HELP! in Petaluma...?

tisha2 · Post by **tisha2** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 5:24 pm

hey gang ~

i know it's been a while, but this is one of those situations that calls for some burner magic. here's the story...

my love sold a VW van to a guy in Santa Cruz (we are in Humboldt) and offered to tow it down to him behind his truck (rather than the guy come up here and tow it with his other VW van). Well he headed out this morning and the truck went dead in Petaluma. He's stuck at a Kragen, where they replaced the batteries, but still no go. I am hoping hoping hoping that someone maybe knows a mechanic type in the area? Also, if anyone knows of a place he could stay tonight if the truck doesn't get fixed soon?

thanks for any leads, y'all. pm or post, i'll keep checking back.

*kisskiss*
~t2

Toolmaker · Post by **Toolmaker** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:00 pm

Dont know any mechanic types in the area but I know a lil about trucks and have a few of the books about. Could be a starter/solenoid issue or just a wire that came off somewhere. If the vehicle went dead while moving I think if anything there was no juice coming from the alternator, than the vehicle will draw from a battery until its dead. Drop me a PM if ya want my number since phone will be alot faster than PM and posts to help diagnose. But in the mean time.. have him go over all electrical connections from battery back. Sometime the lil cables going into the alternator loosen up and just need to be wiggled back in. Also check the distributor cap.. I had one once that had gotten crumbly from age but looked good to the naked eye. When I was diagnosing my electrical problem I got to the spark wires and when I went to pull the one from center of the cap (coil wire) the whole friggin top half of the plastic cap came off with the wire. Anyway drop me a PM if ya want help with diagnosing over the phone. I'll stay logged in for a while just in case.

tisha2 · Post by **tisha2** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:25 pm

Thanks, TM - that helps!! i just pm'd you, too.

he's all tucked into a motel for the night, and has the guy coming to pick up the van from the broke-down truck in the morning. then he starts fiddling with the truck, and if that doesn't work he starts looking for a mechanic on a sunday... i hope he has some lube...