Car News

[cjsmith]

Dropped my car off on Friday. Got the news today, and it was better than I'd feared.

1. The "clunk" I was hearing during *some* shifts was not in fact the transmission. YAY! It was a broken weld on one of the mounts. The bolts had, in the engineer's words, been "completely tweaked". I interpret this to mean that they were bent, stripped, or even sheared. Fixing that was a couple hours of labor. Far better than transmission trouble. Phew.

2. He could not reproduce the loss of power I've been seeing. Boo! No shock, though: this hasn't acted up "properly" for any mechanic yet. I can reproduce it reliably, so I may have to drive it myself with a mechanic beside me.

3. He re-soldered the connection to my rear window defrost. YAY! I can solder, myself, but not on glass.

4. He could see nothing wrong with my battery/alternator. No surprise. I know there's a problem, but it's still developing. It simply hasn't gotten bad enough yet. Even when it does, I can probably quote the bill to within ten dollars. It happens every two to three years on this car. It's the voltage regulator. No, I don't know why.

Guess I don't need a new car quiiiite yet. Heh.

Comments

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

this hasn't acted up "properly" for any mechanic yet. I can reproduce it reliably

proximity effect - n - that phenomenon wherein any device or system which appears to be functioning outside of normal parameters ceases to exhibit said abnormal behavior when an expert on that device or system is present.

;-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Exactly. "The voice of its Master", or something like that.

[mighty-sam.livejournal.com]

"completely tweaked"

I believe that is a classic example of a regional expression for FUBAR.

When I lived in Buffalo and worked at Circuit City, I always got a laugh when some old guy came in and said he needed a new TV because his old one had "shit the bed".

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I use "fried" or "hosed" similarly. I wish he'd told me exactly what had happened instead of "tweaked", but oh well.

I love that expression: "shit the bed". That's great!

[rampling.livejournal.com]

Congrats on not needing a new transmission! I wasn't so lucky very recently (while still jobhunting, even!). Glad that's over!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I bought this transmission in December of 2002, just after having been laid off, remotely via phone -- I was in Ohio due to my grandmother's health. So yeah, I hear you about complete transmission rebuilds while jobless. Anyway, this tranny's only two years old. It darn well oughta be okay.

[portia.livejournal.com]

Wow, I am impressed with your intimate knowledge of your car's "health" issues. The fact that you know the difference between the battery/alternator/voltage regulator is well, it is amazing. You are quickly becoming my hero. She flies planes, is major computer geek, travels the world, knows about cars... Wow again! ;o)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Eh, I only know it's the voltage regulator because that's what it ALWAYS IS, EVERY @#$!ING TIME, and nobody can tell me WHY. Grr. Ah well. At least there are only three digits in that repair bill!

(Well okay, I did take a course on car repair once. I learned a fair bit about the engine and a couple of accessories -- alternator we touched on -- but very little else. The drive train's a near-total mystery. Then, of course, I've forgotten a lot since.)

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Baling wire and duct tape! You can fix it!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

The voltage regulator? I suppose if I had lotsa time I could puzzle it out. "Hey, buddy, can you spare a diode?" :-)

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

reason #87429657 why we need to live closer: my brother is a good with car stuff, and could probably help you out with the elusive stuff. he's diagnosed many a car ill for me over the phone, plus when he tinkers with my car, he lets me help. mechanics in shops won't let you grab a wrench and start helping out.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

mechanics in shops won't let you grab a wrench and start helping out.

So true. This one was willing to show me where the new weld was, though, which is cool.

number 2

[edsger.livejournal.com]

been fighting that in a different arena lately.

http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?HeisenBug

Re: number 2

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

The term Heisenbug is one of my favorite geek words. :-)