Tuesday, May 18, 2010

So you want to own a 20 year old truck?

Got the Jeep registered yesterday morning and I was itching to take it out for a spin all day. After dinner, I grabbed my two youngest kids and headed off to the mall to buy z wife a birthday present.

It was raining pretty hard out, I bought new wipers later by the way, and of course being a man it didn't dawn on me that the kids should have been wearing jackets. We left the store and hustled to the truck, aaand it wouldn't start. Did I flood it? Is the choke not working? Something get wet? Let it sit for a few minutes aaand it didn't start. Rinse and repeat.

Time to call z wife to pick us up (remember the commercial with the dusty guy on a motorcycle and his wife picks him up on the side of the road with the minivan) buuut I left my phone at home.

Run back into the mall, its raining hard remember, to find a phone. Pay phones are extinct. Luckily the Guest Services desk lets me use theirs. I had to call twice. Stupid call waiting.

Anyway, it dawned on me during the embarassing ride home, that it was probably out of gas. Sure enough a half hour later after a gallon of lawnmower gas was added to the tank and the carb primed, it fired right up.

It's been a looong time since I've run out of gas. These things happen with a new vehicle. Just remember, 1/4 tank means E M P T Y.

5 comments:

Rob said...

It was probably FULL when you left your house.

soccerkcs said...

Older Jeeps are notorious for gas gauges that are empty when it shows 1/4 tank full. I had the same problem with my 1988 Wrangler.

L-DUB said...

Yikes!!! I would be screwed with that rig. I've gotten into the habbit of waiting until the gas light comes on and then still driving another 30+ miles and waiting for the light to start *flashing* before I get gas.

Big A said...

My Gas light comes on when when the fuel computer says there are 50 miles left. I wait for it to get all the way down to zero and then go another 50 miles before I get anything.

gagknee said...

yeah, thats exactly what i do with the dakota, larry. it was a wake up call.