Hopefully, my car troubles entertain you

by Karl Horeis

Two weeks ago, I had my "new" rig in the shop to figure out why it was dying and wouldn't restart.

After the mechanics ran the new-fangled 1990 engine through a computer system to figure out which error codes were showing up, I learned about an engine part I had never heard of before: the air flow meter.

It's some kind of computerized control of the fuel-gas mixture, I hear. Well, after paying $880 and waiting four days to get my rig back, the words "air flow meter" were permanently branded into my psyche.

So after work March 3, I drove out to the Wild Horse Resort north of Elko for a day of ice fishing with the Ormsby Sportsman's Club. The rig, fresh out of two shop visits in as many weeks, was running great. The cruise control came and went, but it ran pretty well.

After catching a handful of tiny perch with the sportsmen, I was warming up the truck Friday for the drive home. I was in my room packing with the door open when the engine coughed and died.

Four fishermen from Idaho heard me trying to restart it with no luck. They figured I had frozen condensation in my fuel lines. Resort owner Dennis Dunn gave me a bottle of methyl alcohol to remove water from the gas.

I guess if it's already frozen, the stuff can't get to it. The truck continued to die immediately.

Someone suggested warming the frozen lines with a blow dryer. I ran an extension cord from the room, lay down in the snow, and aimed the hot air underneath. Mud drizzled on my face and jacket. It would have been worth it if the engine started running - but it didn't.

Dunn kept me warm with coffee. Resort cook Yolanda Cortez supplied fresh baked cinnamon rolls. Bartender and handyman Steve Epling helped with the truck, trying ether in the carburetor. Unfortunately, the engine never ran more than a couple seconds.

Finally, I called a tow truck from Elko - 65 miles south. Clay and Tracey from Roadrunner Towing picked me up, loading the rig on a flat bed and driving us back through snow drifts.

The ride ran me $275, but I was glad to be back in a town where I had cell service and there weren't 5 inches of snow and icy winds to deal with.

At Roadrunner's shop, a mechanic named Randy tried a new fuel filter and asked me to try starting it again and again. The ignition was getting worn out. Seventy-five bucks later, he said I needed to get it to a shop with a computer system. Because I was supposed to be at work the next morning in Carson City I chose the only one still open at 4:30 on Friday afternoon - Auto Tek.

After a frustratingly long tow between shops, we reached Auto Tek just after they had turned off the lights and closed the doors.

A mechanic named Jose begrudgingly stayed late to run some tests.

While he opened the hood and got to work, I called about a bus ride back to Carson so I could make it to work the next morning.

"How much is a one-way ticket?" I asked the woman.

"I don't think I can tell you that - no, I can't tell you that."

"OK, well, what time does it arrive?"

"That's something I definitely can't tell you."

It turned out the bus left Elko at 1:20 a.m. Saturday morning. I didn't know it at the time, but I'd be rolling up to the Frontier Motel in Carson at 9:05 a.m. on a workday.

Meanwhile, Jose had run the computer program and was looking up what the error codes meant. There was 12, 14, 41, 24 and 32. Turns out 12 is the RPM signal, 14 the ignition, 41 the throttle and 24 the intake air temp sensor.

"What's code 32 mean, Jose?"

"Ever hear of an air flow meter?"

As of Wednesday, the truck is still in a shop in Elko, where the bill continues to grow.

Contact Karl Horeis at khoreis@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.