Engine Failure Fail

(This is back when the ‘service engine soon’ light is a relatively new feature in cars. One day, the light comes on, so my dad takes it in to the local auto shop. The car is fixed the next day, all is fine, but then the light comes on again. Dad takes it in again, and again it’s fixed in a day, and the cycle begins anew. After about a month or so, the car finally won’t start. Dad tows it into the auto shop.)

Mechanic: “Yeah, I don’t know what’s wrong with your car.”

Dad: “But that ‘Service Engine Soon’ light kept coming on! Surely you found something wrong every time you fixed that.”

Mechanic: “Oh, that. I have no idea what that light’s for.”

Dad: “Then what were you doing to fix it?”

Mechanic: “I’d just disconnect the battery for a few minutes, and then hook it back up. That resets the on-board computer, and that gets rid of that light completely.”

Dad: “So, you actually have no idea why that light kept coming on?”

Mechanic: “Nope.”

(We lived in a small town. Despite being quite expensive, Dad paid the extra to have the car towed into the city to the dealership, where it was discovered that a faulty processor in the computer kept causing the light to come on…and eventually shut down the engine for its own protection. From that day on, Dad always took the car into the dealership!)