Car repair success

Tonight a got a new punch on my “man card.” Despite being a bit of a tinkerer, car repair isn’t something I’ve had too much experience in. I change my own oil and rotate my tires, I’ve installed a couple of car stereos, and I wired up my truck with all the relays and fuses needed for towing our camper. That’s about it. I guess part of the reason is that we’ve owned vehicles under warranty for the past several years, but then again, I’ve also had two oil changes that have taken 2+ hours. Once I broke three wrenches trying to remove the factory-installed oil filter (apparently the factory uses an impact wrench), and another time I installed an oil filter only to find it had a hole in the can.

At any rate, today my mother-in-law and two sisters-in law came to visit my wife and Evan. When my sister-in-law went to leave, she started her car and the belt squealed loudly. When I got home, a quick inspection and my vast array of automotive knowledge indicated a problem with the belt tensioner. A quick tip from my dad verified the cause.

We pushed the car into the driveway and I got to work while the family played with Evan and made a parts run. I had to remove the right front tire, remove the inner fender wells, and take off the belt to get to the tensioner, but everything went pretty well once I found a wrench to fit into the tiny little space between the engine and the frame… My properly-sized 12-point wrench slipped on the bolt, but I got a 6-point socket in there eventually.

One avoided tow truck, Avanti’s for dinner, and no broken knuckles… I’ll claim that as a success!

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2 Comments

  1. Change your own oil and rotate your own tires? That alone would make a “man” in my book.

    I’ll have to have you over to show me how to do those things. Oil changes alone are getting to be too expensive…

  2. Well, I have a slight advantage… in my truck I don’t have to use any ramps or jacks – just reach under! I will admit that one tiem for the car comes around, I weight my options a little more carefully 🙂 If it’s time to do some other maintenance, mow the lawn, or something like that, I’ll do it myself, otherwise it’s time to find a coupon for the local Grease Hole(tm).

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