Everything was working out for us so far, we had no complications and we we're somehow managing to survive.
"Hey, we need to stop for gas." I said into the radio, while parking in the middle of what was now an abandoned highway.
"Yeah we could use gas too." Tyler replied, parking behind us.
We both get out of the trucks, and grab gas cans from the bed of my truck. "We might have enough to fill both tanks. We have 5 of the 5 gallon cans all full." I told him as we were pouring gas into the trucks.
"If it doesnt fill both tanks, it will definitly be enough to get us to where we're going." Tyler said, "How far away are we from the place anyway?"
Heather leaned out the window "We're about 10 miles away."
"We'll make it there." I said
We finished putting gas in the trucks and I got back in my truck and started it. Tyler got in his truck and turned the key but nothing happened. He tried turning it over again but all that came out was the sound of the door chime.
"I know it isn't dead because it's doing the door chime." He said as I got out of the truck and started walking back towards his.
"Can you pop the hood?" I asked him
Tyler pulled the lever and popped open his hood. I took off the cover of the fuse box and put a finger on the starter relay. "Try it." I said.
Tyler turned the key and the relay kicked but nothing else happened.
"Your starter took a shit, I'll go get a hammer and we'll get her running." I said while walking back to my truck. I reached behind the driver seat and pulled out a hammer and made my way back to Tyler's truck. I got down on the ground and crawled underneath his truck. "Alright crank it." I said as I began tapping on the starter with the hammer.
I heard tyler turn the key to the on position and then the engine finally turned over and roared to life, except it was running very rough.
"It's running like shit, what would cause that?" Tyler asked as i came our from under the truck to look in the engine bay
"Could be a lot of different things. It could be a vacuum leak, misfire, a problem with your carb, or even just your plug wires. Which we can cross vacuum leak off the list Because there's no hissing noise." I replied
Heather got out of the truck and walked over to where we were, "whats going on babe?" She questioned.
"Tyler's truck isnt running right." I said.
"Oh, that's a you thing honey. Your the mechanic here." She laughed
"I'd like to start by saying yes, I am a car guy but I specalize in body work, so how do we diagnose it?" Tyler asked.
"Well theres no bangs or pops, which doesn't necesarily mean it isn't misfiring", I informed "can you give it some gas for me?"
Tyler walked to the driver side and stepped on the gas. It revved up just fine and then the second he took his foot off the gas a loud POP sound came from the exhaust.
"Well it's definatly running rich, but I didn't hear a misfire, so fuel is still being delivered to the cylinders which means the carb is doing it's job. So that narrows it down to your plug wires or plugs. Go ahead and shut the engine off for me." I said.
Tyler turned the key off and the engine stopped.
"I'll be right back, I just have to grab a screw driver." I informed Tyler as I walked back to my truck. I grabbed a screw driver and made my way back to Tyler's truck.
"So this is how you test you'r plug wires." I said as I popped of the spark plug wire for cylinder 1. "You'll take the screw driver and stick It on this metal piece here on the cap of the plug." I showed everyone the piece I was talking about. I handed the screw driver to Tyler and he put it where I said to. "Good now, just hold onto that." I said as i walked over to the driver side of his truck. I turned the key and saw Tyler jump.
"Did she shock ya?" I laughed
"Yeah." Tyler said. "There's no way to do this without getting electrocuted?"
"Oh there is, I just don't have the plug tester with me so we have to do it the old fashion way." I told him as I unscrewed the spark plug. I showed everyone the plug. "this is you're spark plug." I pointed to the gap on the bottom. "This is where the spark happens which this one looks fine. If it's bad this little metal piece here would be really worn out and the gap would be bigger" I screwed the spark plug back into it's slot.
"And im guessing you do the same process for all 4 of them?" Heather asked
"Yes we do, good job honey." I replied
We tested the next one. The wire for cylinder 2 was fine and so was the plug
"Onto the next." I said
We pulled the wire off of the cylinder plug and it had no spark.
"There's your problem, cylinder 3 isn't getting any spark." I said to Tyler. I looked at the metal connector in the cap and it was covered in corrosion. "The issue is it's not getting any connection, you're connector is all corroded. Can I see the screw driver?"
Tyler handed me the screw driver and I began scrapping the corrosion off leaving a clean, bare metal surface. I plugged the wire back in.
You wanna start it up?" I asked him.
Tyler went and turned the key but it didn't start. I crawled back under the truck and tapped the started again as he cracked on it and it finally started. It was finally running normal again.
"We're gonna have to try to source out a starter for you, and then she'll be good as new." I told him
"Baby, it smells like candy all of a sudden." Heather said
"Well fuck. Shut her off." I said "A sweet smell is not good. Here's your next lesson of the day." I crawled under the truck and signaled for Tyler to come under the truck with me.
"This big metal shit right here, is you'r radiator and this plastic container next to it is your coolant resevoir, and it's wet."
"What does that mean if it's wet?" Tyler asked.
"It means you'r leaking coolant from your resevoir. That's where the sweet smell is coming from. Coolant has a very sweet smell to it." I said while pointing to the resevoir. "Do we have any duck tape?" I can do a temporary fix until we find a parts store and can get some tank weld."
"Yeah, I have some in the truck." Tyler responded as he got out from under the truck to go grab it. He soon returned with a roll of duck tape and handed it to me.
"Hey babe, can you get me a shirt from my suitcase?" I asked Heather as i took my shirt off and wiped the excess coolant off the tank. I grabbed the duck tape again and ripped a piece off and stuck over the leak.
I pulled myself out from under Tyler's truck and stood up.
"Here you go honey." Heather said, handing me a new shirt.
I slipped it on. "You should be all good to go." I said to Tyler. "Hopefully it'll start this time without tapping the starter."
Tyler went and turned the key and it started without me tapping the starter.
"Good shit, lets get this party rolling again." I said. Heather and I walked back to our truck and got in and we continued on down the road.
YOU ARE READING
The Burden Of Tomorrow
HorrorIn a world where zombies have taken over, one man and his wife gather a crew of friends and family to fend off the zombies as they venture to the safety of a old abandoned prison. The zombies are smart and have other plans for the survivors leading...
