at it and charge the battery.
And now you know why I don�t finish repair stories, because I feel stupid afterward.