Twilight zone time

[I_B_Perky]

I put this here since I didn't know where to put it. Feel free to move it to the appropriate forum.

OK... here's the back story:

Dad died in late April. Well in June mom gets a new cell phone. We'll say the last 4 digits are 1234. I go out last night to move Dad's car into the pad so I can change the oil today, car hadn't been run since he died, and the battery is really dead. Won't even power the dome light. No problem, I get the battery charger out and hit it with a charge. Well it won't hold a charge on the battery charger, only registered 8 volts on the meter when I tested it. I figured a couple of dead cells. So I go get a replacement today... $122.00! And I get the car up and running. Check the voltage to make sure I don't have a bad regulator or alternator, and got a good 13 + volts... it was an analog meter that is older than me so I can't say exactly what the voltage was. My digital meter was dead so I used this one.

Now here is the eerie part. The radio needed a security code since the power was off. We couldn't find it anywhere. So I go to the internet and tried to find the mechanic codes. Well I found it. It was a list of about 40 codes. So me and mom go out and start entering codes. After 7 codes, the next one was 1234. I thought to myself at the time I was entering it that it would be eerie if this code worked and mentioned it to mom. She said these numbers had nothing to do with anything associated with dad. Not a birthdate, anniversary, no birthdates of his kids, etc.

Well it freaking worked!

I swear Ron Serling was standing outside his car. To make it more eerie... the radio was tuned to a local station, dunno if it was a default station or one he listened to, and they play Twilight Zone episodes at night. This was about 4pm, and when it took the code the radio blared out a Twilight Zone commercial. Mom and me looked at each other and a shiver went up my spine in 90 plus degree heat!

Is that freaking eerie or what? Anyone ever had something like this happen to them?

Freaking eerie.

[Thor]

Very eerie.

I must ask, $122 for a battery ?!?!?!?!?!?  I rarely pay over $60 for batteries for my vehicles. I've had to replace one about a year ago (when I had two vehicles) because I let the one in my older truck drain too low (from not running it) and subsequently overcharged it. I'd probably suggest a battery maintainer because most of the newer vehicles will drain the battery after a couple of weeks of not running them. I use my truck daily now, so no worries about the battery failing again.

A side note, you should be reading 13.8 volts when the vehicle is running, maybe even a little over 14 volts.

[I_B_Perky]

Very eerie.

I must ask, $122 for a battery ?!?!?!?!?!?  I rarely pay over $60 for batteries for my vehicles. I've had to replace one about a year ago (when I had two vehicles) because I let the one in my older truck drain too low (from not running it) and subsequently overcharged it. I'd probably suggest a battery maintainer because most of the newer vehicles will drain the battery after a couple of weeks of not running them. I use my truck daily now, so no worries about the battery failing again.

A side note, you should be reading 13.8 volts when the vehicle is running, maybe even a little over 14 volts.

Yep! $122.00 damned dollars! It's a 2001 Daewoo and it was the only one they had in stock. Hell I got a 86 month battery for my chevy for less than that about a year ago from NAPA which is where I usually buy my stuff. They didn't have it in stock and neither did Advance... which I avoid like the plague... and I needed it. It's only a 3 year warranty too. Duralast. I bought the last one that went in that car in 09, the tag said 07/09, which was when they got it... not when I bought it... autocraft battery, but I didn't have the receipt and they wouldn't cut me break even though they had it on their computer.

Screw Autozone!

 I was looking for a cheap one cause I am going to get rid of the car here in a year or two.

As for the volts... it was closer to the 14 volt side than the 13 volt side but it only has .01/.10/10/50/100/250 volts dc. So I had to turn it to 50 and then it don't measure anything less than a volt. IIRC, last time I fooled with batteries and charging systems, back about 88, the standard was about 13.4-13.6. That was on my old Honda Civic when the regulator went out and I was only getting 12 volts.

I put that battery on the charger until it hit the 2 amp mark cause the car don't get driven now. Thanks for the info on the 13.8 though!

Dumbass me left the digital meter on the last time I used it. The analog one, even though it has a 9volt battery in it, will still register volts even if the battery is dead.

[longview]

I get a kick out of little things like the code and phone number.  Kind of little unexpected connections or threads that run through life. 

Sorry for the loss of your dad and I'm glad you're able to help your mom (even if you can't bargain hunt for car parts   ).

[I_B_Perky]

I get a kick out of little things like the code and phone number.  Kind of little unexpected connections or threads that run through life. 

Sorry for the loss of your dad and I'm glad you're able to help your mom (even if you can't bargain hunt for car parts) 

Bite me.   




Just kidding.