Props to the maintenance guy

So after a long day at Cedar Point last night, my friends and I head back into the Magnum lot to my friends' old 95' Bronco. We had problems with the starter when we left home for the Point so it was no surprise when we had problems again when leaving, around 10:30 at night.

My friend is a grease monkey so I figured he would get the problem figured out, but after about 45 minutes of tinkering, we had to call AAA to get a tow. Initially we called our home (Michigan) AAA, who was confused when we were talking about Sandusky, OH and not Sandusky, MI. She transfers us to Ohio AAA, where somehow they didn't know where Cedar Point was (they asked for an address?)

We arrange with AAA to have the truck towed, although we had yet to determine if we were going to have it towed to a hotel and stay overnight in Ohio, or back to Michigan. The AAA people said we needed to be at the front gate when the tow truck gets there so we can tell the driver where the truck is.

It isn't until this point that we contact Cedar Point security and tell them our story. The security guard says that he'll send over one of their vehicle maintenance guys, and if he can't fix it, they'll tow the truck to the front gate for us, so the AAA driver doesn't have to come around to the back lot.

A few minutes later, the maintenance guy shows up, takes a look at the truck, literally hits it with a hammer and a piece of wood, and voila! The truck is running. The guy was friendly and glad to help us out, and even showed my friend exactly what the problem was.

So thanks Mr. Cedar Point Maintenance Guy. We'll give you a call before AAA if we're ever stuck in the parking lot ever again!

*** Edited 6/22/2007 4:18:48 PM UTC by MiLLeNNiuMRiDeR***

Ok, so the engineering gene in me is wondering, what was the problem (since the maintenance guy told you).

Nice to hear that they got it running for you though.

Guess the old FORD definition does apply in this situation too:
Fix Or Repair Daily

Well like I said, my friend knew the problem with the starter, something the solenoid, so somehow hitting that with a rubber mallet at home made that work. The other problem was the fuel pump, which I didn't catch what was wrong with it exactly, but a small piece of wood and a hammer did the trick.

My friend said, "I was so pissed when I couldn't get it running, I was about ready to kick it." to which I replied, "You probably should've kicked it, it might've worked after all!"

MiLLeNNiuMRiDeR said:

A few minutes later, the maintenance guy shows up, takes a look at the truck, literally hits it with a hammer and a piece of wood, and voila!

Sounds just like what they do to rides when they don't work! ;)

Just give that brake a whack bob, it should hold.

MiLLeNNiuMRiDeR said:
So thanks Mr. Cedar Point Maintenance Guy.

For some reason that reminded me of the "real men of genius" ads from Bud Light. LOL!!

My old car had a "flat spot" on the starter, I used to have to crawl under the car and bang on the starter with a hammer. Wow, those were the days...

It "had" a flat spot on the starter, or you and your hammer "put" a flat spot on the starter?

I was 16 years old at the time. We were told by a mechanic that is what we would have to do to get the car to start because there was a flat spot. I just did what I was told. I bought a new truck a few months later.

Makes you wonder what kind of wonders CP maintenance can do with a piece of wood and a hammer.:)

These guys do rock and are usually under-recognized. I've seen many nights leaving the park, and one of their trucks will be out assisting someone in the parking lot.

A few years ago (summer of 2003 I believe) I had a situation where I was in line for Dragster, but it was the end of the day and my friend wanted to go sleep in the car while I rode. I gave him the keys, and at some point he decided he would check the trunk to see if I had a blanket in there. He accidentally locked the keys in the trunk, and my car was old, so it didn't have a trunk release inside the car (which he had already unlocked). When he called me on my cell phone I was pretty mad, thinking my parents would have to come from Toledo to bring the spare keys. Turns out my friend spoke to a CP cop, who called the vehicle maintenance guys over. In under 5 minutes the guy removed the back seat, got the keys, and put the back seat back together. I was really impressed that CP provided us that service when they very well could have just told us we were out of luck. I'm pretty sure I ended up writing the letter to the park afterwards expressing my gratuity. Millenniumrider, I would suggest that you write a letter to the park thanking them. These guys sure deserve some recognition.

Betsy, the visual of you crawling under a car and hitting a starter with a mallet is pretty comical.

TTD 120mph said:
Makes you wonder what kind of wonders CP maintenance can do with a piece of wood and a hammer.:)

Don't forget duct tape! :)

That is a common fix for many of starters. On most starters you want to hit the solenoid (near the top) with something that won't damage it. Rubber hammer, metal hammer and wood like in this case. I have probably helped 20 or so people with that trick. What it does is knocks any dust away from the connections. Your buddy might want to replace the solenoid and not the whole starter.