Down and Dirty with A Car!

Pinkelle, as everyone knows is synonymous with pink fluff and blonde moments, right? Well, read on how she rolled up her sleeves and got down and dirty with a stalled car last weekend!

I accompanied a friend to Penang last weekend for a very short trip as he had some things to sort out. We set off early pearly on Saturday morning and the trip didn’t augur well from the start! Firstly, I didn’t know how to take the Duta road to get faster access to the North-South highway and so we trundled along the very pot-holey Jalan Ipoh for quite some distance before turning off at Rawang. *silly me* When we hit the highway, he realised that he had forgotten his handphone which had the numbers of the people he needed to call! Luckily, his bag had some of their cards so that little emergency was easily sorted out.

We had covered quite a good distance and were en route to Taiping when we noticed that the car’s temperature was shooting up! Panicking, we stopped by the side and when we opened the bonnet, smoke starting wafting out! Ah…but this blonde, fluffy girl didn’t lose her head screaming, because you see, when she was once driving an old, red jalopy, she had encountered this before!

So, thanks to the wisdom of an AAM man, we used the rubber floor mat from the car seat to open the boiling hot radiator to let it cool down fast. Be very very careful when doing this because the pressure would have built up inside and the minute you open it, boiling water and steam would come shooting out like a geyser! Do not pour any water in until it has cooled as cold water on the hot radiator would probably cause it to crack.

We weren’t sure what was wrong with the car so I decided to call the PLUS Ronda. For those of you who have had the good fortune of never using it, it’s a really good service provided by PLUS on our highways. I called the hotline number and within 20-30 minutes, this yellow and green knight in shining armour pulled up with two temporary police inside.

I was quite puzzled why they were temporary policemen instead of the overall-clad mechanics I was used to. However, the guy assured us that they knew basic mechanic skills. They hopped down, placed those red cones around our car and came over to poke around in the bonnet.

They weren’t very sure either what was wrong but told us it could be a faulty fan which was causing the engine to overheat and the water to dry up. By then, the engine had cooled so we were able to top up the water again and continue on our way. When we hit the Penang bridge though, the jam on it started the thermostat on its upward trend again and then I remembered another tip the AAM guy taught us – Drive without the radiator cap so any steam could escape. We tried that and luckily the temperature remained relatively constant although we had to keep stopping to top up the water.

The same happened on the way back as mechanics in Penang weren’t open for the weekend. This time, however, we were quite prepared so before the journey we topped up the tank with coolant and water and closed it, then got ready to make stops at every other rest stop to fill up the spare tank with water and coolant. We made good progress until we were approaching Tapah when my blonde fluffy moment hit!

I couldn’t find my handphone!

The only possible place where it could have dropped in was the Petronas station about an hour behind us when we stopped to top up the water. We turned back, trundled back all the way to the Petronas and when my friend got down to ask them to call it…the phone started ringing in the car! *sheepish look*

It was under the rattan covering of the chair but somehow when I checked it earlier, it was nowhere to be seen! What a twilight zone moment! I felt about as big as a paramecium then! *baaa-baaa*

We made it back to KL without further mishaps and managed to make it in time for my Dad’s belated Father’s Day dinner. What a journey though! When my family heard about the handphone incident, all they said was “Typical!” with a resigned expression! Looks like my fluffy blonde moments are legendary

And because lots of you here are women and sometimes single women drivers, here are some tips I’ve learnt on leaking radiators:

• Pull over when you see the thermostat needle going up beyond the halfway mark.
• Open the bonnet…the lever is probably on the right, somewhere under your steering wheel.
• Don’t panic if you see smoke!
• Call the AAM or any other auto assist service you might have.
• If they can’t come, use a rubber floor mat to open the radiator cap. That way you won’t get burnt by the hot metal. It’s best to get a guy to do this but if you’re alone, do be careful.
• Be prepared to stand back when you do as the hot water and steam would come shooting up.
• Wait for it to cool and for the thermostat needle to come down again before you top it up with cool water or coolant.
• If you still need to drive a distance to your mechanic or destination, leave the radiator cap off and continue to drive. The temperature should remain more or less constant. However, do not forget to top up the water periodically.
• Finally, if you are on the PLUS highway and need help, do call our friendly PLUS Ronda on 1800-88-0000. Save it in your handphone for emergencies or if you’re caught too far away from the highway emergency phone.

Do drive safe!

This community service message was brought to you by Pinkelle.com