Van Repairs
Oct. 7th, 2008 07:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevin_standleeThe Service Engine Soon light was caused by a sticking EGR valve, which my mechanic says appears to have been original with the vehicle. He speculates that it was probably the cause of the intermittent lights on the Denver trip.
Now there was a lot of work to be done. TUNE UP. REPLACE DIST. DUE TO BROKEN STATOR SHAFT. REPLACE DIST. CAP AND ROTOR. REPLACE SPARK PLUGS AND SPARK PLUG WIRES. REPLACE PCV VALVE AND FUEL FILTER. REMOVE THROTTLE BODY AND REPLACE GASKETS AND FUEL PRESSURE REGULATOR. SET TIMING. FOUND INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET IS LEAKING VACUUM. REMOVE INTAKE MANIFOLD AND REPLACE GASKET. TORQUE ALL MANIFOLD BOLTS. REPLACE THERMOSTAT AND HEATER HOSE FITTING. FILL WITH COOLANT. TEST DRIVE.
And in the category of stuff contracted out:
SEND THROTTLE BODY BASE TO NOR-CAL CARB FOR SHAFT BUSHINGS.
SMOG CHECK [I needed to get a smog check done in order to re-register the van. It probably would have failed without some of the repairs he made.]
Total for all this: $1356. And that really sounds quite reasonable. He still feels bad about those crooks in Wells, even though he had nothing to do with it. If I'd given him a bit more time to work on it earlier in the summer, before the Denver trip, he would have had time to notice the degraded front-end parts and would have fixed them for far less than what the Wells guys did -- and my expense at Wells would have only been $35 for patching the tire.
And on top of all this, he worked until 6:30 this evening to get all of it done (including the work with his neighbor the smog check shop) rather than telling me, "I can't get it done today; you'll have to rent a car tomorrow to get to your 8 AM dentist appointment." And as it happened, his call telling me, "Everything is ready; come pick it up" came about five minutes after I got off a conference call with a project team with which I'm working in China, so I could trot the 2 km over to his shop and collect it.
The van runs much better now. I do still have to get the tires rotated and will have to come back to him after I come back from Oregon for a wheel alignment as well, but things are looking pretty good right now, except for the credit card bills for the repairs.
Now there was a lot of work to be done. TUNE UP. REPLACE DIST. DUE TO BROKEN STATOR SHAFT. REPLACE DIST. CAP AND ROTOR. REPLACE SPARK PLUGS AND SPARK PLUG WIRES. REPLACE PCV VALVE AND FUEL FILTER. REMOVE THROTTLE BODY AND REPLACE GASKETS AND FUEL PRESSURE REGULATOR. SET TIMING. FOUND INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET IS LEAKING VACUUM. REMOVE INTAKE MANIFOLD AND REPLACE GASKET. TORQUE ALL MANIFOLD BOLTS. REPLACE THERMOSTAT AND HEATER HOSE FITTING. FILL WITH COOLANT. TEST DRIVE.
And in the category of stuff contracted out:
SEND THROTTLE BODY BASE TO NOR-CAL CARB FOR SHAFT BUSHINGS.
SMOG CHECK [I needed to get a smog check done in order to re-register the van. It probably would have failed without some of the repairs he made.]
Total for all this: $1356. And that really sounds quite reasonable. He still feels bad about those crooks in Wells, even though he had nothing to do with it. If I'd given him a bit more time to work on it earlier in the summer, before the Denver trip, he would have had time to notice the degraded front-end parts and would have fixed them for far less than what the Wells guys did -- and my expense at Wells would have only been $35 for patching the tire.
And on top of all this, he worked until 6:30 this evening to get all of it done (including the work with his neighbor the smog check shop) rather than telling me, "I can't get it done today; you'll have to rent a car tomorrow to get to your 8 AM dentist appointment." And as it happened, his call telling me, "Everything is ready; come pick it up" came about five minutes after I got off a conference call with a project team with which I'm working in China, so I could trot the 2 km over to his shop and collect it.
The van runs much better now. I do still have to get the tires rotated and will have to come back to him after I come back from Oregon for a wheel alignment as well, but things are looking pretty good right now, except for the credit card bills for the repairs.
