OUR STORY SO FAR: Vash's engine has never been perfectly smooth, but he has better and worse days. I am attuned to the sound and feel of this. After the family reunion trip, he started running worse in a way that I was reluctant to venture far afield with; I turned around on Monday because I didn't trust him 30 miles to work, hoping that an oil change would do him some good.
The oil change did him enough good that I was willing to take him to work Thursday, even though the mechanics were unable to duplicate the problematic behavior. Thursday evening he failed to start after work. I returned home on the bus, alternately cursing and praying that a jumpstart would either fix all that was wrong or at least get him back to the mechanics without a truly painful towing fee. (I didn't remember about my chintzy towing plan until much later.)
A jumpstart got him going, reluctantly. 1.3v is not a good voltage for a car battery to be carrying.
( I got him to my mechanic's at roughly fifteen miles per hour, mostly flat, flat-out terrified until I stopped being terrified and started being awesome instead. )
