Is my van allergic to me?

We got a tune up right before we left Memphis. It worked fine all the way out on our move to Whiteville NC. The first time I drive it after we drop off the moving van it sputters on acceleration and starts to mis-fire! Ruth said that was the first time she noticed it. It ran poorly all the way back to the house and the next day when we started it up it ran perfectly. It did this same thing off and on over the next few weeks. When we went up to Mom and Dad's in Clayton we had a friend of theirs look at it. He found some things that looked fishy with the spark-plug wires and did his best to fix them. It worked fine for a little while but, like usual, on the way home it started sputtering and wanting to die on idle. I decided to just change the wires myself and if that didn't work I'd take it in to a shop that Dr. L___ recommended to me. It didn't work. So, I took it to the highly recommended C___, a really nice mechanic here in Whiteville. I also told him to change the timing belt while he was at it just to be on the safe side.


One month later - to make this long story slightly shorter - our van is still in the shop. It was declared "fixed" several times, only to sputter and die one or two short in-town trips later. Because of this, poor C___ wouldn't let me pay him until I could use it long enough to be sure the problem was fixed.

My trip to the contact lens seminar was coming up and we needed our car to go to the airport and for Ruth and the kids to drive up to Mom and Dad's while I was gone. The van wasn't fixed yet, nor would we have trusted it if it were, so we were just going to try and find me a ride to the airport. I asked at church if anybody happened to be going to Wilmington and one of the guys said he was and that he could take me when I had to go. He called me the next day and told me that we could just borrow one of his cars that he doesn't use that much. He brought it by and it was a very nice 2002 Buick LeSaber.

Since we were going to be gone for several days the mechanics would have a good chance to make sure it was running good. The first Monday after getting home we called and he said it was ready to go and that I could come pick it up. He finally let me pay him. Less than $400!! Did I mention he changed me timing belt too!? I was getting ready to let him swipe away $1000 from the old magnetic strip. When I started it up it idled funny - like it was revving up and down. I showed C___ and he asked "is this van allergic to you?" He got in and played with the gas a little and listened and told me that it was probably just from sitting so long. When I put it in drive the revving was strong enough to lurch the van forward as the idling fluctuated. I almost turned around but decided to give it a try. After a few minutes it seemed to stop; however, on the way home I noticed a strange banging noise coming from inside the van. I looked back and saw that the plastic brace that holds one of the rear fold-out windows closed was broken! By then I was late for work and just kept going. The next day I brought it back and told C___ about the revving and the broken window. C___ has tried the last two weeks to fix the idling problem and has given up. He said it only does it for the first few minutes when you start it up in the morning so it's hard to catch it doing it long enough to see what's causing it. Anyway, he's working on the window now and we'll probably go pick it up on Monday (never to take it back again).

I'd like to leave a special thanks to S___ W___ for lending us his car for the past month. Also a special thanks to C___ for having the patience to work on our van for 5-6 weeks. He really is a nice guy and I would recommend his services to anybody.

Monday morning we will find out if allergy season is over.