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Today my Z saw what I believe to be the most misfortune suffered in a single day without getting into an accident. I'll try to keep this short, as it is very depressing. On my way to the Air National Guard base in Lincoln, NE (only about 3 miles from where I reside), my car began stalling. As I went around a loop to catch a local highway, it started. I took this loop at an unusually low speed, about 20 mph. This is because there was someone in sight ahead of me and I wanted to keep a distance. Anyway, it was a loop that could safely be taken at 45 or 50 mph. Well, the first time my stereo just flickered off then on again, almost as though I could have easily imagined it. About 30 seconds later, all of my dash lights lit at once, but soon turned back off. I thought that this was odd, but I should be able to get to my destination to analyze what was obvious to me to be small wiring malfunction. Well, before I knew it, I was rolling to the shoulder with no power steering. I was only about half a mile from base, so when I turned the key and heard it start back up again, I was confident that it did not warrant stopping. Well, as I made the last turn before getting my ID checked at the gate, it hesitated for a second or two. However, I began smelling something aweful. I assumed that it was perhaps just the smell of brakes, though I had barely touched them during my trip. Anyway, as I pulled up the the hanger, just past the main gate, I witnessed a small amount of smoke drift across my hood. I quickly parked as the smoke became more evident almost immediately. I quickly shut it off and popped the hood. Much to my surprise, there were 10" flames coming off of my 6-month-old Optima Yellow-top battery. I immediately through off my military BDU shirt and started swatting the flames. That was hardley effective, but then I remembered that I had picked up a bottle of Mt. Dew before leaving for the base. I then proceeded to around the Z to grab the pop out of the passenger seat. Within seconds, I had emptied the entire twenty ounce bottle of Mt. Dew on the battery to extingiush the flames. I then had to abandon my duties at the base to head to O'reilys. I really wanted to get that battery out quick -- in case any acid were going to try and eat through my hoses which hide underneath. Well, $171 later, I had replaced the battery on what was left of the battery tray (about 75%). The diagnosis by O'reilys was that my GZA battery tie had made contact with my red terminal, which had my stereo, ground included, connected to it. This is bad, appearently? So, until I can get all of my hoses and piping accounted for and reliable, it was going to need to be driven. It started beautifully, even after the fire. Well, it was 11:30PM by the time I got off, but then had to go night clerk at a dorm on campus. As I drove to this dorm, I began to wonder if it would rain or not. I decided that since my car would only be about 10 feet away from me, that I could leave my T-Tops off. My job requires that I sit right by the door to the dorm and my parking spot was just outside about 3 feet from the front steps. Well, I began listing an HKS FMIC kit at about 2:00am and worked on it until I was relieved at 4:00. As I stood up to go clock out, I glanced out the window beside me and saw that it was pooring. Appearently, it had been raining for about 20 minutes. I immediately ran out the door to install my T-tops. But there was the floor was already very damp and my driver's seat was soaked. Luckily, the passenger seat was covered with a towel on which had the scorched battery sitting in a box. I then went to the parking garage and started to soak up as much of the water as I could. Finally, I decided to retire for the night at about 6:00am. I left the T-tops off, but put my car cover on in the parking garage, with the hopes of a sunny day today, which would allow the rest of the dampness to evaporate if I tilted the seats forward. Well, that's my story of a beautifully maintained Z starting on fire and getting flooded all in the same night. If anyone is still reading to this point, you are probably convinced that I show nothing but neglect to my 300ZX, but below are pictures I took yesterday for a calendar shoot. As you can see, no matter how much you care for your car, it is impossible to keep your car perfect everyday.
P.S. If you are interested in a sympathy bid on my FMIC kit, here is a link to the auction...
La Z link
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Bad day for the Z... - 
