So the taillight warning is now permanently on, the Check Engine comes on when I get up to highway speed, and on my way back home the transmission really felt like it was going to go. In fact, just as I was getting home, I smelled this ungodly smell coming through the vents. It smelled transmission fluid-like, and it came in combination with some more slippage/refusal to go faster when I stepped on the accelerator. After I parked I popped open the hood to see if the guts of my tranny spilled all over the dipstick and if there were any huge leaks springing from a hose, but I saw neither.
So maybe it was "one of those things" that happens to an old car, or it could be just my imagination, or my car's really going to shit, or that it was Friday the 13th. Unfortunate that I don't know which of these things it is because I need it to perform today (Saturday). My sister and brother-in-law are in town, and the entire family is going to visit my brother and sister-in-law and their new baby. Oh, have I told you I'm a brand-new uncle? Well, she was born about three weeks ago and now the family can formally celebrate. It's been touch-and-go for awhile, but this will be my second time seeing my niece, whereas it'll be my sister and brother-in-law's first time. But we'll be piling into my car because, as roomy as the minivan is, it only has seats for three.
No, I have not told my parents about the Check Engine light or the scary lack of acceleration. And yes, they will freak when we drive over to their place and see that the light comes on and that the cars are blowing by us because we're having a hell of a hard time getting past 40. I've been thinking for many days of how to break the news to them, and I couldn't decide on anything. So now this visit is coming up tomorrow and I am reduced to either warning them beforehand praying the car drives competently.
And I still don't know. I'm guessing I'll drive around tomorrow, just around the neighborhood, to see if the really bad performance issues rear their ugly heads again. Regardless, I might come home all worried and, when Father takes note of my body language cues and ask what's going on (or, better, how the car is), I'll then tell them that the Check Engine light comes on from time to time and it has a lot of trouble accelerating. Maybe then he'll go easy on me about getting rid of this car, and maybe even gently suggest using my sister's SUV from now on, a suggestion I would welcome at this point.
Nah, he'll probably flip his shit and start yelling at me.
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