You Leave Me Weak (Ballad of an Ersatz Mechanic)

Greetings, y'all! 👋😊

As if 2025 hasn't already thrown enough stuff at me, I recently found myself in the unenviable position of having to figure out how I was going to fix my car myself. 😬 Now, I'm not completely clueless about cars, but I've never tried to actually work on one, so this was going to be a challenge.

Here's what happened - as I was driving home from the city (about 30 miles from home), I heard what sounded like a weedeater hitting a thick patch of weeds, except the sound was coming from under the hood. About a minute later, I heard it again, then it stopped, and the battery light on the dashboard came on. 😬 My first thought was that the serpentine belt had broken or come off, so I pulled into an empty parking lot in front of a church to take a look under the hood. My suspicion was correct - the belt was nowhere to be seen. Since the car's power steering and brakes seemed to be unaffected, I made the decision to continue driving to get as close to home as I could. My previous vehicle's water pump operated off the serpentine belt, so I turned the climate control temperature all the way to 'Hot' and kept one eye on the temperature gauge and the other on the road ahead as I drove carefully down the road (sweating and praying the whole time). When I saw that the engine temperature was staying steady in the safe zone, I relaxed a bit and just prayed that the battery would hold out. Long story short, I made it all the way home without any other problems.

Now I had to figure out what I was going to do next. I knew I had to get a new belt, but how was I going to get it installed? Money is tight, so I can't just get a tow to a local mechanic shop, and mobile mechanics aren't free, either. So I got online and searched for tutorials on how to install the belt myself. What I found wasn't super encouraging. The 'easy way' involved removing a tire and splash guard, and utilizing a long screwdriver and floor jack to install the belt from underneath the car. 🤯   

I don't have a floor jack, nor the stamina to jack up the car and remove a tire. I also have a gravel driveway and ants build nests in the darndest places, so the idea of getting under the car with no easy escape if something went wrong was a big ol' NOPE! My only viable option was to attempt this job from above, under the hood, and I knew going in that I had very little room to work. Thankfully, my arms and fingers are long (and probably the only body parts I have that I'd call 'slim'). 

My first foray was to determine where the pulleys were located and whether I could get my hands into the space with the new belt. There was just enough room, but it was a tight squeeze, and I couldn't get the belt seated in the slot on the main pulley. After two unsuccessful attempts, I called it a day and decided to take some more time to think on things. The next day, I was able to get the belt threaded onto 2 of the 3 pulleys, but I couldn't release the tensioner pulley to get the belt seated in the groove of the last pulley. I was at an impasse, and I knew I'd gotten as far as I could on my own. The following morning, a friend from church came over to lend a hand, and between the two of us, we figured out a solution to the tensioner pulley problem, and finally the new belt was installed!

I know that I could have saved myself a headache and bruised arms by just calling around and asking someone for help from the beginning, but I felt that I needed to at least try doing the job on my own. Even though I eventually needed a second set of muscles, I was able to get 99% of the job done through determination and creative problem solving. I'm used to having to figure out how to do things in unconventional ways. 😄

I'm not planning to give up my careers as a computer worker or musician to take up auto mechanics, and I probably won't do it in my spare time, either. But if minor repairs are needed, I don't feel like I'm just stuck without options, and I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty. 

Off to new adventures! ✌❤🙏🏻😊