I've been getting ready to say goodbye to the Esprit V8, since I knew I'd be selling it sometime over the coming months to make room for the Roadster. The Esprit has been fun and educational, but it's also been frustrating in some ways.
So. . . I hopped in the other day intending to take one of my last spins in it, and I found she wouldn't start. I tried jumping off the motor, but it was no good -- it cranked and sputtered but wouldn't fire up. Then I started to look around closely under the hood.
A rat had made his home in the car. He'd started building a nest on top of the engine cover. He'd left little paw prints all around the engine compartment. He'd chewed through the fuel vent line from the gas tank. Worst of all, he'd chewed through some of the electrical wiring and left bits of it laying about.
It took me TWO WEEKS to get one of our local mechanics here to take a look at the car. Then he announced that he didn't think he could fix it properly, and I should take it to the Lotus dealership in Austin. It's 120 miles, so now I have to figure out how I'm going to transport my non-running car down there.
Meanwhile, I've been trying to stop the rat, or rats. First I set out glue traps. I've had good results with these in the past, but some brands worked well and some didn't work at all. The ones I got this time caught a lot of crickets, lizards and toads, but no rats.
Next I set out mechanical traps and poison bars and pellets. The rat licked the bait off the mechanical traps without triggering them. However. . . He also gnawed one of the poison bars pretty good, and carried a bunch of poison pellets up into the engine compartment of the car. (Oh, and he also chewed a bit on the trim and carpeting in the trunk area, while he was at it.)
I'm hoping the poison put a stop to the damage, at least. I cleaned up the garage today and found he'd been having a party all over the place. He'd chewed on many other things besides the car, and left droppings and pee stains all around. It had all been out of sight, under and behind things, so I hadn't noticed until he got around to the car wiring.
I've tried to find someone locally who will transport the car for me, but no luck yet. I suspect I'll end up hiring one of the national shipping companies and shelling out $500 to get it to Austin.
It does sometimes seem like this car has been jinxed.
So. . . I hopped in the other day intending to take one of my last spins in it, and I found she wouldn't start. I tried jumping off the motor, but it was no good -- it cranked and sputtered but wouldn't fire up. Then I started to look around closely under the hood.
A rat had made his home in the car. He'd started building a nest on top of the engine cover. He'd left little paw prints all around the engine compartment. He'd chewed through the fuel vent line from the gas tank. Worst of all, he'd chewed through some of the electrical wiring and left bits of it laying about.
It took me TWO WEEKS to get one of our local mechanics here to take a look at the car. Then he announced that he didn't think he could fix it properly, and I should take it to the Lotus dealership in Austin. It's 120 miles, so now I have to figure out how I'm going to transport my non-running car down there.
Meanwhile, I've been trying to stop the rat, or rats. First I set out glue traps. I've had good results with these in the past, but some brands worked well and some didn't work at all. The ones I got this time caught a lot of crickets, lizards and toads, but no rats.
Next I set out mechanical traps and poison bars and pellets. The rat licked the bait off the mechanical traps without triggering them. However. . . He also gnawed one of the poison bars pretty good, and carried a bunch of poison pellets up into the engine compartment of the car. (Oh, and he also chewed a bit on the trim and carpeting in the trunk area, while he was at it.)
I'm hoping the poison put a stop to the damage, at least. I cleaned up the garage today and found he'd been having a party all over the place. He'd chewed on many other things besides the car, and left droppings and pee stains all around. It had all been out of sight, under and behind things, so I hadn't noticed until he got around to the car wiring.
I've tried to find someone locally who will transport the car for me, but no luck yet. I suspect I'll end up hiring one of the national shipping companies and shelling out $500 to get it to Austin.
It does sometimes seem like this car has been jinxed.
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