We need a car bad ... ours sits with a blown engine at the Oklahoma/Kansas state line on I-35! Me, my oldest daughter and my mom made a trip to Oklahoma City yeaterday that didn't turn out so well for us!

Everything went pretty well on the way down ... we left early enough so the heat wasn't too bad (our car's A/C quit working a WHILE ago) and the car didn't overheat but once - no biggie! On the way back home, however, is another story. It was hotter and later in the day, so the overheating was a problem (bad thermostat, I think) that led to much worse things. I stopped a couple times from OKC to the Kansas border to refill with water and let things cool off. We were crusing along just before the Kansas border on I-35 when I heard the car clicking, so I figured I better stop and check the oil (thinking, "What else can go wrong?"). As I was pulling over to the shoulder I looked down at the heat guage and it was pegged ... smoking rolling out. Well, I knew I didn't want to get stranded out in the heat with mom with me and I knew there was a weigh station just ahead of me, so I eased the car on up the road to the weigh station. Just as I pulled in the car died and coasted far enough to be off the road and out of the way of the trucks (WHEW!).

I got out and popped the hood and realized immediately what part of our problem was ... busted radiater hose - and me with no tools. AAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!! To make a long story short, the folks at the weigh station did all they could do to help us (lent us tools, took us to get a new hose, almost insisted that we stay in their building out of the heat, and were some of the friendliest folks I've met in a while) only to find that the engine got way too hot and was ruined. You could stand across the street and hear the rods knocking in the thing. So I called my brother in Weatherford, OK to come get me and mom and bring us home. The blown-up car sits locked up at the weigh station on the north-bound side of I-35 at the OK/KS border, and I don't know if it's even worth going after (anyone want a 1986 Merc Cougar with a blown engine???). We're so broke I don't know where I'd get the gas money to go after it, much less money to rent a trailer or car dolly to get it back with. My thinking is that the money it would take to replace the engine would be better spent as a down payment on a more dependable car. For now, though, here we sit ... without a car and not sure what to do. Something will work out ... it always does - somehow!

So ... and does anyone have a car they want to trade (not sure we have anything of great value, but ...) get rid of cheap or on payments or ???? Hey .. a fellow can ask, right? :-) You folks have a great day, and THANKS!

-- Phil in KS (cshomestead@planetkc.com), July 21, 2002

Answers

I've got a truck I'm looking to sell. Not sure you would want to buy it, it's just an old farm truck. But I think I'm fairly close(?) to y'all, and if you wanted to use it, you sure are welcome to it, until something else comes along! Just a thought. Wish I could offer more, but not to worry, I'm sure the perfect thing will come along, I'll keep my eyes peeled. Also, if the truck would help in the interum, you sincerely are welcome to it! Bein' in a pinch, is bein' in a pinch, don't I know that!

-- Patty (SycamoreHollow@aol.com), July 21, 2002.

Thank you soooo much Patty!!!! I'll email you in a sec and visit with you about this, but I wanted to post a big "THANK YOU!!!" here, too.

-- Phil in KS (mac0328@planetkc.com), July 21, 2002.

Oh, I just hope it may be of some help! :-) If not, like I said, I'm sure good news is "coming soon to a theatre near you"!

I emailed you, just making sure it got there?

-- Patty (SycamoreHollow@aol.com), July 22, 2002.

Well did it work out? Curious minds want to know? :o)

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), September 20, 2002.