Yesterday morning, moments after pulling into the parking lot at work, one of my coworkers said, "You know you're leaking antifreeze. A lot". I went out and opened the hood just in time to see the last few ounces of coolant spraying out under pressure. Had I discovered this en route, I would have just taken a personal day and taken care of it, but now I was stuck at work. I figured that I would need to have my wife pick me up after work, I'd go home, get my trailer, go back to retrieve the car and fix it on my day off.
The idea of stewing about this all day and not doing anything about it was not sitting well with me. I had ten hours and a box of cheap tools to resolve the problem.
Several phone calls to the area Advance PepZone were unsuccessful. Nobody had the proper radiator in stock and there were none in the warehouse. Fortunately, there was a Subaru dealer near the place that my wife works that was open until noon. They had the right one in stock and would give me 20% off list. Still more expensive that the all aluminum radiators that I could buy online, but it would have to do.
So, on her day off and with a bad cold, my wife gathered the tools on my list, and strapped the baby into the car seat. They stopped by the dealership and picked up the radiator, new hoses, a gallon of distilled water and a gallon of Genuine Subaru Anti Freeze ($18 after the discount. Yikes!) and delivered it all to me at work, 45 minutes away.
I was able to swap the new unit in during my spare time at work and I even got out a half hour early. As a bonus, this entire mess was contained to the parking lot at work rather than my garage floor. We even had a bag of Speedy Dry there to soak everything up.
Other than shelling out for parts, this couldn't have gone a whole lot better.
Special thanks to my wife for saving the day.
Woody wrote:
Special thanks to my wife for saving the day.
Good on ' ya.
(Couldn't the parts stores come up with a compatible coolant?)
It also looks like you gave her sufficient information. Sometimes someone working on a car will dispatch a helper to the (example, 'cause it happened to me before) NAPA store for parts that depend on specifics as to whatever the car came with then they get frustrated and get mad at the counterperson and/or the helper because, as we all know, "They're all the same..."
let's just say I have been to a tank farm in Lemont, Illinois that processes and fills coolant gallons for all the manufacturers.
so once I pointed out that it is all the same coolant and they always disagree and say some of the OEM manufacturers have special additives put in.
yeah, right
I hope there is a dinner in this for your wife
does youre wife have a sister?
LOL JK, my wife wouldnt be happy about me asking
Thats a great lady you have there! I never ask my wife to go to the parts store without a detailed list, and she knows enough about working on cars to NOT get anything other than whats on the list. Shes gritty enough that when the counter guy says "this (insert generic item here) will do just as well", she says "well I really want (insert specific item here), do you have this or not".
Im a lucky fella
4cylndrfury wrote:
does youre wife have a sister?
As a matter of fact, she has two. Both are single and you wouldn't be interested in either of them. Seriously, you would not be interested. At all.
When I called the dealership, I gave the guy my VIN number and told him to put a radiator, upper and lower hoses and a gallon of coolant on my credit card, so I was pretty sure everything would fit properly. All she had to do was pick it all up. I knew I could find cheaper coolant just about anywhere else, but I didn't want her to have to haul the baby into an Auto Parts store on Saturday morning. I paid for convenience.
I love it when a plan comes together.
Woody wrote:
VIN number
Did you pay for it with money from the ATM machine?
Osterkraut wrote:
Woody wrote:
VIN number
Did you pay for it with money from the ATM machine?
Shouldn't you be at your militia meeting?
Woody wrote:
Osterkraut wrote:
Woody wrote:
VIN number
Did you pay for it with money from the ATM machine?
Shouldn't you be at your militia meeting?
Oh E36 M3, you aren't from DHS, are you?
pigeon
Reader
4/26/09 3:49 p.m.
Good story. Reminds me of when my wife did almost the same for me when the heater hose split on my Saab 9000, except it was 90 minutes to work at that time. Keeper for sure (definitely better than her 4 older sisters!).
Woody wrote:
As a matter of fact, she has two. Both are single and you would be interested in either of them. Seriously, you would be interested.Alot. They're pornstars.
All kidding aside, thats a good woman you have if I ever heard of one. I can't believe you come onto this forum however, brag about your awesome wife, and can't even have the decency to post pics. SHAME!
Good wife.....
I have a great one too, she bought me a 12 pack because I had been working so hard this last week.
What year WRX? Does your old radiator have a plastic plug about 1.25" diameter directly below the filler?
My '03 OBS has a busted plug (not listed in the subaru parts catalog) So I'm on the hunt for one
I'f you have one I'd gladly pay you 5-10 bucks for it!
2002maniac wrote:
What year WRX? Does your old radiator have a plastic plug about 1.25" diameter directly below the filler?
My '03 OBS has a busted plug (not listed in the subaru parts catalog) So I'm on the hunt for one
I'f you have one I'd gladly pay you 5-10 bucks for it!
2004 WRX. It did look like there was a plug in it. The radiator went into the dumpster at work. If it's still there when I go to work Wednesday night, I'll grab it.
Woody wrote:
2002maniac wrote:
What year WRX? Does your old radiator have a plastic plug about 1.25" diameter directly below the filler?
My '03 OBS has a busted plug (not listed in the subaru parts catalog) So I'm on the hunt for one
I'f you have one I'd gladly pay you 5-10 bucks for it!
2004 WRX. It did look like there was a plug in it. The radiator went into the dumpster at work. If it's still there when I go to work Wednesday night, I'll grab it.
The dumpster has been tipped. Sorry.
Oh well, thanks for looking!
