February 8th. Revenge is not sweet!

I was going to use the estate this morning to go to work. I don't own any modern cars and normally get to work via mountain bike. (It's only 5 miles) However, what with this bloody white fluffy stuff we've had since the weekend, biking to work has been proving somewhat difficult. (They don't grit the cycle paths in Essex!) So, I decided to go and dig the car out as it was still buried from the weekend and have a nice warm drive into work.

(Pic taken Sunday Morning)

What I didn't count on was her starting and running well for 30 seconds, then running really sick, then dying altogether, then refusing to start at all! I tried to open the bonnet, but now that all of the snow from Sunday had frozen,it was stuck fast and wouldn't grant me access to the engine bay! With utter disgust I locked it back up and went to work on the mountain bike and froze. Again!

I had been wondering all day at work, if the reason for the car dying was it possibly being frozen up. I knew it had anti-freeze in it, but was there enough in it? I didn't hear any fan belts squealing against a seized water pump or anything so I was hoping this wasn't the case.

Once home, I defrosted the bonnet area (I'm really glad the car was out the back and nobody could see me waving a hair dryer at it!) and checked the radiator and all pulleys on the engine. Nothing was frozen and nothing was seized so that was a relief. I attempted to start the car again but with no joy. With it not even attempting to fire the first thing I looked at was the petrol. Sure enough, there was no petrol getting through. For some reason every eight months or so, this car develops some kind of air lock in the fuel system. I have no idea why?

 I undid the pipe that goes into the fuel pump and as soon as I removed it the petrol inside the pump bubbled and then the pump seemed to top up a bit more! Very strange! I also blew down the fuel line to make sure that there was no blockage in the line, (She's had one of them in the past as well!) but that was free. So, with all pipes re-fitted and tightened I manually primed the pump and..............success! The petrol was flowing again. Hearing the straight six burble into life was music to my ears and with a bit of a luck, she'll now behave herself and go back to being reliable again!

Actually, I think the real reason she wouldn't start this morning was because she was sulking. Those close to me will know that this car used to be the most unreliable piece of engineering I have ever had the misfortune to own. It used to leave me stranded in the most inhospitable, dangerous, and often pitch black places that you could ever imagine. The regularity of which it did so as well was truly alarming. Sometimes it would breakdown four times in a week! Many times I pondered selling it and it did even appear on eBay twice only for them to remove the ad both times for mentioning things that I apparently shouldn't have. ('Spares available as separate purchase' was one offence and saying 'No paypal' was another!) She even managed to seize her engine on the way home from a CT Essex Christmas meal in 2009. Anyhow, I persevered with her, spent money on her and for some time now she has been fine. 

Until...................... I bought the below T-shirt! I thought it was funny. She obviously didn't!

 I'm not sure about wearing it now! :-/