It all started Monday, we realized we may have an antifreeze leak. Not a huge deal, we would take the van down to my dad and have him look at it on Sunday. We are so very blessed that my dad is a mechanic. He has saved us so much money on repairs, parts and "labor".
We were so excited so be heading down that way Wednesday to have dinner at church with my dad. Little Michael also had an appointment to have blood drawn that morning. The hood on our van is not cooperating and it takes 2 people to open the hood. So, here I am trying to get the hood open so I could check the antifreeze level before the bus came so that Kevin could help me. We get the hood open and look- wow- antifreeze reservoir empty. OK- we will just add more antifreeze and all will be good- or so I thought.
I grabbed the white container, opened it and proceeded to pour it in. Kevin alerted me when I had gotten to the max line. And then he asks, "Mom, is that the ready to use kind of antifreeze or one you have to add water to it?" I replied, "Its the ready to use kind..... I think"
Little did I know, I had grabbed the wrong white container- grrrrr. It was not antifreeze, it was oil. I had just poured about 2 quarts of oil in the antifreeze reservior. Oh no!!!! What to do. I called Michael and told him what I had just done. I felt like such an idiot. I have never done anything like this before. And of course, my hubby is out of state on business. Well, no dinner with my dad that night. He called the mechanic here in town and the guy said that since I had not started the van, all they would need to do would be to drain it. Oh OK, that is easy enough.
Now, the fun began, how to get the van to him since I couldn't drive it over to him. He said that he would call a tow truck to come and get it. 2 hours of waiting for the tow truck and it finally came. It was then I found out that the mechanic shop here in town doesn't have their own wrecker- they had to call an outside company. $60 is what I have to pay for the tow truck guy to come out to my house, hook up and drop my van off 5 miles away.
The mechanic, which does alot of work with my hubby's company truck was so sweet not to charge us to drain the oil out:) He did discover that our radiator is bad along with a valve and he believes our head gasket is going. Parts- around $250- labor- $400- Oh my. Once I pick myself up off the floor- LOL:) We call my dad and he tells us to bring the van to him and he would look at it.
The mechanic calls me and tells me that he is bringing my van back to me and asks for directions. OK cool. Well, we waited all day for my van to come back home. Then had to wait for Michael to get home and of course he gets held over at work. He finally gets home and we jet down to my dad's house to leave my van and to pick up my mom's van. Thankfully, my dad had a back up vehicle for us to use while he looks at our van. We didn't get back home until after 11pm. Thankfully, we have 2 teenagers that did a wonderful job doing the dishes, picking up the living room and getting everyone to bed before we got home.
Now, today I have an appointment to get little Michael's blood drawn. Please keep your fingers crossed that we have a less eventful day today. We hope you all have a wonderful day and weekend~ stay safe:)
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