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Car problems
Jun. 14th, 2007 07:48 amWell, the good news is we made it to Salt Lake City fine, and Chris' family is just as awesome as I expected and we've had a lovely time so far :).
The bad news is that when we got out to the rental car (a Chevy Malibu; recent but don't know the year) to go for an early-morning jaunt to the Salt Flats, the car wouldn't start.
Things that do go on: lights, beepy noises, power locks
Things that don't go on AFAWCT: wipers, power windows, and of course the engine. No clicking, nothing.
Strange noise: when we turn the lights on it gives us a "creeek" noise if the dashboard lights are turned all the way up, but only then.
Other weirdness: The car has a system to automatically turn off the lights when the ignition is not on; this also works if, e.g., a door is left ajar, so the obvious reason for battery problems ~shouldn't~ apply.
We have tried to call the car rental company and can't get ahold of them yet, but I just found a branch in SLC so we're hoping they'll be of some use. I'm a bit worried because it's not a company I know anything about -- Advantage -- and that always makes me nervous when strange things happen.
So: Any of my clever friends have an idea what might be up? We will try to jump it when we have the option, but we're not sure that's what's going on -- G seems to think it's unlikely the lights would work if the battery were run-down enough not to turn over the engine. I of course know absolutely nothing of use here.
(the other bad news is we got an unexpected parking ticket this AM, which gets an extra dose of joy when you can't move the car, but that's manageable and not the real concern here.)
The bad news is that when we got out to the rental car (a Chevy Malibu; recent but don't know the year) to go for an early-morning jaunt to the Salt Flats, the car wouldn't start.
Things that do go on: lights, beepy noises, power locks
Things that don't go on AFAWCT: wipers, power windows, and of course the engine. No clicking, nothing.
Strange noise: when we turn the lights on it gives us a "creeek" noise if the dashboard lights are turned all the way up, but only then.
Other weirdness: The car has a system to automatically turn off the lights when the ignition is not on; this also works if, e.g., a door is left ajar, so the obvious reason for battery problems ~shouldn't~ apply.
We have tried to call the car rental company and can't get ahold of them yet, but I just found a branch in SLC so we're hoping they'll be of some use. I'm a bit worried because it's not a company I know anything about -- Advantage -- and that always makes me nervous when strange things happen.
So: Any of my clever friends have an idea what might be up? We will try to jump it when we have the option, but we're not sure that's what's going on -- G seems to think it's unlikely the lights would work if the battery were run-down enough not to turn over the engine. I of course know absolutely nothing of use here.
(the other bad news is we got an unexpected parking ticket this AM, which gets an extra dose of joy when you can't move the car, but that's manageable and not the real concern here.)