Before I get started you must know that I love my Mazda. Courtney says that I love it because it harkens back to my Honda Civic hatchback from ‘98. She may be right. Ever since day one, though, the fuel gauge has been broken. You’ll realize that it’s an important point later on.
On with the story.
The Mazda has been prissy in the cold weather. As the temperature has dropped she’s groaned a little bit louder every morning. Saturday morning I decided to tempt fate. I tried to start ‘er in the -5 degree weather. She fired 4 times before finally moaning to her death. I wasn’t too surprised that the battery had died but I wasn’t really looking forward to jump starting it in the cold.
So instead of fixing it Court and I went to a movie.
Rejuvenated from seeing Cloverfield, I ran outside to jump the car and head off to Sears for a new battery. Luckily the batter charged quickly and within a half hour I was heading down the highway. Half way there, though, the Mazda started lurching and thrusting. I looked down at my fuel gauge and it was on empty. This is nothing to be surprised about since after driving 50 miles on a new tank of gas the gauge will read empty. I checked the amount of miles on the tank and I was at 289, which in the summer is a safe amount for a tank of gas. But I hadn’t factored in all the idling and engine warming being done for winter. I drifted off to the side of the road and called Court for some gas.
I sat on the side of the road for about 20 minutes. -5 degrees is cold. Very cold. I didn’t think the car would cool down so fast. By the time Court showed up with gas I was quite chilly. I pumped 2 gallons of gas into the Mazda and started ‘er up…Well, I wanted to start ‘er up. The battery had drained again in the 30 or so minutes it had sat waiting for gas. We jumped it again and I was off to a gas station, then on to Sears.
Luckily I was able to pump gas and start the car again. If I had to jump it a third time I might have just given up and left the car for dead. I waved bye to Courtney (who was following me around just in case) and was FINALLY off to Sears.
I ran into Sears and was helped by a very nice older lady. She asked what I needed and I told her I had a dead car in their parking lot. With regret she looked at me and said, “I’m sorry, but we are full up with others. We close in an hour. We can’t help you.”
I sighed and tried not to go apeshit. I took a deep breath and rolled my eyes. She watched me and said, “Can you get it home?”
“I dunno. But I’ll figure it out…” I let out another sigh.
“Well, let me talk with my manager.” She walked away. 5 minutes later she waved me into the garage. “We’ll help you out, but you’re jumping in line in front of some other people. So please don’t say anything.” I was quite relieved that something had finally gone my way with this car today. I thanked her profusely.
So the Mazda got a top of the line winter battery. She starts like a champ now. Remind me to tell you the story next time about the first snow and how the Mazda’s windshield wipers hate ice.
I’m having a hard time understanding why my insurance went up though. If I get in an accident I won’t be the one hurt. It does need some bigger tires (and maybe a lift-kit, brushguard, and winch). Right now it looks like it’s riding on Geo Metro tires. It’s an extended cab so the cab has a bit of space between the seats and the back. We discovered that our dogs fit nicely right there. I finally got a truck for Sid, my truck dog. She’s happier than pig in shit riding with us. I have had to adjust my budget to accomodate a $35 tank fill.