Drove to work fine, thursday, parked up, got down to business. Clock off fairly early, 1.30am, look forward to getting a decent sleep.
Get in car, starter goes quite slowly and the dash lights dim.... eventually starts after just a few too many turns, which gets my eyebrows raised.... no, no lights left on, what could it be. The worryingly loud, and more disturbingly, different idle clatter gets me thinking... the oil was low... p'raps its now *too* low again.
Engine off, hop out, check it with the aid of a floodlight and some handy fallen leaves. Almost off the end of the stick, never mind at "low". Dammit. And me without a spare litre in the boot.
No-one in the hotel or even the attached nightclub can help - seems the only person who could, left five minutes before i did. Then some helpful bloke asks the crucial question - do you have an AA or RAC card?
D'oh
Call them up, explain the sheepish situation, and they come out on their way. A coke and a sit down later, and i'm out explaining to Orange Coated Mick (frank bruno's body double) the problem. He double checks it and whacks in a litre and a half of 10w40 from his large cache... situation on the stick then looks decidedly healthier.
Now, though, I can't even get the engine to start without a jump from his spare battery, and the noise has only abated slightly. He reckons it's the alternator, and tests this with a fancy screwdriver-to-alternator-to-ear trick (handy), and offers to follow me home as it's only 10 miles or so.
Good job too. Set out from belfry to bassets pole as it's the "safe" route. Go round a tight bend onto a fairly steep stretch, floor it at 45 to maintain speed....... and an altogether nastier slapping and clanking noise immediately pops up. Drop back to 30 and crawl into the next safe stopping place.
Bonnet up and it's quite obvious my old, knackered alternator belt has spun it's last. All over the place. Poor old Mick then spends the time from 2.15 to 3.45 in various uncomfortable positions all over, around and under my bonnet trying to pry off the old one (easy) and fit a new one (very difficult by the look of it).
Cost to self - £5.50 for the part (oil's free!), a slight chill, and a lesson of not ignoring the obvious issues when fixing other problems (it's looked frayed for best part of a year - and now i've found a safe place in the hollow above the rear wheel well to stash a spare litre). Worth the cost of membership alone to avoid having a garage charge to do it - and by the look of things, to avoid having to do it myself!
This time, engine catches first time (it must have been charging a *little* bit still) and runs quiet and smooth as ever - in fact more so, as the annoying whirring noise of the last year has gone... Give the big guy his due, my heartfelt thanks, and trundle off home. Totally knackered
But how bad must he have felt, physically!!I know it's his job and all, and he's probably paid very well, but be honest - would you want to do it?
Certainly makes up for when they couldn't get someone out - even the contractor promised in place of a patrol - to fettle the throttle cable for a good 2 hours... guess being stuck in a rural rather than urban setting gives you priority.
Dudes