Working on a car, on a curb, in driving snow-

is really no fun at all! But that's what I did this afternoon, with my son, fixing the electical system on his car. And we were successful! It was a chore that would have been no problem at all in the driveway, with the sun shining and the temperatures at 60 degrees or better. But that's not what we had on the agenda today...

Instead, it was snowing- big fat flakes interspersed with sleet. He had already purchased a new battery and a new battery cable but he needed my help with a floor jack and jack stand so that he could get the car up high enough to get under it to replace the starter cable. So- I loaded up a tool bag and headed to Salt Lake this afternoon and we worked together to get his car running.

We replaced the starter power cable with a new one and due to circumstances, left the old one in place. After we had the new cable in place, we installed the new battery and when we tried to install the cables onto the battery we had big sparks! Yikes! So we dug a little deeper and thought we were going to have to remove the starter, thinking the bendix might have failed. But we discovered that the solonoid feed wire had shredded 2 inches of it's insulation and was shorted against the power feed post.

I made up a replacement wire from the spares that I had carried with me and after a bit of cutting and stripping and crimping, the car was fixed! It started right up after sitting for at least a month after we got the wires right! I was really glad not to have to remove the starter, (or replace it) and the job turned out just fine. It was just the weather and working conditions that really sucked hind tit today.

Afterwards we dried out at Village Inn where I bought dinner and chatted about how his life is going. As things go, I think he is doing ok.

It took me an hour to get home due to the sloppy driving conditions! And that's the reason why I haven't shared any of the other exciting stuff that happened this weekend! Stay tuned, I have an post brewing about religion!