A New Problem

Keith called last night. He was thirty miles east of Albuquerque, NM when his car starting making a loud clanking noise when he gave it gas. I suggested he not try to get through West Texas while that was happening but to go back and get a motel and take the car to a mechanic in the morning. He hated to spend the money but he also hated to get stranded in that God forsaken area of West Texas. So, he went back a few miles and found a Comfort Inn and got a room.

The first thing this morning, he took the car to a mechanic that was recommended by the woman at the motel. On the way to the mechanic, the noise was gone and nothing showed up on their computer. But after the mechanic drove it awhile, the noise came back. They are in the process of taking the head off to check out whether it's a loose tappet, a valve or a valve spring. They assure him they will have it for him today. And if he notifies the motel by 2:00, they will not charge him another half day. Plus the mechanic will let him put the charges on a Visa card.

He may be in late tonight or early morning. It will be over a ten hour drive..whenever he leaves Moriarty.

Keith has a very complicated life.
UPDATE:

They finally got a hold of Keith about 2:00 this afternoon. They had taken the head off the motor and discovered that it was just a piece of trash in there. They called numerous dealerships in the area and all they could find out was that the Dodge Intrepid has a motor that will only make it 100,000 miles and Keith's car has 92,000 miles on it. The car itself is spotless but the motor is a piece of junk.

They put it all back together and he has taken off for Coffeyville driving 50 miles per hour all the way. That will take him another 13 1/2 hours to get here at that rate.

One good thing: the mechanic only charged $303 for all that work and he will go tow Keith in from anywhere to Coffeyville if the car breaks down on the way. He said that would cost him but a lot less than a rental car and he would still have the car to sell to someone who would want to put a motor in it. Keith can't afford to do that. It would cost from $3,500 to $5,000 to do that. If we have to salvage it, it will only bring $500. The mechanic says it is really slick. If Keith didn't have bad luck..he wouldn't have any luck at all.

We are going to give him his dad's Ford Ranger pickup.

P.S. It's 9:30 and Keith is 350 miles away. Still driving 50 miles per hour.