This week our only car, the 1991 Isuzu Amigo, yeah the one I just spent $300 on a new top for started squealing whenever the clutch was engaged (it is a manual transmission). I first noticed it this weekend at the ballet while we were driving along together over the weekend.

I commented about the sound and how it didn’t seem like a good or normal thing N said it was the cold temperatures causing it and was done with it. The sound and also the fact that the clutch has been sticking and loosing pressure has been going on since the weekend.

Today when we got all bundled up in our 3 layers and were headed out to hit a few stores we immediately noticed that our sidewalks and streets were iced over as we practically slipped to our death on them which meant the drive was going to be crazy.

N scraped the car windows and we were all set to leave the house when the car would not go in to gear. It was like the clutch was not engaging despite N’s forceful attempts at engaging it. The clutch would not work and the car is still squealing away.

I am pretty sure the transmission is shot now. When the clutch was still engaging but the squealing started we thought it was a transmission fluid issue. Just today N pulled the car repair book and read that the fluid access area was under the car. This of course discouraged him about adding transmission fluid which it clearly needed.

Before heading out to the attempted shopping trip he called several lube and oil places to see who works on manual transmissions. If we could pay someone to add the fluid that would be great. Problem is only one place would do it, for $130.00 and it would take several hours. That would make N late for work so that idea was out of the question I guess…

Now the car wont go in to gear and we are trying to figure out our transportation situation. How will N get to and from work through the holiday week? N got a ride from a coworker and went in an hour early today. Will we be able to get the car to a mechanic to fix the issue before the holidays or after? The car is being towed to a local transmission shop for free today thanks to our Chevron Travel club membership.

N will get to drive a station vehicle home from work tonight to ensure he is able to get to and from work the rest of the week. We know the repair work will take several days and that it will probably not even start until after Christmas since no mechanic is going to be fixing a car on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

I am still wondering if it will be an easy (inexpensive) fix or will it break the budget?

All I know is that it was our only transportation and I thought we were trying to be proactive in maintaining it so it would be there for us and get us around. Now we are in a predicament and it is all our fault for not acting sooner to fix the issue once we noticed it.

Although, I am beginning to calm down and to be less angry about the issue. Must be my hormones making me a raving lunatic huh?

Oh and it is not snowing, we have freezing rain here and will continue to the rest of the day. If it snowed I might feel a bit better…

The post Still no snow and crappy car trouble… appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

The post I am appalled!! Continuation of: "This holiday weekend sucked!!" appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

I am sure you can already tell that my holiday weekend did not go that great. I went down to Phoenix for my brother’s graduation. We are so proud of him, we went out for ice cream to celebrate and then we went to the Scottsdale courthouse to take care of my other brothers warrant. All that went fine and it was nice to see the family.

At about 7:30pm I was heading back up the hill to flagstaff. I had planned to head home at right about sundown to avoid all the campers and holiday travelers heading up north for the long weekend. Traffic was still busy but not nearly as bad as it was at about 4pm.

Anyway I am driving along, using the cruise control because I want to regulate my speed. I know that cops are going to be everywhere handing out speeding tickets and I want to make sure I don’t get one!!! My cruise control is set just under the 80 MPH mark and I am coming down the curves and hills just before the sunset rest area. I tap my break because I need to turn the cruise control off since the traffic in front of me is slowing down. We are now going down a big hill. The cruise control won’t shut off. The break has tons of pressure behind it and doesn’t seem to be slowing the car down. I am pressing the break with both feet trying to get the car to slow down but the car keeps accelerating! I glanced at the speedometer and saw the car was going over 90 MPH!!

I really began to panic once I realized the car was speeding up and the breaks were not doing anything. To make maters worse I am boxed in by other cars in the left lane. I threw on my hazard lights and thankfully the car next to me backed off and let me move over to the right hand lane. Once I was in the right lane I began to ease onto the shoulder with the car continuously accelerating. Once I was clear of the highway lanes I began to slowly pull the emergency brake.

The car slowed down considerably but still would not stop. I then noticed the car was revving to 8RPM’s. I honestly did not know if the breaks would be able to continue slowing the car while it was revving so high. I slid my foot under the gas pedal to see if maybe the pedal was stuck or something. The pedal was floppy and was not caught on anything; it just felt like the gas pedal usually does when the car is in cruise control.

The car is going about 40MPH now that the emergency brake is fully engaged, I am approaching the sign for the sunset rest area and I just want the car to stop so I can turn it off and get the hell out of it… I grab the shifter and throw it into park… The car abruptly stops, I take a deep breath and get on my cell phone to my mom. She doesn’t answer so I then dial Nathan. While I am on the phone to Nathan I see smoke seeping out from under the hood. I quickly decided it was not safe to stay inside the car so I grab all my stuff and I walk about to about 40 feet from the car and wait to be picked up.

I was so shaken up by the cars behavior that I had the chills. I really could have caused a major accident, killed myself and many others if I hadn’t gotten that car off the road when I did. The car was literally accelerating on it’s own and the breaks were not stopping the car!

When my mother picked me up she wanted to see exactly what the car was doing so we started it up and the car was still revving to 8 RPM’s sitting there in park!

N’s friend Rich came down to pick me up from New River where my mom and brother crammed tequila and food down my throat to calm me down. We left the car on the highway and headed back up the hill that night…

Since then the car has been towed to Black Canyon City and it will be checked by my mother’s mechanic on Tuesday. N and I are pretty sure the car is toast.

The post This "holiday weekend" sucked!! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.