Posted: 6/23/2010 5:50:42 PM EDT
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Somewhat epic fail on my part today. I come out to my car after work and the battery is dead. I go to get my jumper cables to find someone to give me a jump. I work in a building with 2,000 other people. I find that I don't have my cables. Buddy from work brings his and we try to jump it, but no luck. Completely dead. Go to get a couple tools to pull the battery and take it to Auto Zone to test it before I buy a new one. Tools are gone too. Not stolen, just not in my car because I suck. Had this been a real SHTF situation, I'd have been royally F'ed.
Lessons learned: 1. Don't leave shit on in your car. 2. Jumper cables are only good if you have them on you 3. You need basic tools in your car. At least a pair of pliers, adjustable wrench, scredrivers and a few sockets in common sizes. I probably missed something. 4. Keep your cell phone charged. 5. My car is only 5 years old so I don't have to worry too much about this yet other than basic maintenance, but keep your car maintained. This situation sucked especially bad because it was 95 here today. That is all. |
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Buy standard tools and buy the odd car tools.
my battery has side terminals and requires a 5/16" ratcheting wrench. It also has 5/16" bolts that chalk it to the battery pan so i need 12" of extenstions to get the socket on the bolt. Jumper cables? I need a set with "needle nose" clips. Luckelly the car has a "locker" that I can stow all the tools in. |
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murphy's law bro. nearly the same happened to me this past saturady...
starter just plain out died with little to no warning. earlier in the day i'd left the jewlry shop after paying for an engagement ring. the ignition took two half cranks then started on the third. car always starts on the first even thoug it is a '96 iirc dodge neon with who knows how many miles(odometer / speedometer is broken) and it has some issues. but it has always been uttely reliable mechanicly, it just has lots of little things that don't work right, like the dash light shalf the time and the AC at all etc. point is, it is dead nuts start and go always gets me from a to b, oh and i only paid $400 for it 3 years ago... after the jewerly shop i went to the gunshop for the afternoon, when i left work there it started with no issues. drove out to the county and had dinner with my parents at a small italian eatery. went to leave there and it was just dead... thought it was the battery, pulled out my jump pack and no joy no start. i decided it was the starter. i beat on it for a while with a crow bar i did happen to have but it was still a no go. a mechanic i knew happened to pull up and he looked at it a bit, he says starter also but double checked by having me jump it again, then beating on the starter himself... getting dark by now so he asks for a flashlight. i go for my tool bag in the car. no tool bag, i'd left it in my GFs car a while back. i tried the worklight on the jump pack but it just didn't shine where he wanted to look at something. i'm like well crap... well i do have a light but we'll have to be quick. to the trunk i go and return with my LaRue OBR he's like  (not really he was a bit surprised but is a friend of my dad's so he wasn't really but so surprised at anything but possibly the size of the 18" .308 AR), and i'm like   ... anyway connections and wires were solid, starter was just dead... did i mention this was in a shopping strip mall and i was OCing the whole time ?.. so i thank him for his help and call my go to mechanic confirming that he's got room on his tiny lot and in his schedule...
i then call AAA to get my free tow(plus membership is the shit adn my parents still give me this as my christmas present each year. it's the best thing they've ever given me, it really is a great present. the tow truck driver agreed as we chatted, i confessed to giving first aid kits also, he said that was a neat idea also and thanked me for ideas for stuff for his kids. don;t think he was even being condesending at all). the kindly opperator lady asks if i'm safe(i'm standing there with 18 rounds in my side arm and about 60-70 round sin mags in my case for the OBR  i just smiled and chuckled and confirmed yes, yes mam i am quite safe right now. the operator lady was great i did make quite a few humorous remarks and she was laughing so hard she could barely type by the time we hung up. AAA got me where i needed to drop the car off two towns over and then let me ride back to the first town and dropped me off. the driver notied i was OCing but around here it's not really THAT out of the ordinary, now when i pulled the big padded case out of the trunk of the car and tossed it into the truck for the ride home he was probnably thinking  ... as prearranged he dropped me off at a gas station and i caught a ride with my little sister back to my apt in another town.... murphy will always win... but you should always have a plan bravo and even terciary and beyond plans to deal with the asshole... in this case i was far from prepared but i i had enough going for me that things turned out just fine... i'll obviously be makinjg a few changes and putting some of my gear back in my car...
K. |
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I used to steal stuff from my grab and go bag I keep near my front door of the house in case I have to leave in a hurry due to a house fire or whatever. I finally got it together and no longer steal stuff out of it even if I intend to put it back. It stays as is and I bought extras. I am working on extras for the car kit so I can stop wondering if that wrench is in the house or in the car or out in the shed with some of the other stuff. Jumper cables I do have a few sets of finally, some cheapy ones as well, so I am ok on that for right now but it took a while to get to where I had more than one set. Lately it seems like I have not made progress on preps but it is because I have been working more on decent backups or buying just a few items to put with spares to make a complete extra kit of some sort. |
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Quoted:
Nah, Epic Fail is when you know something is going to happen and don't prepare for it. Tj I'd define Epic Fail (prep ver) as prepping for a much less likely thing while skipping the obvious basics ie stockpiling 20 tacticool AR's and eleventybillion rounds and not have water or food or shelter handled first. |
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Quoted:
Buy standard tools and buy the odd car tools. my battery has side terminals and requires a 5/16" ratcheting wrench. It also has 5/16" bolts that chalk it to the battery pan so i need 12" of extenstions to get the socket on the bolt. Jumper cables? I need a set with "needle nose" clips. Luckelly the car has a "locker" that I can stow all the tools in. If or when you replace your battery, they make a dual post battery that has both side and top terminals. They are wonderfull for jumping as well as an additional point to attach elec. accesories. |
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5. My car is only 5 years old so I don't have to worry too much about this yet other than basic maintenance, but keep your car maintained. PSA for anybody reading this: Car batteries last ~5 years, just about like clockwork (as the OP found out). If you've got 4 years on a battery, think about changing it pre-emptively, because failure IS coming. Sure, you might make it 5 years, or maybe even 6 years, but it's not worth the inconvenience. Do it in your garage on your own terms rather than in a parking lot during a rainstorm when you were supposed to be somewhere important 5 minutes ago. |
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Quoted: Spoken like a true northerner. Between the heat of summer and the wicked cold winters, Im suprised we get 5 years.5. My car is only 5 years old so I don't have to worry too much about this yet other than basic maintenance, but keep your car maintained. PSA for anybody reading this: Car batteries last ~5 years, just about like clockwork (as the OP found out). If you've got 4 years on a battery, think about changing it pre-emptively, because failure IS coming. Sure, you might make it 5 years, or maybe even 6 years, but it's not worth the inconvenience. Do it in your garage on your own terms rather than in a parking lot during a rainstorm when you were supposed to be somewhere important 5 minutes ago. O.P. make sure your charging system is up to snuff. Newer cars dont like working with bad batteries and they can wipe out your charging system. With all that being said, I really need to check the stuff in my trunk to make sure it is all accounted for. |
| I've learned my lesson many many years ago . I buy a new battery every 2 years whether it needs one or not . I paint the date of purchase on the top so I always know when it's time for a new one . 80 bucks every 2 years is better than getting stranded . As back up I also carry a charge box that I recharge every 2 weeks . |
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Quoted:
I've learned my lesson many many years ago . I buy a new battery every 2 years whether it needs one or not . I paint the date of purchase on the top so I always know when it's time for a new one . 80 bucks every 2 years is better than getting stranded . As back up I also carry a charge box that I recharge every 2 weeks . This! Absolutely with out fail I buy new batteries every two years. I can't imagine my GF using my truck and getting stranded in a parking lot after dark. |