Said goodbye to my XTerra.

June 10, 2025. Day .

I was driving to Chattanooga in my 1994 Nissan XTerra. I was getting close to Birmingham when I started to hear a ticking sound coming from the right side of the motor. I pulled over and looked at the running motor. I couldn't figure out what was causing it, so I just decided to drive on. A minute after I got back on the highway I started to lose power. Thankfully there was another exit close, less than a mile. Unfortunately, it was rush hour and I got in kind of a traffic jam. I had to floor it to get any speed at all, but I parked it in a parking lot.

An oldish lady who was taling to her daughter asked me "what's wrong witho your car?" I said I didn't really know but it was something. I described the symptoms. She said "Sounds like you ran out of oil. Put a quart of oil in it, it'll be all right." (Notice how I had the hood up at the last stop. Did I check the oil then? NO. What an idiot.) I put in two and it did sound better, but I had already called AAA. The tow driver was patient as I considered whether to just drive on, but then he pushed down on the throttle cables, revving the engine and revealing a serious issue.

"Hear that knocking? That's your rods bottoming out." (Forgive me if I don't transcribe his words exactly right. He thought he was talking to a car guy.)

"Should I drive it, then?" I saked, hopefully, and obliviously.

"You can drive it till it breaks down again, and call another tow truck from there." So, never mind, in other words.

The driver took me to a closed shop in McCalla, Alabama. But he asked "You have AAA Gold, right?" I did, so he said "They'll tow you up to a hundred miles. If you're trying to get to Chattanooga, why not take it further up the road? Just call AAA, they won't care." So I called AAA and got another tow, to Gadsden, which is close enough to Chattanooga that my mom and her friend Michael (a college-aged guy that lives in her building) could drive down to get me.

cars breakdowns ticking sounds 1994 Nissan XTerra Alabama Gadsden McCalla, Alabama Chattanooga Judy Michael (Mom's neighbor) motor oil AAA Gold tow trucks