Icy roads here in Montreal. Decided to stop to get some beer (lousy day, one of my HDs was killed, it was part of a 4 drive RAID0 stripe, lost 80 Gigs of Data, pictures and videos of my cat giving birth, all my MP3s, all my Babylon 5 eps, etc...). Was late for work this morning, got in a big argument with my boss (my Department manager had to split us up, she's a really nice woman (cute too), my cat is sick (cancer, she prevented me from ending it all, she's got about 6 months to go (7 years old)), got a disciplinary letter yesterday (for being late a couple of times last month), got late this morning (which turned into the argument mentionned before).

One of my new coworkers forgot his lights, so had to boost start him (NOTE TO SELF: Buy smart jumper cables). He connected both wires to his battery, told him to ground the negative on his car's frame (he did). I connected my side on my battery (car running), BANG! big spark, RPM going down, smoke coming out of my alternator. The moron connected the Positive wire on the - side of his battery (thus shorting out my electrical system). THERE'S A BIG RED COVER ON HIS BATTERY POLE, is he colorblind? They were sparks everywere. His engine was sparking, my car was dying. Next time, I'll use the crowbar resting in my door

He told me (don't worry, i'll see you next week). Don't bother, if you broke something, I'll see you I just hope it fried something in his @!#$ Honda. Alternator seems to be good, got home (about 20 miles) with *everything* turned on. Defrost, radio, headlights, A/C, everything I could think of to make sure the car wasn't running on the battery alone (smoke came out of my alternator & voltage regulators while boosting the moron)
I have to reprogram channels and clock on my radio too. That pisses me off, reprogramming that head unit is as simple as a moon mission.


So, to take care of that, I decided to get some beer (told myself, waht could happen next, besides the pool catching fire)

Leaving the store, i hit an ice patch (nasty bitch of an ice patch, couldn't see it, never saw it), and slid right into a brand new Protege (tried to steer left, hitting the sidewalk, a pole, a Phone booth, whatever but the car). @!#$ ABS brakes. I despise those things. Car went straight trhu as If it had a mind of his own. (Sometimes I wonder if my crapmobile is Christine's child)

His bumper got some scratches, he was not happy at all. He was stuck on *you hit me, you scratched my bumper*. Sorry I scratched your bumper man, mine is almost in the street. Some people just value material over life. I'm glad I didn't hurt anyone tonight.. I had to cut my bumper using a hacksaw with the help of my landlord and a neighbour, it was touching my right front wheel (gotta admit, I'm running on 4-season tires. I have 4 winter tires on rims sitting in my locker, too lazy to swap them, but tonight it wouldn't have changed anything. We (me and the other guy) could barely walk without tripping on the street..

My right light is broken (socket out of alignement too), the front grille is broken (gets me an excuse to put in a Z grille + front fender), right side reflector is busted too. (gets along with the left one broken by the previous owner)

To make it better, my insurance expired 2 days ago (so I will pay for damages.)

I don't really care about my damages, since I'm getting a used Caprice Police Cruiser (Corvette 350) for 500 bucks (engine is leaking one quart every month, it will have to get the engine rebuilt). But I'm @!#$ pissed about those ABS brakes. I wonder if GM can make them even crappier (stick poles into the wheel would have been better). Didn't have those on my '79 Celica, and it was a RWD.

'79 T-Bird with a 4-barrel Police pack 351C didn't have those either.

I would like of course to fix the damage on my KrapenKar. I figured around 2-300 hundred. about same amount for his car. (I'm giving it to my cousin this summer, when I'll buy my 325 beemer)

Good news though, I found out the dead HD is okay, just needs a new PCB (got a new IBM Ultrastar off Ebay, so I will use it's controller)

It kinda prevented from hanging myself

Kneel down under dash, Find ABS fuse, Remove said fuse, Enjoy life again.

that sucked for you and your car.if u want any part for your cavy,go to nord-sud piece d auto,in ville d anjou,they got some z and part r really cheap.i got my z hood for 35$ and i asked the guy and he told me for 200 i can take what i want on the car(all tht i need to convert my rs to a z).only thing u have to remove the parts yourself.but go there with some friends,u have to pay like 2$/person to get into the site but its one of the best place for cavy around mtl.good luck!

I might be mistaking, but isn't that illegal?

Hamsterdan wrote:I might be mistaking, but isn't that illegal?

(unplugging the ABS system)

What they dont know wont hurt you

as long as you plug it back in befor you get an inspection there is no way for then to know how ever i think it would cause your anti-lock brake light to come on.

Evan Griggs wrote:as long as you plug it back in befor you get an inspection there is no way for then to know how ever i think it would cause your anti-lock brake light to come on.

hehe..inspections??..whats that..we ain't got those in montreal ..emissions tests and all those other tests are only done here when the vehicle hasn't been plated in over a year..only emissions test i had was a cop with a cloth hanger..he stuffs the cloth hanger up the exhaust..if he hits something, you pass..if he doesn't you get a written warning for next time..not a 24hr notice..just a written notice to say if they catch you next time your balls are fried....ne-waz sorry to hear about the car dude..i'm from montreal also and ABS is just @!#$ in the winter. mainly on ice..isn't the whole point of ABS is to let the driver stay in control of the car instead of skidding out of control..well how can you kid out of control if you can't even stop the car .hehe...for next time, save your life/car and pull the fuse

ABS = whattajoke



Originality and Creativity surpasses Popularity

On that same subject,

how much can I exoect to pay to replace / repair his bumper?

(late 90s Mazda Protege), the bumper is only scratched (what are those made of anyways, lead?) according to the damage on mine, I would have expected lots more damages on his car.

I would have no idea, that's usually up to incurance adjusters and the guy you hit. But if it were me and it were a scratch and I knew it wasn't something you could help... I'd only have you pay to have the paint touched up. If he's an @!#$, he could get an entirely new paint job out of you. *shrugs* I suggest you try to find out tho, although I guess that's why you asked in the first place.



Originality and Creativity surpasses Popularity

Well, phone hasn't rang (yet)...

I think the same...

I get hit, my bumper just gets some nicks & scratches, I would not even bother. )Cavy parts are available everywhere)

My '82 Prelude got rear ended about 10 years ago, I replaced the bumper. (it's kinda cool seeing your bumper flying over the car)

But not as cool as heraing the automatic carwash louder than usual, and having the fuse blow out while trying to close the sunroof. Had to take out the seats and let them dry

In montreal, you * do not want * to claim insurance..

A friend of mine got hit by an old Bronco II in his Tiburon.

His insurance went from 1,000 / year to about 3,000 / year ( he got sideswiped, wasn't responsible....)

I was mistaken.. The abs fuse is not under the dash. At least not on the main fuse panel. I just put non-abs rear wheel bearings on my cav and the ABS is on all the time.. I'm planning on putting in a non-abs master cylinder later on. For now i'll just take the bulb out of the gauge cluster

ABS is a great invention, just some people are stupid and dont know how to drive a car with ABS

ABS basically automatically 'pumps' the brakes for you when your wheels would otherwise be locked up.

and when your front wheels lock up, you have zero ability to steer the car in any direction, the thing just plows.

so the ABS system pumps the breaks for you, and allows the tires to continue to rotate. as the tires continue to rotate, you gain back the ability to steer the car.

...some people just dont know how to drive, they think that if the car is skidding, they can just reef on the steering wheel and turn the wheels all the way and think that somehow the car will regain grip and turn. then when it doesnt they wonder why

All_Stance wrote:ABS is a great invention, just some people are stupid and dont know how to drive a car with ABS

ABS basically automatically 'pumps' the brakes for you when your wheels would otherwise be locked up.

and when your front wheels lock up, you have zero ability to steer the car in any direction, the thing just plows.

so the ABS system pumps the breaks for you, and allows the tires to continue to rotate. as the tires continue to rotate, you gain back the ability to steer the car.

...some people just dont know how to drive, they think that if the car is skidding, they can just reef on the steering wheel and turn the wheels all the way and think that somehow the car will regain grip and turn. then when it doesnt they wonder why

..i guess your not understanding to much on this topic first debated..your right on the fact of what abs does and how it functions..but these cars have drums in the rear..if it were discs i think it would be a different story(as long as it was set up right)..the rear on there cars just lock up with ease..but the abs module freaks out and pulses all 4 wheels...instead of just the wheel that skids..yet the front could even be on concrete..take today for example..there wasn't any snow on the ground ..just wet..i was doing maybe 20km's up to a stop sign..my car almost rear ended the dude infront of me cause 1 rear wheel locked for a milisec..so the module pulsed all 4 wheels...problem wasn't with the driver..nor the tires nor the weather..nor the speed traveled..problem was due to the damn abs kicking in on all 4 wheels...i agree abs can save lifes..but GM was smoke'n somethin good when these abs modules were developed...just my 2cents

All_Stance wrote:ABS is a great invention, just some people are stupid and dont know how to drive a car with ABS

ABS basically automatically 'pumps' the brakes for you when your wheels would otherwise be locked up.

and when your front wheels lock up, you have zero ability to steer the car in any direction, the thing just plows.

so the ABS system pumps the breaks for you, and allows the tires to continue to rotate. as the tires continue to rotate, you gain back the ability to steer the car.

...some people just dont know how to drive, they think that if the car is skidding, they can just reef on the steering wheel and turn the wheels all the way and think that somehow the car will regain grip and turn. then when it doesnt they wonder why

This is assuming the ABS is working correctly. Some of us learned to drive on cars without ABS. Once you have it so ingrained in your memory to "feel" when a tire is sliding and let off the brakes, its hard to stop doing that, I guess that makes us "Stupid". The abs on these older cars never were good from the start, then add the age on top of that, they get really slow to "pulse".

The main problem i had with the abs was the way our cars have the habit of getting sticky rear drums when they sit for a while. I'd come out of my driveway, rear wheel start to skid, then the entire braking system would go haywire and i rolled through a stop sign one day because of it. On an older car lke ours its a good idea to put in a new ABS module, or just get rid of it, becasue they are unsafe. Also might be interesting to know there is only 1 pump for both of the rear wheels, only the front wheels can brake seperately. This is per the Factory Service manual.