Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Pascal stuck in New York

Here I am, at Monahan Ford's internet workstations.. (in Flushing..)

This morning the tech put a new fuse in the car and it didn't burn... Better but scary, it means the problem is "hiding" very well... My battery was dead, which means I had been driving for an hour only on battery juice with the charging system not working. But the alternator is NEW and he had tested the capacity...

They are tearing the thing up looking for a short... Sucks that I have 9 days worth of luggage and SZ stuff in the car, it's full to the roof!!

I'm going to call the Ford CAC. If anyone has a contact there please let me know!!! I'm going to try and have them send my car up to Montreal by train or something and rent me a car to drive back.

Let me tell you with this intermittent problem we are scared ****less of the 6 hour drive ahead with over 60 miles between some towns on I-87...

..With a sick mom (cancer) and mother's day coming up, work, bills and pets waiting, timing couldn't be worse.

I always think of NY as being close.. only 6 hours... Yet I feel so far from home now..

WIsh me luck with Ford!

I know what it means to be stranded in the middle of no where. On my way to SZ'99 I was an hour or so outside Chicago. Ottawa, IL to be exact. A month prior to leaving I changed the plugs and managed to cross thread one and it decided to work it's way out in BFE. Boom rattle rattle! The mech at the Ford dealership said I had 2 options. 1 helicoil which is boring out the crossed socket with the helicoil and different size plug or 2 pull the engine and put a $1000 head on and wait a week. Their was a Ford, Chevy and Honda dealership, 1 hotel and a Cracker Barrel. That was it. The mechanic was great and the helicoil has been in for 50k. I cut my losses and headed back to Chicago for a nice weekend. Thank god for cell phones.

Hey if you're still in queens later on (after 6:00PM) give me a call. I'll send you my number in a PM. I'll take you guys out for a while. Sorry to hear about the crappy situation. Best of luck!

EDIT: Well your PM mailbox is full so I'll post the message here and hope that no one decides to prank call:

Hey Pascal,
Of course we don't know each other but from reading the boards I have become limitedly familiar with your persona and car. Anyway I live about 10 miles from Flushing and my girlfriend lives in the are too. Bottom line is if you're still stuck later give me a call and we should be able to hook up. Get some dinner or drinks or both or more HAHAHAA! My name is Tony my number is 917-515-0421. Give me a call anytime after 5PM.

If not I hope you guys get out and home safely soon.

Peace

I'm not sure what your options are, but I do remember Tim FLEW back home while the car stayed, then a few days later, he FLEW back and Ford reimbursed him for the plane ticket. Tim K, where are you?

I would ask and see if you can get home somehow (preferrably fly) and leave the car there, then pick it up whenever you can. See if Ford would cover the expenses. (they should)

HTH,

John

Well, I'm home. .. What else can I say..

I fought hard on the phone with Ford US and Canada, to no avail. No way they were helping me. Tim Kirk must have been under the original warranty... my extended warranty couldn't help me there.

They never found the root cause of my problem. They spent all day shuffling wires around, inspecting stuff, idling the car and taking it around the block through one full gas tank. Never failed again. I think whatever was grounding out they probably moved a little and tucked back differently.

Bottom line: I'm now driving a time bomb that is bound to leave me stranded in the worst place at least once more. Goody..

Needless to say I will now be traveling with 12-packs of all the major engine's fuses, plus a booster pack in case my alternator wiring fries again and decides to let my battery die painfully as the engine fires away without a charging system. No idiot light to help me there it seems.

Thanks a lot for the moral support guys. Having met most of you just a few days back helped cheer me up. I'm still glad I did the trip and all should be forgotten soon enough for the next big meet. Anybody coming to Plattsburgh?? That's coming up soon!!

Now to clear that credit card bill...

Glad to hear you made it back safe and sound.
Mike

Sorry to hear about your luck, Pascal. I know the feeling of not being sure of your car quite well. I hope for your sake that your car doesn't have any more problems

Yes, I was under factory warranty. Sorry to hear about your luck. If it makes you feel any better, I voted for your girl as Ms. CEG!

Hey man glad to hear your ok. I did see the rear lights go out as you went up the ramp but they went back on. Later Billy said I prob saw u brake. Damn dude you should have called us. We would have turned around and come right back. Your family here. We both live right there including a couple of other guys. Its our fault we should have gone to the last exit with u. You slept in the car over night? Thank God it didnt happen on the Belt-Pwky in brooklyn. Billy did call me a couple of times to give me a update on the repairs. How was that dealer. Anyways glad your home in one piece.

Billy/Richie/Chris, thanks a lot for all the local help and support.

Didn't need to call you guys, nothing you could have done to help.. Wires melted everywhere, I had to wait for next morning to get it to a dealership. Thank God that was a nicer part of Queen's cuz the windows were rolled down and they wouldn't go back up.. Didn't sleep a single bit that night.. I knew you woulda spent all night with us but I didn't feel that was necessary.. Thanks!

Tim, you gots it, I have the best extended warranty, but there is still things that they won't help with.. Oh well.. and thanks for voting "Julie" ..