Re: Natural Disaster Hits Minnesota

["Mark L. Chang" <mchang@ece.nwu.edu>]

On Sat, 27 Mar 1999, Paul Kuettel wrote:

> The right rear tire was shredded to bits and I had been rimming it for
> god only knows how far.  Put on my full-size spare (from a Scorpio, fits
> perfectly) and went to Norm's Tire to have some used rubber reattached
> to my tortured rim, which luckily was still servicable.

Yikes.  How'd that happen?

> He spliced every wire.  Right where things bend.  The rubber boot had
> pulled back and there was quite a bit of copper wire braided together,
> rubbing against the sharp bare metal of the hole in the door.

Doh.

> Should I take out a contract on this guy?  Since I store my Audi during
> the summer, it had only gone 1200 miles since the *repair*

I think you shouldn't take a out contract, but remember never to go near
that guy's shop again.  A friendly word or two to his face might make you
feel better, tho'.

> What can I expect to find, as far as collateral damage?  What could have
> fried downstream?

Hopefully the fuses sacrificed themselves the way their supposed to.  Had
similar problems on my 4kq.  Pulling back the boot revealed 12 years of
opening and closing on those wires.  Frayed and cracked insulation, and
definitely shorting out stuff everwhere.  Worked _sometimes_, but would
consistently blow fuses.  So, hopefully, your car did the same to protect
itself.

> Can anyone in GopherLand recommend a good electrician?  My mistake was
> using a mechanic.  His mistake was accepting the work!!!

Do it yourself.  In my 4kq, I removed the door panel and lower parcel
shelf, fished out all the connections, used _real wire_ that has a nice
thick insulation jacket, and fixed it all up.  DO NOT put splices in the
door jamb area.  Put them _inside_ the car, or at least inside the door.
You will thank us all later.  Grommets or twist ties can be helpful to
keep everything in a nice tight bundle as well to prevent pinching in the
jamb.

Grab a soldering iron and go for it!

Best,
Mark

Windows NT crashed.                          ICQ 9059481
I am the Blue Screen of Death.            For PGP public key:
No one hears your screams.             finger mchang@ece.nwu.edu