Lotus Weekend From He11

[zcar222]

Hey guys. It seems like if I am going to have trouble with my car... then its going to be a ton of trouble.

I just bought some kumho MX's for the rears of my car (Anyone tried those yet? They seem to be pretty good tires). I had to get them in a hurry because my yoko's were bald and I needed to take a trip to ATL for my 15k service. So I spend the day picking up my tires, having them installed ect. It was a very good experience with the tires.

Well, the next day I took my baby to Atlanta (traffic was pretty bad), and dropped her off at LOA for the service. My car needed some work... The new shifter, the headlamp rings, some inner door sticky plastic was stuck and coming up inside my window, my AC was out, and my rear suspension needed checking. So after I left the car, I visited the GA aquarium. That was fun.

LOA speedily did the service and installs on my car and I picked her up at about 6:00ish. All seemed well and my bill was teeenie. Since I do my own oil changes, the 15k service ended up being free. I only paid to have them check my rear suspension. AC couldnt be fixed because a part had to be ordered. Oh well. Although annoyed with the problems my car had (since it all seemed to crash on me at once), I was very happy with the speed and price.

Here is where the situation goes downhill... Thirteen miles from the dealer (who has just told me my car is in perfect working condition - with added goodies like a new shifter, ect), smoke arises from my engine. Lots of smoke. So, I pull off of the road into the service lane and open up my engine bay. Engine coolant is now spewing from its container all over my engine, and I have no idea why. My thermostat was reading normal. The best part of stalling out 13 miles from the dealer was the fact that they happened to lie on TOP of spaghetti junction. My lotus is dead... a thousand feet in the air hovering over a sea of cars - and people are whizzing past me at 70 mph. Then a storm came before the wrecker arrived... Constant wind was blowing about 60-70mph blowing WITH the traffic. Debris was covering me and my car - stinging my arms, legs, and face. Finally, the wrecker arrived.

My car was towed back to shop and I got a ride home with my g/f. I am still waiting to find out just what happened to the car. Talk about a fun trip. Anyone here had an experience quite like that? I imagine things could have been worse.

-Whit

[maz]

i had an engine let go 320 after mid-rivers spent 13 months rebuilding it.(esprit)

[Shaggy]

You made it further than me after my LOA trip. I only made it to the gas station up the road (about a block up) before realizing my passenger side window had been adjusted too far (yet still leaked even though they had "fixed" it) and wouldn't roll up on its own after being rolled down.

Hopefully everything works out well for you and the car!