I got a call about an hour ago--my next door neighbors I'm friends with were "stuck" at a nearby medical facility,with a dead battery,in their 2015 (or so) Chevy Malibu..
It was about 4 miles away luckily--otherwise I couldn't have risked going to rescue them,as my front right caliper has decided to start hanging up ,and smoke the pads --other day I had to get an inspection sticker and by the time I got to the place 10 miles away,it was smelling like burnt pads..sigh..another item to add to its long list of needed repairs..rotor is mighty thin on the outer edge and rusted in the finned area bad too..
I took a spare battery & jumper cables with me--didn't want to rish jumping their car with my truck,being computerized and all...all it would do was chatter the solenoid when they tried to start it..
After I hooked my battery up,it still just chattered--had to twist the cables to get a better connection,and it still chattered ,until I tried starting it several times,finally it turned over and started..there was no "check engine light" on,only light that came on said "service security system"...
The owners told me they had the car serviced last week at a Firestone store,and were told the "battery is low,barely passed the load test"...they were hoping to be able to hold off getting a new one ,but have no choice now I guess..
I offered to put in the new battery if they bought one somewhere--but the more I thought about it,I figured they would be better off letting a shop do it--I know once you disconnect a battery on a newer car you can open up a big can of worms,most places put a "memory saver" in the lighter socket or on the battery cables to prevent that...last thing I need is to mess that up and get blamed!..
BTW--they called AAA at 9:30 am,and were told the "soonest we can get a truck there is 1 pm"!..good thing I answered my phone,90% of the time I just ignore it because of robo calls..
They had come to my rescue a few years back when my fuel filter plugged up and I killed my batteries ,15 miles away...feels good to be the rescuer instead of the one needing a rescue for a change..
It was about 4 miles away luckily--otherwise I couldn't have risked going to rescue them,as my front right caliper has decided to start hanging up ,and smoke the pads --other day I had to get an inspection sticker and by the time I got to the place 10 miles away,it was smelling like burnt pads..sigh..another item to add to its long list of needed repairs..rotor is mighty thin on the outer edge and rusted in the finned area bad too..
I took a spare battery & jumper cables with me--didn't want to rish jumping their car with my truck,being computerized and all...all it would do was chatter the solenoid when they tried to start it..
After I hooked my battery up,it still just chattered--had to twist the cables to get a better connection,and it still chattered ,until I tried starting it several times,finally it turned over and started..there was no "check engine light" on,only light that came on said "service security system"...
The owners told me they had the car serviced last week at a Firestone store,and were told the "battery is low,barely passed the load test"...they were hoping to be able to hold off getting a new one ,but have no choice now I guess..
I offered to put in the new battery if they bought one somewhere--but the more I thought about it,I figured they would be better off letting a shop do it--I know once you disconnect a battery on a newer car you can open up a big can of worms,most places put a "memory saver" in the lighter socket or on the battery cables to prevent that...last thing I need is to mess that up and get blamed!..
BTW--they called AAA at 9:30 am,and were told the "soonest we can get a truck there is 1 pm"!..good thing I answered my phone,90% of the time I just ignore it because of robo calls..
They had come to my rescue a few years back when my fuel filter plugged up and I killed my batteries ,15 miles away...feels good to be the rescuer instead of the one needing a rescue for a change..
