STS Scott Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 Last I checked into the board was before Christmas, and before my families 3 day jaunt down to the Sun shine state. So, a belated Happy New Year to everyone! To start, the STS was treated to some new jewlery, as in (drum role please)... The NEW 2005 STS BADGE WITH MATCHING NEW NORTHSTAR LABLE! My girlfriend got me that pair. She must have picked up on how much I loved the new style Cadillac badging. Gotta love 'er, eh? My parents got me a digital camera (so I can stop buggin my buddies to use theirs!). We had our Christmas on the 23rd, because we left for Florida on the 24th. I was determined to get those new glistening chrome badges on before we left, so I was out in our unheated garage, in sub zero temps, with some quick detailer, a hair dryer (to melt the glue), some mineral spirits, and some very cold hands. Call me crazy! Dispite the conditions, the surgery came out 100%, and the bages look AWESOME! I'll get some pics up ASAP. Anyway, this is where things took a nose dive. We set out at about noon the next day, from here in Windsor Ont, adjacent to Detroit, MI. My dad drove first, until about 7 PM, when we ate dinner in Lexington, Kentucky. I then took the next shift, and drove right on through to about 3 AM, Christmas morning. I was sleeping thereafter, and my Mom drove, only to wake me up, because the DIC said something like "No Battery Charge". I didn't know what to think, because the car was driving fine. We got of I-75 and stoped at a gas station. Opening the hood revealed that the belt had come off. The guy at the counter was a jerk too, so my Dad drove on to the next exit. Things started shutting off at that point, and we had to get off in the middle of no where, with no head lights. The car was running rough as hell, and I was suprised it made it off the interstate! I still remember the damned place as exit 22, north of Valdosta Georga. There was a Gas bar/Motel/Gift shop/Dairy Queen, all on the same site. There were only two people working...one sleepy kid at the gas bar, and a really helpful guy at the Hotel desk. He did all he could to help us, and even drove across town and back at the end of his shift, to get jumper cables from his home. He also got ahold of some back-yard mechanic, to fix the car on Christmas day. The mechanic said he would come right down after he spent time with his family christmas morning. It was only about 4 AM at this point, and I could not believe where I was on a Christmas day! My Mom, Dad, Girlfriend and I were sitting in a Days-Inn lobby, veggitating in 4 chairs watching the SuperStations "24 hour marathon of the "Christmas Story"". We watched the stupid movie twice! Finally I decided I had had enough, and was determined to get the belt back on. I went back out in the freezing weather pisted and determined! After fiddling with the belt and pullys for about an hour, I managed to get it on with my just my hands. The last straw was getting the belt around the power steering pully, which I did like how you put a bike chain on. My Dad cranked it over with what juice the battery had left, and I tried to channel it onto the wheel. It was just enough for a short lived success... With the belt on, (and my self extremely stressed out, yet releaved after the epic), we were just waiting for the hotel guy to return with the jumper cabels. He got back, we jumped it with his F-150, crossed our fingers, and gave 'er again. She started, made all kinds of strainge noises, and then died again. Turned out the idler pully was siezed. It took off a strip of rubber from the belt, and blew what was left of the plastic pully to smitherines! We then threw in the towel and went back to the TV in the lobby. At about 9 AM, a tow truck showed up, and took the STS off to the mechanics place...with no guarantee he could even fix it! We had lunch at the Dairy Queen, which consequently gave my parnets food poisoning, due to the chilly. My girlfriend and I were fine, for we just had regular hot dogs. We then got a room and just waited. I had lost total track of time, and when the mechanic called to tell us the car was ready at about 5 PM, it felt like 8 in the morning. The mechanic had retro fitted a Caddy 4.9 pully to make due, and used the same belt that was damaged (essentialy 4/5ths of a belt). We stayed the night due to my parents condition, and made our way down to Florida the next day, the 26th. Dispite cool temps, and a fair amount of rain, we were thankfull to be alive after the whole ordeal! It is certainly good to be home though! Whew what an experience! At the time I though we would be stranded there forever. The STS was repaired properly with DELCO parts once we got to Florida, and ran like a champ there after! " ...'took my Cobra down t' the track, hitched to the back o' my Cadillac..." - Jan & Dean, 'hey little cobra' Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 Glad it all worked out in long run! This was with the 95? Why didn't you take the DTS? How many miles is that trip? Happy New Year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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