My car went through hell today

[Nightrage]

My poor car. Today, i picked my girlfriend up. She lives on a hill so after she got in, i took the e-brake off and let it roll down the hill in neutral rolling backward. Well, i never realized it but there's a big storm drain on her street I hear a *schting* and me and my girlfriend just looked at each other wide eyed. I hopped out and noticed that i put a nice little dent in my rear passenger side quarter panel Then on the way home, some guy decided to cut out in front of me from an entrance ramp while i was on the parkway. I ripped it out of gear to downshift it and apparently, i pulled a little too hard toward myself as i went from 5th to 2nd. Luckily i was only doing around 50. I thought i was gonna hit him so i guess i panicked and ripped on it too hard. Then on the road that leads to my girlfriends house, there's a light that allows the people getting off the exit ramp from the parkway to get on to the main road. It also covers for people that are already heading straight on that road and the road that crosses over it. When the people from the off ramp get the light, people that are heading left from the road we merge on to get an arrow. Some lady in a Lexus must have thought the light turned green for her to go straight so as i'm merging onto this road, she went straight and nearly hit me. I literally could have reached out of my window and touched her car. That was a close call. The switch for the passenger side window broke too. My car and i are having a bad day

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

Some days you're the windshield, and some days you're the bug.

I've had days like that myself. Coupla weeks ago I am coming home from Chicago, 100 miles away, and I decide to pull off the interstate about 5 miles from my house to get some takeout. I get the food and jump back on the interstate, but there's a huge line of trucks all packed together and I can't just merge or get behind, so I decide to floor it. Anyway, I had the aux fuel pump turned off for the long trip so I flip it on and stomp the gas - I take off like a rocket and pass all the trucks to get onto the interstate. Now just that instant the dash lights up and the car overheats. I pull over and shut it off - the gauge is pegged and the antifreeze is boiling, so I flip on the fans (engine off) & try to see if the waterpump is running, but I can't tell cause of the noise on the interstate. The car won't cool down either. Seems like I had somehow turned OFF the waterpump when I turned ON the extra fuel!!! Anyway I waited a while and drove 1/4 mi off the interstate and it overheated worse even with the waterpump turned back on, and barfed some more of the antifreeze. So I went to a house to get a jug of water and hardly could get any in there - now it's Saturday night and getting dark out, so I'm in a panic. I call a tow truck to get me home cause I think I wrecked a head gasket or worse, being my head temp was reading over 260. Looks like a little water in the tailpipe. The takeout was oozing out of the bag, my car was probably wrecked, and I'm stranded. Anyway, the tow truck gets there fast and we get the car home w/o any further issues. Next day, I go to look at the damage, hoping for the best, and refill the fluid & start the car. I bleed the coolant and ALL IS WELL!!! Danm! So if I had let it cool enough to get all the steam out of the heads, I might have not needed a tow and could have drove home, but I was worried about not having any help late Sat night if I waited too long. Learned a lot about the cooling system of that car and absolutely have to idiot-proof my waterpump and fuel pump situation in the near future. Luckily the ARP head bolts, thick AFR heads, and good head gaskets saved me from myself. And I have to say that the extra $6 I spent for emergency roadside/towing service on my 6 month insurance policy was money well spent!

[Negotiator]

Yea, birds love to overheat and spit their coolant all over! I was driving a '91 firebird formula at the time of my story. I was picking up my friend's mother from the airport because my friends couldn t get her. I make it there in good time, (excellent time!! hahaha I love firebirds!) T-tops off, music blaring, nothing wrong with the car at all. On the return trip...it was not to be in my favor at all. At that point in time, the radiator decided to blow not one, but four holes in itself!! So, Bradley international Airport is about 40 miles away from where I live in Massachusetts. I had no money for a tow, and noone could help me out. So, I had to drive my poor angry formula all the way back, stopping at every offramp on the highway to get water for her to coll down a bit. Now, I did try to put the heater on to lessen the heat on the engine...but lo and behold, the heater core was in dire need of cleaningand hardly worked! Mind you, this is the dead of summer, so it's hot as two rats in a wool sock. Well, I got her back, and it only took 3 HOURS!!! But because I took care of her not to let her get too hot and letting her sit for a long while, the only thing damaged was her radiator, and her pride. This was a year ago, the car still runs beautifully, so we know for sure that was the only issue with her.