A minor inconvenience...

[Bulin's Milker Bucket Brews]

Well, found out on Thursday that I needed to travel 1750 miles to work in Arizona this week. Decided to drive so I would have a car in when I got there. Solid choice I believe. About 500 miles in, the car started making a bad noise when I stopped for gas, the noise stopped as soon as I pulled out of the gas station. I decided to keep going instead of driving home and booking a flight...not so solid choice. So my air condioning compressor siezed up at a motel in Logan, New Mexico(about 650 miles AFTER I made the choice to keep driving), Had I turned around it would still be siezed, but it would also be in my driveway, next to my garage where all my tools are.

Well I hitched a ride to Alburquerque with a very nice retired gentelman from Georgia sightseeing his way to California, called my brother, who was already at the hotel in Arizona and now here I am, using some truck stop WiFi while I wait for my ride.

The only question is what to do with the car, it's a 19 year old Pontiac with 230,000 miles. If I can't get it picked up and fixed pretty reasonably, it's probably going to get scrapped in NeW Mexico.

Still no reason to have a bad attitude.

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

I can't imagine a car with that many miles and that many Wisconsin winters would be worth that much. I would be surprised if you could get an AC compressor repaired for less than the current value of the car. I was in a similar situation three years ago with a 19 year old Ford.

 

[Josh Hughes]

Good luck man….

 

[Minbari]

Bypass the compressor and journey on

 

[Bulin's Milker Bucket Brews]

Bypass the compressor and journey on

We’ll see need the right bell on a serpentine and that model was not offered without ac. That and I may have gotten the starter a little too hot trying to jump start it off a diesel.

Either way I got 12 years and 200,000 miles out of it…doesn’t really owe me anything either way.

 

[Minbari]

We’ll see need the right bell on a serpentine and that model was not offered without ac. That and I may have gotten the starter a little too hot trying to jump start it off a diesel.

Either way I got 12 years and 200,000 miles out of it…doesn’t really owe me anything either way.

Maybe remove the compressor main shaft? Leave the pulley in place. Not sure. It may not be worth fixing

 

[Bulin's Milker Bucket Brews]

Maybe remove the compressor main shaft? Leave the pulley in place. Not sure. It may not be worth fixing

The main problem is logistics. My house(and tools) are in Cazenovia WI, the car is 1100 miles away in NE New Mexico, I am 700 miles from the car in SW Arizona.

So either I call a repair shop and(most likely) spend more than the car is worth in it's current condition and then drive 20 hours round trip(with another driver) and put gass in 2 vehicles.....or I just write it off and start over.

If I had the car either here or at my house, pretty sure I could fix it pretty reasonably,

I've been trying to convince the wife that we should have at least one vehicle made in the last decade for a couple years now anyway,

 

[Craigerrr]

Well, I know what I would do...

 

[Minbari]

You have to think about what's important! With no car, will you get back in time to save the beer?

 

[Donoroto]

Maybe the repair shop you pick can put in a Rock Auto compressor (look up the price) and repair will cost under $400. Or maybe they'll buy it from you for $150 and scrap it (worth $250 as steel). Travel costs to the car are a big factor. Can you take a flight to there? (I hesitate to suggest a bus).

Not sure which airline(s) might fly to Springer NM (AXX) but Expedia claims there is at least one.

 

[Bulin's Milker Bucket Brews]

You have to think about what's important! With no car, will you get back in time to save the beer?

I’m going to fly back out of Vegas. I’m just going to write it down to just one of those things. Made a couple calls and disposed of it this morning. Way too much going on here right now to worry about it.

Not that important in the bigger picture.

 

[Sunfire96]

Sorry you had to deal with that Bulin. I find on this website whether you're asking about homebrewing or something else, whether you asked for it or not, you'll still get 10 different answers

 

[Donoroto]

Sorry you had to deal with that Bulin. I find on this website whether you're asking about homebrewing or something else, whether you asked for it or not, you'll still get 10 different answers

At a minimum.

 

[Ward Chillington]

Either way I got 12 years and 200,000 miles out of it…doesn’t really owe me anything either way.

That's the right way to look at it Bul...cut your potential losses!

ohh yeah....make that 11 answers...call it diversity of logic

 

[Craigerrr]

Sorry you had to deal with that Bulin. I find on this website whether you're asking about homebrewing or something else, whether you asked for it or not, you'll still get 10 different answers

It is what we do!

 

[sbaclimber]

It is what we do!

...and why it is a "thinking man's game"
Filter out the answers that you think don't fit to the problem and choose from the others the most fitting to solve it...
(...we're all screwed, but it is sometimes entertaining )
PS, not to make light of a dying car...been there )