Main fundraiser photo

Ack, Minivan Repairs!

Donation protected
The good news: now we know why the alternator keeps failing!

(Photo: Harena and Woozle just after purchasing Daisy in March, 2019)

The Short Version

It turns out Daisy not only needs a new alternator but also a new camshaft cover (something like that) which has been leaking onto the alternator and wrecking it. Altogether, it's going to be $700+ -- and we're already running on the edge of insolvency this month, so I thought I'd better ask for help with that.

The Woozalien Neurodivergent Blathering Version

So -- this is Daisy, our 2010 [Space] Odyssey minivan. I bought her back when we were doing a lot more driving and there were 5 people in the house, we had slightly more income, and we were constantly renting vehicles for long travel; at the time, it seemed reasonable to do a little financing to get something reliable. (Side note, though: I will never buy from CarMax again.)

Since then, there's been an ongoing global pandemic and the eldest moved out, so that decision is looking less like a clear win -- but she'll be paid off a year from now this month, and should last essentially forever as long as we keep up with maintenance -- and she's excellent for family travel as well as hauling lumber and other cargo.

The alternator died in July 2020. We had it replaced at a low-budget shop near us. (They do good work and don't overcharge, but they're not diagnosticians.)

In October 2022, it started acting up again, so this time I took it to our diagnostician -- but they said the battery terminals just needed tightening. They also fixed leaking valve cover gaskets and "plenum / throttle body" gaskets.

Last week it started acting up again -- and it turns out that this other thing had been leaking on the alternator, and had killed it again. In retrospect I have to wonder if the gasket leak wasn't masking the leak they found this time.

Hopefully that will fix this sporadic (and expensive) issue for real, this time.

I'm sorry to have to ask for money again; I have a possibility of some paying work coming up later this month, but even if that were guaranteed it seems unlikely that it could get us out of the hole in time. So here we are...

Organizer

Woozalia Staddon
Organizer
Durham, NC

Your easy, powerful, and trusted home for help

  • Easy

    Donate quickly and easily.

  • Powerful

    Send help right to the people and causes you care about.

  • Trusted

    Your donation is protected by the  GoFundMe Giving Guarantee.