Re Run.

You do the hokey pokey...

and you turn your fuel tank around- and that's not what it's all about-


cause Selma Lee's came out- got cleaned- and went back in with a few new hoses and all- verdict-

Didn't make a bit of difference in how she starts.


Presumption is- the issue is one of Fuel Delivery.

Once I hit the gas and get her the requisite amount of diesel she'll run... so she's not getting enough fuel during ignition. This could be caused by several things. All of which are not going to be nearly as easy to deal with as the fuel tank.


I also can't find the biocide fuel treatment I need to keep the Algae (it's actually fungus and various bacteria, cause algae needs light to grow, fungus not so much, and the fuel tank is obviously a light free region) from coming back.

Either way- there was an issue with biological growth in the fuel, which was clogging the fuel filters... there was just also something else- which still needs to be resolved.

Doesn't mean taking care of the fungal infestation didn't serve a valuable purpose. Just doesn't seem all that important considering I still can't trust her to start when I get off work at night.

But that's the adventure I was delighting in- so, can't complain when you get what you asked for... or at least not as many people will listen to your complaint and empathize with you, and what's the point of complaining without a little empathy- so.


I'm going to go watch Grey's Anatomy, via ABC.com... though I really keep thinking to myself- Why on earth would the Elder Dr. Grey have had her house decorated like that???

It's like Country Charm... as differentiated from the much more sophisticated French Country... which almost would have made sense... her house however- was just a bad scenic designer trying to go with what's cool on sitcoms right now- which is the whole- old/dilapidated chic... which doesn't make sense in most television contexts, but certainly doesn't make sense for a world renown surgeon... really now- what's the priority of the set designer??? What ever happened to using the set to add to character development???

Is this just me???

My Hero!!!

I went down to the garage this morning to try to remove the vent hoses, again. I didn't want to open the garage door for fear the torrential winds would blow away the various parts of Selma I currently have scattered about. Though the by-product of this decision was having to lay underneath an almost two ton vehicle with all sorts of creaking noises swirling about the place... yes I know... Selma is securely jacked up- she's not going anyway... I'm just not used to being under cars yet.

I was almost immediately frustrated... I had let them sit overnight hoping the various substances I had sprayed on them would sink in and lubricate the process- but they didn't seem to be making any different. The hoses are up in a really awkward position, my arms were getting tired of holding my hands up, trying to push, pull, wiggle, or otherwise maneuver these hoses off (and every time I would use extra force something would creak somewhere and I'd irrationally pause for a second to figure out what it was). I could feel the skinnier hose starting to shred from my wiggling it so much and a small tear was developing at the end where it connected to the tube.

I decided to use the long handled flat-head screw driver that was sitting near by to try to pry the hose off. I figured, if it makes the tear worse, so be it- I think I'm putting new hoses on here regardless. And then it hit me. If I don't care if I accidentally make the tear worse... why not Purposefully make it worse!!! (You were just privy to the thought process of Genius...)

I had already taken the clamp off in it's entirety... so I fetched the above pictured Tool of Brilliance... and started carefully cutting the hose, until it popped off with ease.

I then pulled the hose clamp off the larger one, which is harder then you'd think with the weird angle and all that flaky black stuff clogging up the Phillips head and making it slip. I cut it off, then loosened the clamps on the other side of both the hoses and pulled them off the pipes they connected to.

The hoses. A lot of trouble for such small things.

My cut- you can also see bits of the fraying that was occurring a little below the cut.

There's a warning in here for all you air vent hoses out there- don't get between me and a happy, clean Selma Lee!!!

Trouble.

I'm having issues removing the fuel tank air vent hoses. I can't get the tank out until I get them off.

They've obviously experienced some suburb dry rot... they also have this weird pliable rubber material surrounding where they come out of the fuel tank. I can't find any pictures/diagrams of what's suppose to be going on up there... but something is wrong- because the screws in the hose clamps, as well as the outside of the hoses were covered in stuff that immediately started flaking off as I unscrewed them... they were coated... why would anyone coat hoses/clamps in anything??? Non-the-less this weird semi-permanent looking stuff that's now flaking off.

There was obviously something done intentionally here and I have no idea what or why... regardless of that... the clamps are loosened to wear they spin freely around the hoses, but the hoses still won't slide off the pipes. Various persuasive techniques have been employed and I will reattempt in the morning, in the mean time- here are the two troublesome hoses.

Here is their positioning in the grander scheme of the undercarriage. They're in that black void on the right, upperish side of the picture.

Just for fun- here is the screen that fuel must pass through on it's way out of the tank and along to the engine.

Here's that screen as it should look.

And last but not least in this post of pictures... I was using Metric wrenches on Selma, and someone pointed out that I might want to check that... maybe, just maybe the Germans were using Standard measurements in the 70's... don't ask me.

Well- while pulling the lining of the trunk out to access the fuel tank, I found this wrench, lost in a corner of the trunk for who knows how many years now... it says "Mercedes-Benz Made in Germany" on it- and is sized 11 and 13mm. So- I think I can officially make a positive Metric determination.

Yesterday.

This was my view as I tried to find the fuel tank plug.

This was what I used to siphon the fuel out of the tank... that is a little pump so I didn't have to start the suction by drinking fuel. That is also several parts of a coat hanger attached to the siphon hose with green electrical tape, as the hose wasn't stiff enough to be forced all the way into the tank on it's own.

Those little bits of brown particulate in the hose are algae. The first suction drew a little bit of algae into the hose, but the rest of the 8 gallons of diesel flowed out clear. When it stopped, I manually increased suction to dredge out the bottom of the tank as best I could... I let that drain into an empty juice jug- below is what came out.

You can see the almost blue color at the top is pretty clear fuel, then there's the tan layer of diluted algae sludge... and the really dark brown color at the bottom is pretty much solid algae particulate. This is a gallon sized juice container, mind you, that's a pretty fair amount of sludge... we'll see how much is still stuck in the tank later...

I cringe thinking my poor baby Selma had that... that... Eww!!! inside her!!!



Then it got dark and I stopped working... I'm going to try to get the tank entirely out today and clean out whatever bits of sludge are still in the bottom of it.

Fun times.

Motivation.

Even though the work on Selma gets done in the garage- as it's the only level ground on which to position her- somehow Blue Skies make a world of difference in my motivation.

I noticed something pink under our mailbox and went to investigate. Yes- that beautiful blue sky is what is outside out house right now. And the little purple flower on the left is one in several clumps of the first wild flowers of the season.

We let the yard go- last summer we had probably a dozen different flowers growing on their own. Plus huge Datura bushes in the wash/drainage ditch across the road, which open up large white flowers during the evenings, then close up into nondescript green bushes during the day.

Revelations.

I've been pulling things out of Suiby... like her battery and the wires that connect the battery to the car.

I've also been cleaning things. That is why I pull them out- I pull them out- clean them- and I'm pretty sure tomorrow sometime I'll put them back in.

Santa and Simple Green- what more does a girl need???

A tooth brush and various other thin bristly cleaners, that's what. I have the equivolent of a pipe cleaner on crack. And I'm using it to clean Suiby's hood locking mechanism... which takes a bit of... umm... Force- to get to latch correctly. I'm hoping I can get it to close without the use of cruel and unusual treatment.


I also attempted to wash the windows. You would think right- that it's not a big deal to take some Windex and wipe down the insides... not my windows.

Really now- they looked like someone misted them with olive oil... or maybe used Selma's front seat as the base for a deep fat fryer... and when I sprayed on the Windex and went to wipe, it created suds on my window, as if I was using Dish Detergent instead of Windex... I'm going to finish up that project in the morning- as my arms got tired about half way through.


So- as I've been cleaning around my engine compartment- I've been making some delightful discoveries- this is what my battery was hiding-

Yeah- that's flaky, rusty, fun. There's a few leaves there on the side... if you're looking Suiby in the eyes, this is in the back, left side, under the hood- here's a photo for placement.

It's a shelf that the battery sits on. The mildly rusty round thing to the right is the air filter- it's actually in pretty good condition, but the flash in the photo accentuates the bit of surface rust it has. Obviously this battery-shelf rust hasn't been causing any problems... I'm just not sure what to do with it now... leave it??? Clean it up a bit??? Try to take it out and find a replacement shelf to position the battery on???

I'll look at it more in the morning.

Fleeting perfection.

So- not to be outdone by the Illustrious Dave (except in pursuits requiring physical prowess), and attempting to type expediently with only one hand, due to holding a tasty ice cream bar in the other... I present My Fleet-

Consisting of Selma Lee, M'Lady, and last and certainly least, My God.

Here's a better picture of M'Lady-

(that bright pink bit around her head tube, being her 2005 Ragbrai bike band), you also can't see very well that her tires have pale blue sidewalls... and my pedal cages have pale blue straps that I got for 50 cents at a bike shop booth along the Ragbrai route. She's also a six speed.

Back when Dave was still running a whole compliment of gears, I told him I only wanted one chain ring (I had eight or nine gears for Ragbrai, I can't quite remember). Note her singular down tube shifter. Then he later realized the genius of fewer gears and runs single, or two/three speeds now... yes, that's right, Dave's just copying me.



My God is the single speed mountain bike in the back. She's named that, because more prayers cross my lips in one hour on her, then in a month of regular living. She's currently non-operational, as my bike mechanic (Dave again) over extended his privileges and pilfered several crucial pieces for use on his monstrosities... and then didn't tell me... details.

Anyway. I think Selma Lee would look particularly adorable with a roof rack... but Yakima's "Fit Your Car" feature doesn't go back to '77... to be honest, Selma Lee's model uses the same chassis up through '85, so I could actually find a roof rack based on that year... but I don't really have any need to drive the bikes anywhere... regardless of how Awe-some she would look.


Maybe I'll go do some actual work on her, instead of writing about it...

Ownership.

Miss Suiby and I made the big trip into the Motor Vehicle Division offices today.

She passed her inspection (very basic, you only have to do smog testing if you live in the Metropolis- which we do not).

Then we had a minor hang up with the fact that she's changed hands four times before me, without ever being retitled. Typically you need to show both the signed title and a bill of sale when you re-title a vehicle. Since the last four owners didn't re-titled it, there's no way to be certain there ever was a legal sale or transfer of the vehicle- therefore there's no way to prove that the person who sold it to me had the right to do so... I need to establish that right.

I now get to contact the bank that was the lien holder on the 1988 title and have them send me evidence that they had a legal right to sell the car (probably a statement of foreclosure, or similar).

Then I get to track down the Used Auto Place they sold it to, and get a notarized bill of sale from them to Tim. The I get to see is Norman knows where Tim is, so I can get a notarized bill of sale from Tim to Norman- then I'll send my bill of sale back to Norman for him to get notarized and sent back to me.

At which point- I can return to the MVD and title and register Selma Lee in my name.


She does now have a 90-day temporary registration so I can legally drive her around in the meantime. When I asked for it the gentleman that was helping me said- You can only get so many of these, ya know. At which point I responded saying I thought 90 days ought to be enough time. He found that amusing.

We'll see.


And the adventure continues.

Hints.

By the way- the Suiby Fuel Removal Program is doing well... tank should be ready to flush by Friday.

Ya gotta start somewhere.

Apparently Selma Lee didn't think my Peep Masterpiece was nearly as cute as I did... I think there was a little jealousy on her part about the fact that I didn't spend yesterday working on her.

She apparently thought she should express her displeasure with me at 10:15 this evening, on a dark side street of DownTown, after I got off work at The Wine Cafe.

She decided to give me quite a start- by not doing so.

Now- I've been anticipating her not starting... I'm carrying around extra inline fuel filters and the tools needed to change them, so that anytime- anywhere, if the current one gets clogged and she won't start, I'll be able to fix the problem.

This was not that.

I got into the car. Turned the key, and the dashlights (the little ones at the bottom- Brake, Seatbelt, Glow Plugs... the only ones that light up) came on- and them flickered to a slightly dimmer state. I waited for the Glow Plug light to go off- turned the key- Nothing happened.

Nothing.

Not a sound. Not a breath of a chug-chug. Nothing.

I try again- and again. And again. Each time returning to the Glow Plug lighting position, waiting for it to go off, turning it to Ignition.

Now- I've told Dave to go to bed with his phone next to his ear- so that if I ever needed him (in a situation just like this)- I'd have a chance he'd hear his phone... the boy goes to bed early. I call- it rings once, and goes straight to VoiceMail... I think- He can't possibly have his phone off... I try again, and again- it rings three times, I leave a message... I call another dozen times, hoping the continual- Singular Ring- might catch his subconscious and wake him up.

No luck.

I consider the 9 mile walk from DownTown through the Hinterlands to the Blight of Sprawling Suburb that I live in... I consider whether or not any of the kitchen staff might live in the Blight of Sprawling Suburb... I look up and down the deserted street and decide to try to start Ms. Suiby one more time.

I turn the key to Glow Plugs... the dashlights are bright this time. The light goes off- I turn the key-

Chug-chug, chug-chug-chug- I slam the gas petal to the floor- she catches. I throw her in reverse and fumble with my phone to call Dave again and leave a less threatening message letting him know I'm on my way home.


Tomorrow I'll be taking a nice long look at her battery connections, and a few other things. I hoping the problem is there, and not in the key/ignition unit. It would make sense that it's the battery connections... I just can't imagine it could be that easy.

Anyway- things to do.

Got home and checked- Dave's phone was right by the bedside- not turned off- not out of battery- not anything. No idea why it did what it did- but at least I don't need to physically harm him for having done something wrong in my time of need.



Prior to this my night had been Perfect. Perfect. Everything clicked- I was in an excellent work mood- here's a snippet-

(we occasionally- as a special- offer a monsterously large burger, which we stack quite tall, and stick one of those foot-long bamboo skewers you can get at the grocery store, through. I served a couple their food and came back a moment later to refill their ice teas)
Man (brandishing the skewer at his defenseless companion)- I was saying, this is one awfully large tooth-pick.
Me- You could use it as such, but you might get some odd looks. You could always take it home, where there might be fewer to do the looking.
Man- No really, you could go hunting with this thing.
Me- We actually killed the cow we used to make your burger with it, then carried it through to the presentation. It's creative re-use.
Chuckles.
Man- You use your sense of humor. That's nice.

I think I blushed. You may all be thinking- What??? She blushes??? I've never seen her blush... it's not like he was hitting on me. They seemed like a really great couple and I had been joking with them both previously- the entire exchange was very low key, not exaggerated and sarcastic- it was just such a genuine comment of appreciation. Appreciation of my sense of humor, by a complete and total stranger.

I think I blushed.

The importance of spontaneity.

There was a short list of minor things I was going to do with Selma Lee today to get her in better shape.

Instead- I drove her to Walmart, and then Safeway (when Walmart didn't have the goods) to buy five different types and colors of peeps. So that I could build a Diorama and enter The Washington Post's First Annual Peep Diorama Competition.

I only heard about it this morning- completing it in just a few hours after I had decided on the subject matter and retrieved supplies. Selma performing her part as anticipated.

Next year... oh- next year I will be ready. Next year- will be something to behold.

This year- well it was worth the amusement I found in it.

I submit below- for your viewing pleasure- my rendition of This Comic.





Good night.

Just Say No.

This is your Fuel Filter.





This is your Fuel Filter on Algae.




I realize it's blurry- but all you need to see here- is the color.

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly.

The Good- I drove Selma Lee to work yesterday, as well as out to dinner tonight. She starts. She wants a little extra gas at ignition to do so- but that was to be expected.

The Bad- She has about 16 gallons of diesel in her- not the 12 I was hoping. Which is about 108 more miles until she's ready to have her tank flushed.

The Ugly- We cut open the fuel filter that I replaced- the mesh screens inside were Black, and quite clogged. I'm wishing I had my little red microscope from home right now- so I could examine the gunk and confirm an Algae diagnosis.

In the meantime, I pulled out her air filter and cleaned the massive, oily crude out of the air filter housing. The filter looking quite new. I topped off the radiator, and added some engine oil- as it was inappropriately low, and I should have kept a better eye on it during The Trip, but I can't re-do that now.

I'll be keeping an eye on it this week- and attempt to assess whether or not it is burning any/much oil. It was fun to buy oil the other day and have the employee at the store go- Diesel??? As if I might just be buying the wrong oil- 15W40, by the way.

I'll change the oil in the next week as well- as there appears to be a small oil leak coming from the oil-pan drain plug-bolt, and Dave's pretty sure replacing it will take care of that problem.

Tomorrow- cleaning the inside out a bit. Reducing the nighttime glare on the very unclean windows... taking some ArmourAll to the interior.

After having sat in the Classic Automotive parking lot for the last six months with only the occasional driving- Selma Lee's loving all the attention. Who can blame her.

Dave also took his first ride tonight, when we went to dinner. I believe Selma Lee officially has his blessing.

Filtering Life.

I'm trying to get Selma Lee back into commission at quickly as possible. At the moment however, Dave got to drop me off and pick me up from Day Three at The Snooty Wine Cafe (it's not really all that snooty, but we have over eighty wines offered by the glass, or taste, and the wine list changes monthly. With the food being salads, pizzas and paninis- with a few steaks and pastas- the typical check will be more then half alcohol. We don't even have a full bar- and only a handful of beers- although one is the excellent Chimay Belgian Ale- Belgian ales being my favorite type of beer... and there's really nothing else like this place in our wee-town of retirees. So it counts as snooty- here.

Anyway- he picks me up, it's late, past his bedtime, and in his groggy sleep voice he says-

The computer is acting funny.

Speaking of beers- it would appear he had spilled a bottle of beer onto the keyboard of our laptop. Just for a minute I'm going to re-write the preceeding sentence on our laptop keyboard and give you an idea of the fun...

Sakng f bs- t ld aa h had slld a bttl f b nt th kybad f lat.

Not the greatest way to try to communicate. So- I set out on my bicycle this morning, procured a two dollar keyboard from the Local Thrift Store, which is now plugged into the laptop and functioning well- and then rode to three different autoparts stores to procure two new inline fuel filters for Selma Lee. Our town being the horrible bit of sprawl that it is, still manages to have one main road with all the larger businesses right there, so the three stores were all a couple blocks from each other. Except none of them carried more then one filter, and one store didn't carry any- so I have two... I'll order some online or something in a minute.


Why do I need so many fuel filters???


When I picked up the car- she was half full of gas- I filled her up right away, and then proceeded to watch as the fuel gauge in the car would drop to 3/4 of a tank, then bounce back up to almost full, then proceed to fall again, as I started on The Trip. I decided the safest bet was just to refill her anytime I had the chance and she was near 3/4 of a tank. I gradually learned to trust her more- but still filled up frequently along the way- which means that right now, Selma Lee's parked outside with over half a tank of diesel left in her.

The most thorough way to deal with Algae, is to flush the fuel tank and connecting parts. I have detailed instructions on how to do this- but it involves draining all the fuel out of the car first. Knowing she holds over twenty gallons of gas when full- where am I going to drain some 12-plus gallons of diesel fuel when I try to flush her out???

My solution- I'm going to keep replacing the inline fuel filter as needed, to get her started, until I can drive her around enough to use up most of her current fuel.

This may not sound like the best thing to do- but an inline fuel filter is a grand $3.34, I drove over 1,000 miles on the last one I replaced- before it got too clogged to go on, so it seems I shouldn't have to go through too many in the next week, while I drive around as usual and attempt to use up most of the diesel.

I'm going to do a little more online research to make sure I'm not totally crazy and stupid with this idea- and then I'm going to go down and change my inline fuel filter again... and try to get her started.

I'm probably more amused by this then I should be. I should probably be frustrated, annoyed, and marginally cranky- but it's just not there.

Maybe it will be- if my great plot doesn't go as planned.

The key to life.

I had two copies of Selma Lee's key made yesterday. Which is a good place to start.

I was on my bike- running errands- and Ace Hardware couldn't make the extra keys. Apparently they don't regularly stock blanks for '77 Mercedes... so they recommended a specialty lock store. I rode my bike there. Not only did the owner have plenty of blanks for my key- he also had several feet of wall dedicated to blank Skeleton keys... apparently there are still really old houses in Downtown Prescott that use old skeleton locks- which blows my mind. And he regularly makes new keys and reworks the old locks.

Anyway- I'm on my bike- and he says I should check and make sure the keys work, before I throw them in a drawer and pull them out for an emergency. I grimaced slightly. There was a reason I was on my bike, and not driving my car. Since I had gotten home late Saturday night, I had not tried to start my dear Selma Lee.

Segway into a little bit about the trip.


I picked up the car last Wednesday afternoon, from a mechanic/shop owner, named Norman. And I set out driving on US Highway 82. I got a bit passed Montgomery, Alabama (on US 80 now) when I heard a not too loud popping noise. At first- I thought some part of my car had just fallen off, but then I heard the tell-tall thump, thump, thump of a flat tire and I calmed myself down, telling myself This is something you know how to do, and pulled over to the side of the road.

So- Mercedes-Benz's have little holes in the frame, next to each of the wheels and a proprietary jack that fits into these holes for proper positioning. Unfortunately, they seem to think you're only going to get a flat tire on a road with a paved shoulder, cause the bottom of the jack, the part that goes on the ground, is a meager four inch-diameter circle. I was trying to change a tire on a sandy shoulder, and the jack kept tipping sideways, sinking down into the sand, I had nothing to put behind the wheels of the tires to hold the car in place, and had a few moments of uncertainty while I called Dave and tried to get him to give me a MacGyver solution. Eventually I managed to get the car jacked-up, new wheel on, and I was set to go... I won't even talk about the fact that I didn't get good cell-phone coverage, the battery was dieing when I called Dave- and I thought if I couldn't get it figured out, I was sleeping in my car for the night and walking the eight miles back to Montgomery the next morning, cause I wouldn't have enough juice to call a tow truck.

So- that night, I drove to Selma, Alabama- about twenty miles west on US 80 from where I flatted, and the nearest town. That would be where the Selma part of Miss Selma Lee Suiby comes from. Tired and dirty, I got a room at the first low-cost motel chain that came into view, unloaded Everything out of my car (as I didn't want to try locking the doors for fear I wouldn't be able to unlock them), took a very long, very hot bath to try to relax, and went to sleep.

Next morning- bright, beautiful, clear morning in Alabama. I go to start my car. She doesn't want to. I wait for the glow plugs to warm up, I turn the key, and she cranks and cranks and just won't catch. Then she cranks and cranks and barely catches, and I let the key turn to the regular on position, and the car sputters and dies.

I call Norman.

He listens to the car over the phone. He instructs me on things to try- nothing works. He has me pop the hood and inspect things for him- looks like a clogged inline fuel filter. He says it will need to be changed, as well as the main fuel filter.

I say- Look, I'm in a parking lot of a hotel in Selma, Alabama. Is there anything I can do to get this car started so I can drive it to a shop and not have to pay a tow truck.

He says I ought to be able to change the inline one myself, and that ought to get the car started. I look around. There are Three autoparts stores within two blocks of my hotel... so I go over to O'Reilly's AutoParts. They're very helpful- they carry the fuel filter I need, and lend me a screw driver to use on the hose clamps. I sacrifice a tank top I brought with me as a grease rag, and I get the fuel filter changed (not without fuel spewing out all over the place for the 30 seconds while I wrestled to get the new one in and tightened down).

Now- I don't want to try starting the car till I know where I'm going to drive it next, so I return the screw driver and ask the handy folks at O'Reilly's if they know anyone in town that works on old Mercedes, or diesels. (Luckily- I borrowed the phone book from my hotel room- as I was going to have to find a tire place as well, cause my spare was larger then my other tires and I was going to need to get that straightened out before I drove another 1,600 miles).

So I start calling places- it goes something like this-

No I'm sorry, we don't work on Mercedes/diesels/cars that old/what are you talking about???

One place might be able to do it- but they definitely don't have the part. So I walk back over to O'Reilly's and buy the part (they have it)... and keep calling places. I say-

Hello- I have a '77 Mercedes Diesel, I Have the fuel filter, I just need someone to put it on for me, can you do that, please???

The response-

Well- we don't do that- you might try calling NameOfSomewhereElse.

Me- Thanks so much- but they told me to call you... (sound of bitter weeping)

I literally call three dozen places... I don't even know if my car will start yet- and no one seems capable of unscrewing a bolt, pulling off the old filter, and putting the new one in... really... it's a filter for gosh sakes!!! (If I had known how easy it was at the time, I might have tried it myself... but I didn't).

I get to the very bottom of the phone listings- York Auto and Truck Repair. I call York-

Oh, yeah, sure, no problem, you got the filter, well then, don't see why not, bring her right over.

I drive out of town, over the bridge, turn down a long gravel road, and around a corner to a rusty old sheet metal building with two big auto bays, and the most soft spoken, friendly old gentleman I think I've ever met had me pull up my car, and we had a look.

We had a good look. We discussed the symptoms, and he replaced the filter. We stood around talking while we watched the engine run, to make sure there weren't any leaks coming out of either of the newly replaced fuel filters. He said I might be just a little crazy for what I was doing- driving that car across the South. I told him I was trying to keep a good attitude- I had told the guy at the auto parts store- if I didn't manage to get her started, maybe I'd just stay right there in Selma. In his soft, under-spoken way he says-

Not that I would mind having you here- but there are better places then Selma.


When we determined that everything looked at right- I asked him where he'd recommend I go to get a few new tires so I'd have even tires on the back. I drive back into town (he gave great directions, both ways) and pull into a local tire place. I don't so much as get my engine turned off before there's a guy come out the door, looking at my tires and writing down numbers on a little pad of paper.

I look up confused- he sees my look and says- Why, we got a phone call, been expecting you, we'll get you going in no time.

And they did.

After that I had no problem starting up the car for the rest of the day. Drove some four hundred plus miles through Alabama, Mississippi and into Arkansas, before I finally got a room. Woke up the next morning- tried to start my car.

She cranked and cranked, and fizzled a few seconds after I left off the starter.

So I did what I had done the day before- I turned the key over and hit the gas, and she caught and I threw her into drive before she had time to die.

Rest of the day, she started fine. Though the longer she sat, the more hesitant she'd be.

Last day- waking up in Lubbock, Texas- not something I would recommend, didn't manage to see a single redeeming quality in that city... I had to hit the gas again to get her started... even harder then the day before.

Once I got her home I didn't want to think about what else might be wrong with her. So I was a bit hesitant to try starting her.


Last night- I had the new keys- I had to at least see if they would turn and start the glow plugs- so sitting in the front seat with a key in the ignition- I couldn't really continue to ignore the known problem.

I tried to start her. Hit the gas- white smoke streaming out the tail pipe- neighbors looking on- no luck. Tried my best timing. Listened to her make a high pitched screeching sound I hadn't heard before- and promptly stopped.

Today I'm doing more research. Got an e-mail back from Norman- I asked him a few questions and without my even suggesting it- he suggested I might be having the same issue I had thought, yesterday, was probably the culprit.


There may be things growing in my diesel fuel. Well- in the places my fuel passes through. (Thereby getting into my diesel, getting filtered out of my diesel and clogging up the inline fuel filter much quicker then normal).

My car has most likely spawned a whole community of Algae and their compatriots- and as much as I'm an environmentalist- I think the members of this habitat are headed for extinction.


The repercussions of this, I may or may not be able to handle on my own. We shall see.

Welcome All Ya'll

Last Tuesday, March 6th, my dearest husband drove me down to Phoenix to board a Midnight Flight to Georgia (The Gladys Knight and The Pips song should come into your head right about now...). Via a Greyhound the next morning, I reached the town of Albany and called Norman. He picked me up at the station and took me over to his shop- Classic Automotive, where I exchanged $1,026 and one cent for Miss Selma Lee Suiby.

I then proceeded to drive 2, 017 miles (estimated from a map, as the odometer wasn't feeling up to keeping count for me) over four days, less then 40 of those miles being on interstates.

It can be done. You can drive across the country on US highways and state routes. I would particularly recommend it if you don't trust your car to consistently go over 60 miles per hour.

I'm trying to find out more information about my dear Selma Lee. I have a title from 1988, showing her in Tifton, Georgia (not far from Albany) with 187,525 miles. The odometer currently reads 188,924... so I'm presuming it gave up hope sometime before the 90's. Can't really blame it considering the music it was probably playing around then.

It was bought in 1988 with a loan (you can't get a car loan for an 11 year old car these days...), and in April of 2005 the bank that carried the loan transfered the title to a Holly Automotive, which no longer appears to be in business. It seems odd that there would have been even close to a seven year loan on a car that old- so I'm presuming the owner couldn't pay off the loan, but it took some time before the Bank managed to get, and then get rid, of the car. The same title was transfered the next day to a gentleman who never retitled the car. At that point, the odometer is specified to be inaccurate. Somewhere along the way the car stopped running well at all. Tim- the gentleman that bought the car in '05, had it sitting around for awhile, before he brought it in to Classic Automotive in Albany, and asked them to get it running again.

It received a new motor (with approximately 120,000 miles on it, out of an identical Benz), a new alternator, glow plugs, and a few other odds and ends. Norman then called Tim to come get his car. Tim never came in. A month later they called and reached Tim's Wife- the call went something like this.

Norman- Hello, I'm calling from Classic Automotive we're trying to reach Tim about picking up his car.
Tim's Wife- What car???
Norman- Umm...
(then there was some yelling and screaming about how she had told Tim they couldn't afford to fix it up right now- and Tim's Wife offered to send Norman the title to the car in payment- so Tim lost the car and his wife's good favor and I wonder whether he might have preferred it the other way around.

So- Tim's Wife got Tim to sign over the title (which is still the one from '88 cause he never retitled it- presumably cause it wasn't being driven) and that's how Norman ended up selling it- trying to recoup the monies that had been put into the new parts for the car, which it sounds like he just barely managed to do.

I'm trying to figure out if those CarFax reports give you the title history and whatnot- or just say Problem!!! or No Problem!!! cause I don't know how else to find about about it's pre-'88 history- which I would find interesting to know.

We'll see how that goes.

Later, I may write about the trip from Georgia to Arizona. Suffice- it was interesting. And I got 27 miles per gallon, averaged over the whole trip which I'm pleased with.

And so- the blogging begins.