Alzheimer's Lights

The engine check light was next, visited regularly by the brake sensor warning light (no antilock brakes, so I don't care if the sensors are bad.) I get the oil pressure warning lamp when I make too fast of a turn or when the car burns too much oil and I neglect to top it off. I get the buzzer of death if I really ignore it too much. One morning last month the engine check light miraculously wasn't lit so I jumped on the opportunity to get my Smog certificate (long overdue but she passed!) It's been back on ever since then though. The airbag warning lamp has been visiting lately, it flashes intermittently in a distracting short circuit sort of way. That one bothers me a bit as I'm always half expecting the stupid airbag to accidentally deploy at any time now. I found that if I bang underneath the dash I can make it go out, but I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

This week I have a new one, the water level/pressure warning lamp started flashing at me. I topped off the water level, but that didn't satiate it and, to further make it's point, it sprang a pinhole leak in the heater core. Within days the car began spewing large quantities of Ethylene glycol and foul smelling steam into the cabin from all the vents, coating the windows with an impossible to clean oily deposit. I took to driving everywhere with all my windows down, steam pouring out of the windows, but it's getting cold and the problem was getting worse. I got a piece of copper tubing from my friends house and made a bypass shunt that fixed the mobile sauna of death problem, but I'll be without a heater from now on. Despite my hack, the water level light still isn't happy...

I'm not complaining though. The car has put up with 130,000 of abuse, neglect and hard driving. I'd have to say that I've gotten my money's worth, I'm looking forward to seeing what she'll light up for me next.