I have been making ready for my month-long sojourn to the Mexican highlands -- where kilts are as rare as bagpipes.
And, of course, whenever I try to slip back into a schedule in this timeless land, the plan does not survive its “to do” stage.
I re-learned that lesson first with laundry. For some reason, my laundress has not opened her business for the last two weeks. So, I decided to revert to a do it myself project. Of course, that is when the rains hit. I have a washing machine at the house, but no dryer. Line drying and monsoons are not a good mix.
I set off in the rain to find an alternate laundry and did. On that drive, I put the electric windows in the truck up and down with no problem. After dropping my clothes off, my right front window would not go up. And the passengers windows would not go down.
Windows stuck up in the rain are not a problem. But an open window was simply an invitation to both the rain and any light-fingered shoppers that might stray by.
On Tuesday morning, I headed off to an automotive electrical shop recommended by my land lady. Closed. Cerrado. Not there. Maybe he was vacationing with my laundress.
As a last ditch effort, I decided to stop at the mechanic who has replaced my windows. If he could not do the work maybe he could refer me to some one else.
Now, I have taken enough cars, toasters, and televisions to repair shops to know that the most embarrassing circumstance is for the repairman to simply flip the offending switch and everything works fine. I have been there more than my share.
So, I tried the obvious steps to isolate the problem. No fuse issues. No exposed loose wires. And I tried pressing the toggle switch with varying degrees of pressure. Nothing. The window was as immovable as a Coldstream Guard in front of Buckingham Palace.
I stopped at the shop. Told the owner my problem. He speaks great English -- having worked in a Corvallis body shop for over a dozen years. And demonstrated how the switch would not work.
He said he had a rudimentary understanding of electrical windows, and agreed to give it a shot. The first thing he did was try the switch. And, of course, it opened wider than the mouth of the great fish that consumed Jonah.
He gave me the look I have seen many a time. And I gave the Mexican salute.
For now, I am not going to worry about it. The electrical system in my truck is deteriorating faster than the transmission. In addition to having issues with three windows, my dome light and the moon roof are not working properly. An electrical overhaul will be due when I return.
But, for now, the Non-electrifying Escape and I are planning to launch on Friday.
34 comments:
Oh, for Pete's sake, buy a new car. And buy it in Mexico because the Gringos don't care if you drive it above the Rio Bravo for visits. But the Mexicans do care if you drive a Gringo car down here. Make life simple.
Time for a new car. You can easily afford it.
Mr. Zapata has a good point. If nothing else, it is a safety issue, the electrical system going south could be an issue if it failed at highway speed or out in the boondocks somewhere. The window sounds like a bad ground-hit and miss kind of thing, a symptom of rust. If your thinking used car, that trip to the highlands might be the time to look, that dry air is kind to cars as well as people.
As you have pointed out several times, the Escape is still in better shape than a lot of other cars on the road down here. As long as I am living near the beach, I am not going to buy a new car. No sense in subjecting something new to the vagaries of brine.
It is no secret that I am heading to the highlands to audition my next stop in Mexico. If I move inland, a new car may be in the offing. But not while I am on the coast. I thank you for your safety concerns. They enter my head now and then as I am barreling down the road at 80 MPH.
Intermittent faults are frustrating - just break already! Or not ;-)
Felipe is right - but Mexican. We did and insurance in Mexico covers all of North America (and is relatively inexpensive), getting across the borders is way easier. Buy Mexico ;-)
When it comes time to put the Escape down, I will buy a replacement in Mexico. I have no doubt about that.
Ford window switches are known for flaking out before the rubber gets worn out on the brake peddle, unfortunately you cannot replace just one switch, it is an assembly that includes a few more things, but here it is cheaper than NOB anyway, at least the labor to replace it will be, next time that happens just buy a new switch, at least you will have isolated one possible intermittent part of many that are rapidly oxidizing in your tropical sweat mosquito infested vacation-land.....
I thought you would have had a new car down here already, what with the tranny problem ( car wise ) .......(pause, while the laughter subsides) and being singled out more by the thirsty police, not even considering the peace of mind of having reliable transportation, but then considering it , why have brand new car rusting on the beach?
You have a quandary my friend.....but I do see the attraction of the beach and water!.
When you do buy a new vehicle, think about a pickup truck, we pay almost nothing in yearly license and tax, compared to the car which runs about 10 times more a year.....
Tancho wrote: "When you do buy a new vehicle, think about a pickup truck, we pay almost
nothing in yearly license and tax, compared to the car which runs about
10 times more a year....."
This is with Mexican vehicles? You have stirred my curiosity - care to elaborate here or better still on your Blog.
My father-in-law suffers from a similar problem with cars. My wife thinks it's a pride issue but I dunno.
I will fix what I need to fix at this point. There is no doubt that the switch is the problem on the moon roof. If I jiggle it around, it works. The windows appear more systemic.
Ah. Avoiding the "t" word always perks up the libertarian ears.
Yes, buy a new car, one that is safer -- a Prius perhaps.
I am not sure that quirky electric windows is a sign that everything electric is about to go out, but I have never owned a Ford product. My 91 Subaru wagon has e. windows and they are intermittent intermittently. So far the alternator seems to be charging the battery just fine, and I replaced ignition cables, so it runs well.
However, were I living in Mexico instead of Oregon, I might feel differently about my chances stranded on the open highway. Though I'm not certain that feeling has any real objective support for it.
It's a gamble, but as you point out -- your car is probably a good bit in better shape than many running the road alongside your car. Which is an ignoratio elenchi argument, but if not pushed provides at least some psychological solace.
ANM
"Ow," said Saint Sebastian as another dart found its target.
A Prius? In Mexico? I may as well buy a Maserati Gran Turismo when it comes to maintenance.
One of the great cultural aspects of Mexico is that a vehicle stalled beside the road is a magnet for Good Samaritans. I stopped on the shoulder recently to take photographs. In the course of 15 minutes, three Mexican families stopped to ask if I needed assistance. Maybe they stop for the same reason people in The States in the 50s did -- we all drive cars that are in need of maintenance, and we see ourselves in that same stalled car. The book I am reading right now (Mañana Forever?) would discount that cultural analysis. But I think it is just old-fashioned empathy.
It's a U shaped dart. As the saying goes, "When you point, three of those fingers point at yourself" So, OW, dang!!
So it's not a pride issue after all, it's for fellowship; I stand corrected. For me it's pride, OW. A Prius? OW OW OW
Wow, Steve, people love to give you advice, even when you don't ask for it, don't they?
I hope you have a great trip - several of our friends are heading to San Miguel for a month or two this summer, it is a nice change of pace and climate. But they go when it is at its hottest and muggiest here - August and September. August there is a chamber music festival and some sort of movie every night.
Have fun.
And I love getting the advice. I have actually learned some valuable things from readers through this process.
The chamber music festival and the film festival start the last week in July while I am still there. I may stay an additional weekend to attend a concert with a Glass piece. Something I could never do in our local area.
But, as you know, the weather has been muggy earlier this year. Getting away for July will be a good start.
Since you won't need your car once you get here, I have a great "shade tree" mechanic that has kept my 1998 Nissan Pathfinder driving perfectly. He worked as a mechanic for years in the states. We'll talk about it. he keeps many, many other friends cars running perfectly also and has never charged me more then 400 pesos, even when he changed out all the shocks.........If he can't fix something, he knows who can.........
It's interesting that you refer to this as the highlands. The only person who has ever done so. We refer to it as the Bajio or altiplano. The highlands, I think would be if we were in the Sierra Madres, but I don't know........cause we're only at 6400 ft..........oh but I just realized that you are presently 6395 lower then us.....ha......
Babs - Above 6000 feet is highlands in nearly all cases.
Sorry you're having car problems, but I envy your trip and stay in San Miguel. Have enjoyed the town a number of times.
A good mechanic is a great find. I may take advantage of that offer.
As for the "highlands" tag, it is, as you note, my own invention. You can't take the Scot out of the immigrant. And to we coastal folk, you high altitude folk may as well live in the Himalayas.
Ditto.
I look forward to being there, but not to the drive.
Calypso, I didn't know that - learn something new every day! Now Felipe is REALLY in the highlands then..........
And I can't imagine where that puts Tancho.
Sounds like you need a new car. I agree with Felipe. Time for a nuevo automovil.
Stranger things have happened. We will see how the escape holds up on its multiple journeys in the next two months.
i started cracking up before i finished reading because i thought you had experienced the same problem i did, but that was not the case. recently my passenger side widnow would not work. since we are giving the van to our younger son matt, we took it to the shop to have the window fixed along with several other problems. well, as it tunred out i had the child lock on. kind of embarrassing but at least it was one less thing to pay for.
have a great time in the highlands.
teresa
I would also like to think it is simply old fashioned empathy. My guess is that there may be far more of it around than our media tell us, relying instead on fear and fright to sell magazines and papers. (See Altheide, D. on fear and the media) ANM
I look down on Felipe's lowlands.....
It certainly would have made a better story. It turns out only the rear left window is giviong me a problem now. But there is still the moon roof and the dome light. I may use Babs's mechanic.
Of course, Old Bil will have to add his two farthings:
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
In so many ways.
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