Car in the shop

Car 95, the Falcon, is down yet again. This time it's the tail lights and meter light. Conventional wisdom suggests a blown fuse, but I checked them with the electronic fuse tester I keep in the glove box, and they're all fine. Also, when the problem came about, my radio presets were erased.

I made an interesting discovery while checking the fuses. When I compared the fuse diagram with the actual fuse block, I found that every fuse in the block has the incorrect amp rating. Fred the mechanic is a real hack! Some were close, having a 15 where an 18 should be, but some were way off, like having a 15 where a 30 should be, and the other way round.

The first thing I wanted to do was check the owner's manual to see which fuse is responsible for the tail lights, but the manual was missing. I called Vitao, who had, for some mysterious reason, brought it into his house. That's one strike against Vitao. He was unable to give me a good description of which fuse I was looking for. That's two strikes.

The cab company owner instructed Vitao to bring the car to the meter shop at 8 a.m. Monday. The thinking was that the meter guy could trace the problem and fix the whole thing. The car had to be there at 8 or the shop would be too busy to get the work done. Naturally, Vitao brought in the car at 10:30. Strike three! The owner called him and yelled at the top of his lungs. If I wasn't planning to take Monday off, I would have been stuck with a car lacking tail lights. Also, customers ask about the meter being dark, which is a small hassle, but an avoidable one.

I confirmed that the car is in the shop today, and it should be ready before I go to work at 3.