One Two Three... Stroke

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Didn't get to the old style cafe in the end. Flooded in!!! Or at least flooded away from the cafe. Bit of an issue around where I live. Water water everywhere. Did drive through some flood water but ended up doing something to the radiator which was then bleeding greenish fluid.

Oh oh.

Trouble.

"Oh Silver Fox..."

"What? I'm laying concrete" (quite a challenge in these times of torrential rain.  Pity about the deadline he is on)

"There is green fluid coming out of the car"

"How much?" Fair question but you see his "much" and my "much" are different. "It has dribbled down 4 carparking spots"

(silence) "Did you go through flood water?"

"Well, a bit"

"How high was the water?"

"Well, it didn't quite reach the windows" (Haha I'm joking but he wouldn't put it past me) "It wasn't quite past the wheel" (tyre wheel that is not steering wheel. He wouldn't put that past me either)

(silence again)

"Is the bonnet hot?"

"Yes"

"How hot?" Now I h-a-t-e these conversations because the Silver Fox used to be a mechanic in a past life and I am always getting asked things like "Is the noise a brrr or a grrrr or even a drrr?" We don't talk the same language. We once played Pictionary together (first mistake) and the word was "vacuum". He drew me a picture of a vacuum in an engine and kept stabbing the picture like I was an idiot, burning holes through me. "Why didn't you just draw a vacuum cleaner?" I asked. Apparently he didn't think of that. As if I would know what a vacuum in an engine looked like!!!! See? No common language. I did tell him that a couple of days before it was going "Phssssssssht" when I parked it. I assume that is not a good sign. AND I did tell him the "Coolant Level Low" light had come on and that I had filled it with half a watering can full of water. See? I know enough at least to do this and put water in the correct orifice. (Hopefully)

So the outcome was that the bonnet was hot and he came riding on his white horse with a big scowl on his handsome brow, watering can in hand, filled the radiator with about 6 litres of water, while the engine was running and kept squeezing a hose to fill the engine. I drove the car home and now get to drive his 1990 BMW 3 series 2 door sedan called Bella. Yep, if you guessed he loves the car more than me you would be correct. Talk about pressure. AND it is a manual and where as I c-a-n drive a manual, I have to remind myself to push down the clutch BEFORE starting the engine! Okay I know I sound ditzy but the pressure is on and he doesn't say much but gives me l-o-n-g looks.

Sometimes I think in times like this a row boat would be much easier. He has fixed my car today which ended up having a hole in a radiator hose which after driving a while would end up leaking as the pressure of the engine built up.  Apparently.

Moral of the story? Could be to not drive through flood water as the cool flood water hitting the engine higher than usual does damage (not to mention potentially getting washed away) or buy a new car with loads of warranty or join NRMA so a nice friendly stranger can fix it with a smile. Yep, maybe the third option.




Ciao for now...