Saturday, September 17, 2005

Kings Island Mix Up

Today was supposed to be the day we took our son to his first amusement park: Paramount's Kings Island. We got free tickets from my sister for Procter & Gamble annual private event at the park.

We got up this morning and set out on the 3-1/2 hour drive, despite the rain, with a stop planned at my sister's to pick up the tickets. I could have had her mail them to us, but she wanted to see my son again, so I thought the polite thing to do was make the detour to pick up the tickets on the way.

We arrive at my sister's house in Ohio and had a brief visit with her, her husband, and my dad who rode down on his motorcycle to see us. It was nice to see them all again, but as the clouds started to roll in again we thought it best to make it a short visit and get to Kings Island before the rain did.

We stopped at a gas station on the way just around the corner from my sister's house, and my wife called out to me from the car. "Look at this," she said, handing me the tickets.

I looked them over and said, "What?"

She pointed out the dates on the tickets, which said that they were good for Saturday, September 17 and Sunday, September 18 only.

Scroll up a little to the top of this entry and you'll notice the problem: today is Friday, September 16. "I told you I thought it was always on Saturday and Sunday."

My wife was a little disappointed, but I think it actually turned out for the best. We did a little shopping as the rain kept falling, and I'm off on Sundays, so we'll be able to return in two days.

The forecast for Sunday is mostly sunny, and lots of fun.

Joe

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Sent from my Palm Zire 72.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Regarding Lucas UCL, would you know if there are issues with newer cars (2006 Equinox) and the possibility that the addition of the Lucas UCL, tripping the check engine light? My car was actually runnng just fine, about a day or two later the check engine light went on. I had to take it to the dealer but they didn't find any codes.

Anonymous said...

Two things. First, I work in the automotive field. So let me say this: I would be suspicious of the dealer not finding any codes if your check engine light comes on. When the check engine light comes on, even if it later goes out, the code that triggered the light is stored in the ECMs history and can be retrieved until cleared. There are only two ways to clear the codes: 1) disconnect the battery long enough for the codes to be erased; 2) erase the codes using a code scanner. If the dealer couldn't retrieve any codes it's because they didn't look at the history, which would be enough for me to choose another technician the next time.

That being said, no, I have never heard any report of Lucas Upper Cylinder Lubricant causing any of the symptoms you explained. There is nothing in the formulation of Lucas UCL that would trigger a code error in your car's ECM. Most likely causes of receiving errors shortly after adding Lucas UCL (which I would assume was added at the same time as fuel) are not tightening your fuel cap completely, or some unrelated error, such as a lean fuel mixture (usually caused by a failing or faulty oxygen sensor).

I wouldn't stop using Lucas if it were me. And if I noticed the same symptoms again, I would take my vehicle to someone else to have it checked (and make sure they know what happened at the dealer so they will check the ECM history, as well).

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