My take on an old story

Ever heard the story of the giant ship engine that failed?

The ship’s owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure out how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ship’s owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.

What?! the owners exclaimed. He hardly did anything!

So they wrote the old man a note saying, Please send us an itemized bill.

The man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer ................................. $2.00
Knowing where to tap .............................. $9,998.00

Now, the modern version:

Came home and cs said the Camry was capute. Checked the battery, charged it up and tried starting it. No go. Took the battery out and took it to AutoZone and Checker to test it. Both places said that it was good and fully charged.

They both stated that it probably was the starter motor. I knew that sometimes they get "flat" spots and the brushes won't turn to get the charge going. I knew how to jumper it across with a long handled screw driver, but I couldn't figure how to do this one.

The AutoZone guy told me "unofficially" that sometimes you can tap it with a hammer and get it to go. I wasn't quite sure what to do. But the Checker guy told me to tap the starter with a hammer while someone was trying to start the car. I couldn't figure out how to get in there to tap it because it was such tight quarters. He said that I might have to use a pipe.

So Hans and I went home. We got the battery back in place and I found a three foot 2 x 4 that had been cut in half length wise. I put one end of the wood against the starter motor and told Hans to start the car up. As he was doing it, I smacked the other end of the wood with the hammer.

Yes!! A puff of smoke came out of the starter motor and it worked like a charm — started the car up and purred like a kitten. In the words of Grandma Rose — un…be…lievable!

If needed, my hammer and I are now available for a "small" consultation fee.