Just had one of the worst weekends ever

[Widescreen]

Went to the lake just north of Broken Bow this weekend for a family reunion. My wife and daughter went up with her family Friday night and my son and I had to follow Saturday afternoon due to my son's soccer game. Anyway, we got to Idabel and the transmission of the minivan starts acting funky - slipping and stuff. We pull on to a dirt road several miles north of Broken Bow leading to the campground and the van completely dies - smoke pouring out of the underside and transmission fluid all over the road. MIDDLE....OF.....NOWHERE. My family is about 7 miles down a gravel road near the lake and of course they have no cell phone service down there. Luckily, the guy who owns the campground pulls up right behind us and gives us a lift. So my FIL and I go back up to the stranded car and try to push the thing up onto the campground owner's trailer and of course it's a little too wide and won't fit. We find out there's a guy around the corner who runs a wrecker service - the only one within 20 miles - A miracle! So after telling the wrecker dude that we need assistance and listening to him (for about 15 minutes) tell us all about his various dealings in the area over the last 20 years, he meets us at my car and loads it onto the wrecker. He's taking us about 30 miles away to the nearest (or so we're told :rolleyes:) transmission shop between Idabel and Broken Bow. As we're following him, I notice that the rear panel window of the minivan has been forced open by the wind (it's loaded backwards onto the wrecker) and is flapping open which I recognize as a bad omen. Within a few seconds, the window flies off its hinge and shatters on the highway right in front of us. At this point, all I can do is shake my head. So we finally get to the transmission place and they've locked the gate and we can't get in - it's Saturday night by now. So he has to leave it outside the gate and we pay him his $195 and he's on his way. My FIL and I go to Broken Bow to the Wal Mart to get some plastic and duct tape to cover the new side moon-window I now have. Anyway, I had to leave our keys with my wife's uncle who's going to go to the transmission shop in the morning and give them the keys before the uncle heads back to OKC. We had to cram into our various family members' vehicles with all our stuff to get back to TX. So now we're back in Allen and our car is still in Oklahoma. I've got to call the shop in the morning and tell them to see what's wrong with it so they can look at my Texas license plates and charge me double or worse.

I'm trying to see the positives in all this and how it could've been worse:

1. It wasn't my wife and kids who were in the car when it happened - this is actually my wife's vehicle.
2. The wrecker dude was just around the corner
3. The campground owner was able to give us a 7 mile lift down to our campsite.
4. All of the people in my wife's immediate family live within 10 miles of us in Texas. If we'd been the only Texas folk, I don't know how we would've gotten home.

So if the mechanic sounds like he's trying to screw us, we're going to have to figure out a way to get our dead van back home. I'm just praying for an ethical mechanic. If you've read this far, you're doing better than I would've. I'm just writing this for therapeutic reasons. :(

[jk the sooner fan]

dude, that sucks - glad you're all home ok though!

update us on what the bill is for that

[ChickSoonerFan]

Reading this was theraputic for me too, makes my weekend seem much much better.

:)

sorry about your weekend, glad you can see the good in some of it.

[GottaHavePride]

Easiest way to get the van home is rent a trailer from U-Haul and go get it.

You know, assuming the mechanic doesn't pass the olevet test.

[Tailwind]

Too bad, hope the mech doesn't rape you on the bill.

[yermom]

isn't that like 2-3 Nattys away from olevet's hill?

[olevetonahill]

Yr , make, model.
200 bucks is steep for a 30 mile tow.:eek:
Hell shoulda Called me , for 200 bucks I coulda had an ole boy drive down with My trailer and haul it up here .
Let me know if they are gonna put the weinis to you .
Give me that info I ll see what my bud can rebuild it for .
Hell it could just be a busted line .

[GottaHavePride]

"put the weenis to you" just made me carck the hell up.

[olevetonahill]

Friends and fellow Sooner fans ;)
Write this down , put it in your wallet .
Olevet 918-649-5588
If you ever get caught out like that give me a call . Even if Im to far away to come to help you . I can prolly Give you enough help over the phone , To at least save you some bucks .
The farthest away I diagnosed one , the dude was in South Dakota . Broke down , he called me , I told him to check 3 things , he called me back said it was the 2nd one :cool:
He then drove back to Oklahoma .:D

[Widescreen]

2000 Ford Windstar

Olevet, what could it be if you put the car in gear, you can tell it's not engaged and you give it gas and it just revs (no vehicle movement at all)?

it's funny, I was actually thinking about you when all this was going on but I couldn't remember exactly where you were (other than in the eastern part of the state).

[olevetonahill]

PS remember I dont do mornings well , so dont try to call then , unless its an emergency .

[olevetonahill]

2000 Ford Windstar

Olevet, what could it be if you put the car in gear, you can tell it's not engaged and you give it gas and it just revs (no vehicle movement at all)?

it's funny, I was actually thinking about you when all this was going on but I couldn't remember exactly where you were (other than in the eastern part of the state).
You lost all your tranny fluid .
Do not EVAR Rev one when it doesnt engage , surest way to burn it the rest of the way out .
Ill call my bud tomorrow, Get a max price
you were like 2 hrs away

[Sooner in Tampa]

2000 Ford Windstar

Olevet, what could it be if you put the car in gear, you can tell it's not engaged and you give it gas and it just revs (no vehicle movement at all)?

it's funny, I was actually thinking about you when all this was going on but I couldn't remember exactly where you were (other than in the eastern part of the state).:mad: Ford Windstar and trannies :mad: We used to own a Windstar and had to replace the tranny twice. I feel for you dude...this is some expensive crap.

[olevetonahill]

:mad: Ford Windstar and trannies :mad: We used to own a Windstar and had to replace the tranny twice. I feel for you dude...this is some expensive crap.
Yup But Ill do what I can to save him some bucks
aerostar used to have Tranny probs to . all it was . was a stuck valve .
replace the Valve Body and you were good to go .

[Okla-homey]

My baby brother once got an oil change at one of those jiffy places. The jiffy d00d opened the u-joint to check the fluid and didn't replace the bolt tightly. It eventually fell out as he drove, all the u-joint juice drained out and he ended up with the same symptoms you describe stranding him at night on I-35 north of Guthrie. He even got flames and stuff.

Good news is the jiffy manager covered it when my bro. presented him with the bill. Was this thing recently serviced by chance?

[Sooner24]

Being that you where down in SE Okla the wrecker driver didn't tell you that you had a "purty mouth" did he? :eek:


http://llamabutchers.mu.nu/archives/deliverance%20mighty%20purty%20mouth.jpeg

[olevetonahill]

My baby brother once got an oil change at one of those jiffy places. The jiffy d00d opened the u-joint to check the fluid and didn't replace the bolt tightly. It eventually fell out as he drove, all the u-joint juice drained out and he ended up with the same symptoms you describe stranding him at night on I-35 north of Guthrie. He even got flames and stuff.

Good news is the jiffy manager covered it when my bro. presented him with the bill. Was this thing recently serviced by chance?
Go back to flying airplanes Col . :D

[olevetonahill]

Go back to flying airplanes Col . :D
I can read between the Lines tho
If wally world or some such just serviced it Then They Owe Him

[Newbomb Turk]

Olevet - are you up early, or have you not gone to bed yet? ;)

[Newbomb Turk]

The farthest away I diagnosed one , the dude was in South Dakota .

This may be a bad sign for me - I'm driving to S.D. in a few weeks. :eek:

Thanks olevet...I have the number written down.

[olevetonahill]

Olevet - are you up early, or have you not gone to bed yet? ;)
Was playing On line poker all nite .:O

[olevetonahill]

"put the weenis to you" just made me carck the hell up.
WTF is " carck" ?:D

[Widescreen]

Update! (I'm sure you've all been waiting with baited breath. I'm guessing this has been as interesting for everyone as mjcpr's faulty garage door).

My wife's uncle went by first thing this morning. He said he'd been thinking about the circumstances and thought maybe the line had just busted (sound familiar?) So he went and got some transmission fluid and put it in there. He was able to drive the thing up into the shop area! He said it was a little halting but it did readily move so hopefully that's a good sign.

He also told them in no uncertain term that we were all Okies and we expected fair treatment and we'd either have them fix it if it was no big deal or we'd come get it. So either his ultimatum will help or it screwed us. :O

[olevetonahill]

Good on Ya Uncle
;)

[Widescreen]

$500 (or $650 if one of the adjacent parts need to be replaced). Said the rubber stopper on the fluid line had partially worn away and wouldn't really have been a problem until it got really hot. He said he's seen a bunch of these over the last 5 years and Ford had fixed the issue in '03 or '04. Have to pull the tranny out to get to it. I'm guessing it'll be the $650 figure. I feel OK about it though because he didn't start talking to me about muffler bearings and pfetzer valves. ;) Will have to go back up on Saturday and get it.

[sanantoniosooner]

so how about the repair to the rear gate?

[Widescreen]

Actually, it wasn't the rear gate - it was the left-rear window so it's on the side of the vehicle toward the back. I'm going to check around at some salvage yards to see if I can find one.

[OUinFLA]

I like the tape/moonwindow idea.
don't fix it.
duct it.

[Widescreen]

$1500 rebuilt transmission. He got in there and realized it was very messed up so he quoted me $1100-$1200 to fix the stuff he was that was wrong (bands, pump, etc) or $1500 for a rebuilt.

I also checked with glassdoctor and they want $575 to replace the window. :rolleyes:

[Mjcpr]

I suppose trading it in on a new one is out of the question?

[Okla-homey]

$1500 rebuilt transmission. He got in there and realized it was very messed up so he quoted me $1100-$1200 to fix the stuff he was that was wrong (bands, pump, etc) or $1500 for a rebuilt.

I also checked with glassdoctor and they want $575 to replace the window. :rolleyes:

Have you even checked with the wrecker operator to check to see if his insurance might cover the window? Afterall, it sure seems that the wrecker operator has a responsibility to ensure he is towing safely and not damaging his customers vehicles. I'd sure make the call if I were you. It couldn't hurt.

[Sooner in Tampa]

$1500 rebuilt transmission. He got in there and realized it was very messed up so he quoted me $1100-$1200 to fix the stuff he was that was wrong (bands, pump, etc) or $1500 for a rebuilt.

I also checked with glassdoctor and they want $575 to replace the window. :rolleyes:Imagine that...a mechanic give you a quote and then...they "open it up" and POOF...there is more wrong with it than the price you were quoted!! :mad: ****ing mechanics!!!

Sorry to hear the bad news dude...been there done that.

[Widescreen]

Well, my FIL and I drove back up to Idabel Saturday and got my van from the transmission dude. Drives fine. Of course driving home with a trashbag covering the window was louder than if the trashbag wasn't in place. But since it looked like rain, it was necessary. I met the transmission shop guy and he seemed OK but you never really know what's rolling around in their noggin regarding the truth. At this point I was just glad to get it back. Homey, I had considered the insurance issue with the wrecker. However, I just ordered a replacement from a salvage yard $60 shipped so, for me, the hassle wouldn't have been worth it.

[MamaMia]

I had to have a new transmission built for my 1972 Javelin SST back when I was in college. The car never drove the same, plus they changed out my fun fur steering wheel. I should have taken that as a big red flag to change cars.

[Howzit]

I had to have a new transmission built for my 1972 Javelin SST back when I was in college. The car never drove the same, plus they changed out my fun fur steering wheel. I should have taken that as a big red flag to change cars.

You had a steering wheel covered in fun fur?

[crawfish]

You had a steering wheel covered in fun fur?

They all do, but the dang thing doesn't always go the way you drive it. :texan: