Well, SHMBO was right.

Let me preface this by saying, I love my wife, but technical she isn't. When we married, she barely knew how to put gas in a car, much less how to open the hood or know why it quit. Over the last 30 years, she's picked up a few things, but a mechanic she isn't.

On with the story.

My wife called me last night and said her Jeep had died. She was about 5 miles from the house when it happened and managed to get it into a gas station parking lot.

Her words, "The alternator on the Jeep just died, I'm calling AAA to bring it home."

This morning I asked if she was sure it was the alternator. "Yep, the lights started getting dim, then I lost dash lights and it started running bad. It's the alternator." was the answer.

"Are you sure it didn't lose the belt," I asked.

"It didn't overheat, lose power steering, or A/C, I think it's the alternator," was her response.

"OK, I'll take care of it." I didn't even pop the hood on it, I just picked up a alternator and supervised my 16yo son changing it.

Sure enough, that solved the problem. That might be the easiest car repair I've ever done. No troubleshooting, no getting my hands dirty.

Her response when I told her she was right? "Make sure you tell those car guys on Grassroots."

So here you go, you've been told.

Mad props to my wife.

Love you Dear.

(Now if I could just get her to do her own repairs, I'd be set.)

Edited because I occasionally lose my ability to spell.

That right there is what we in the business call a "keeper". She doesn't by chance have a single twin does she?

Nice.

Definetley a keeper. I like the part about shring the story on here, made my girlfriend laugh.

Good for her both knowing the problem and being able to back it up with solid diagnostics. I can only hope my wife continues to learn enough to self diagnose her own car.

Cool man.

Your sir, are winning!

Very nice. My wife decided to make dinner for me since I was working late. She made homemade sauce and meatballs but forgot to turn on the crock pot. I joked that once her mustache grew in I thought making meatballs would be a no brainer.

Anyone want to join me at McDonalds for dinner?

Wally, you do like living dangerously

Toy, I've met your wife, I really think you've won big time in the game of life

I'm not technical because I don't HAVE to be technical because I have this wonderful and terrific husband who can fix anything he touches!

I can change a tire if I have to and I've even Youtubed my way through spark plugs. However the cars are wayyyy better off if Toyman fixes them and I continue officiating weddings!

In reply to Toymanswife:

Good work. I know some alleged professional mechanics that can't reason thier way through a breakdown that quickly.

Awesome. It's great when someone can use logic to figure out the cause of a problem. People in general are losing that ability. I'm glad you're wife isn't one of them.

Never underestimate...

TRoglodyte wrote: Never underestimate...

Isn't that the truth.

Very well done.

She won me over with this:

"It didn't overheat, lose power steering, or A/C, I think it's the alternator,"

Tunawife has reasoned through a few very good diagnostics before as well, and trumped me a few times. That's neat.

Good work, Toyman's wife!

Excellent diagnosis toyman's wife! Was it doing weird stuff leading up to this failure or just failed that day?

Toymanswife wrote: I'm not technical because I don't HAVE to be technical because I have this wonderful and terrific husband who can fix anything he touches! I can change a tire if I have to and I've even Youtubed my way through spark plugs. However the cars are wayyyy better off if Toyman fixes them and I continue officiating weddings!

Seriously though, do you have a sister?

She How Must Be Obeyed??

Bravo!

Forwarded to Mrs. SVreX.

When we first bought our Malibu the driver's window stopped closing. I began swearing at it and pressing the switch harder. She told me to try shutting the car off. To humor her I did and when I restarted it and the window worked fine ever since. I started laughing and she didn't see what was so funny. Apparently at her office when you have a window problem you are told to try and restart the machine before calling for help.

clutchsmoke wrote: Excellent diagnosis toyman's wife! Was it doing weird stuff leading up to this failure or just failed that day?

About 4 months ago, it had a dead battery at an autocross, a couple of hours from the house. I figured it was due to lights or ignition being left on. She jumped it off and by the time it got home, it was charged and running fine.

congrats to your good lady.....

before GRM.... Wife owned 122S, one day at a light the idle was slightly higher then it normally was, should be. She pulled into a parking lot, popped the hood, and noticed one return spring was broken, she took out her Leatherman, and bent a new hook into the spring, and off she went.......

wives like these are keepers

I'm going to have to bring this one back from the dead.

My wife's Jeep has been squeaking for a couple of weeks. Typical belt noise. She sprayed it with belt dressing and that lasted about 3 minutes.

Apparently it's been driving her crazy. She picked up a belt today, and 5 minutes ago, when I walked in the door, she informed me, never mind about the belt, she had changed it and it was easy.

So again, mad props to Mrs. Toyman.

I wonder if I can get her to do the oil change on my truck?