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*beep*-ing car
Mar. 10th, 2005 07:46 amMy little econobox is, technically, 11 years old. I say technically because I got it in September 1994 and haven't owned it for 11 years. It was the one that was on the showroom floor so it'd never even been taken out on test drives before I got it. Overall, I have to admit it's held up pretty well. For it's age, it's got very low mileage. It just rolled over 90k miles a couple weeks ago. Aside from normal things like tires, brake pads, rotors and maintenance, the only halfway big problem it had was when it was only a few years old and the harmonic compensator broke. I'd never even heard of a harmonic compensator before that. It does, however, have many annoying squeaks and buzzes and rattles and is a growly noisy thing. While annoying, those aren't that bad.
It does have a really annoying beeping sound it makes if you leave the key in the ignition or leave the headlights on without the engine running and open either of the front doors or start it without seatbelts fastened. That's a safety feature and a good thing. Usually...
A couple weeks ago I drove somewhere and parked. Opened the door and heard the beep beep beep! sound. I had the key in my hand so it wasn't that. The lights were off, too. It seems that the switch or sensor or whatever in the ignition switch has gotten stuck so it thinks there's always a key in there. It was cold and wet out at the time and I thought perhaps some moisture had gotten in there and frozen. Since then there've been enough days warm enough to have thawed anything in there, so it looks like the thing is just stuck. It's amazing how much that beeping sound can get on your nerves after a while. Any time one of the front doors is open, it sounds off. I hate to think what getting it fixed would cost. I suspect it'd mean replacing the ignition switch outright.
I could try to go on ignoring it, but eventually I am going to forget and leave the key in or the lights on and not know it because the car has been playing The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
EDIT: Dang. Wrong literary reference at the end there. Thanks for spotting that Altivo. :)
It does have a really annoying beeping sound it makes if you leave the key in the ignition or leave the headlights on without the engine running and open either of the front doors or start it without seatbelts fastened. That's a safety feature and a good thing. Usually...
A couple weeks ago I drove somewhere and parked. Opened the door and heard the beep beep beep! sound. I had the key in my hand so it wasn't that. The lights were off, too. It seems that the switch or sensor or whatever in the ignition switch has gotten stuck so it thinks there's always a key in there. It was cold and wet out at the time and I thought perhaps some moisture had gotten in there and frozen. Since then there've been enough days warm enough to have thawed anything in there, so it looks like the thing is just stuck. It's amazing how much that beeping sound can get on your nerves after a while. Any time one of the front doors is open, it sounds off. I hate to think what getting it fixed would cost. I suspect it'd mean replacing the ignition switch outright.
I could try to go on ignoring it, but eventually I am going to forget and leave the key in or the lights on and not know it because the car has been playing The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
EDIT: Dang. Wrong literary reference at the end there. Thanks for spotting that Altivo. :)