The Radiator

I know you have all been worried about me, my car, and most especially the radiator in my car. Particularly since the radiator had a crack in it. I thought I would share pictures.

If that one's not enough to see that crack, here is a close-up:

Yes, friends, that is a crack that is over 8 inches long.

I don't know how it happened. All I know is one Saturday I drove up to Lehi to babysit my nephew. And I parked, walked into my brother and sister-in-law's house, chatted for about 20 minutes, and then they walked out the door to leave.

My brother was back in the house in less than 2 minutes, asking for my keys because "Your car is leaking all over the driveway."

My heart sinking, I followed him out to see my car resting in a puddle of antifreeze. I knew my antifreeze had been leaking in small drips, but I thought it had stopped. Well, I guess it had stopped for a week or two, only to dramatically dump the contents of the radiator in one rush when I was in the one place that someone could actually do something about it without breaking my bank account. (Isn't God so merciful?)

Well, my brother inspected my car and quickly found the leak--a big one. He told me to be careful and fill up the antifreeze tank with water each time I drove it.

So I drove it home the next day, and then to campus the next day. When I returned to campus after our nightly "Chinese house dinner" (more about the FLSR later) I was shocked to see my car leaking water all the way in to the parking lot. And a puddle in the parking lot.

After a 3 day hiatus of not driving it so it would make it up to Lehi that Friday without exploding (I'm too spoiled these days. But it is way too hot to walk back and forth to campus 18 times because I have to go home for dinner!!) I bought a new radiator and took it up to Lehi to have my brother replace it, watching the rear view mirror the whole way to make sure I wasn't gushing water (the temperature gauge in my car is broken, and I didn't want my radiator to explode or my engine to crack!). When I parked in his driveway and got out, I heard the sound of gushing water. If only I had had a camera. My car was gushing water like a waterfall. This was no small leak!

Thankfully my brother replaced the radiator with the new one I had purchased. And the best news? The cost of the radiator was less than the cost of taking the GRE.