Back to the Grindstone

Today was a pretty big day for me, I was up at 7 am, which in itself isn't very unusual, but I was at work by 8; which hasn't happened in a long time (it rarely happened even when I did have a regular job). My dad called me up yesterday to say he had to take my grandfather to the hospital today and asked if I could come in and cover for him. I tried to make it sound like it was really cramping my style but I was actually kind of looking forward to it. As much fun as it is not doing anything it's nice to feel productive once in a while.

I got to work and found a pretty good list of problem vehicles awaiting my attention, especially considering I'd be helping to cover the phone and front desk when Audrey was out. I like showing up to work and having a lot on my plate, that's how I work best. I hate it when there are only a couple things scheduled and other jobs just trickle in through the day.

If you're interested here's a rundown of what I did today- (if you're not interested at least pretend like you are for my sake)

1: Diagnose shifting problems and MIL on '97 F-150. Found a shorted shift solenoid and forgot to order parts (hope you weren't planning on getting that one done tomorrow, Dad) :-)

2: '98 Chevy K2500 - Diagnose/replace inner door handle, diagnose and repair bad ground connection behind glove box for no blower motor, clean/adjust throttle plates (sticking), and replaced leaky thermostat that I noticed while doing the throttle plates.

3: '94 Escort - Replace blower motor resistor and new pigtails (that means connector with wire ends - the old ones melted). Found out after splicing wires that the dealer sent the old style connector and new style resistor so they won't plug into each other. Ordered correct (I hope) parts.

4: '98 Tahoe - Diagnose MIL, poor mileage, and rough running. Found 8 codes stored, 5 of which were being caused by the severely ruptured fuel pressure regulator (also cause of running and mileage complaints), 2 were caused by faulty O2 sensor heaters (sold all 4 since the other two weren't much better), and the last one was caused by a bad thermostat. The vehicle actually hydro locked in the bay after cycling the key a few times. For the non-automotive people reading this that means that the leaking fuel pressure regulator (which was leaking raw fuel into the engine) leaked so much fuel into one cylinder that when the piston came up on the compression stroke the engine stopped moving, since you can't compress a liquid.

5: '97 F-150 - Removed dash and replaced heater core and heater hoses. Flushed the coffee out of the cooling system and put pretty green coolant back in its place.

6: Got approval for repairs on the Tahoe. Removed plenum, replaced regulator, replaced thermostat, removed plugs, turned over engine to expel gas in the cylinders, and installed new plugs. Ran out of time for the day and figured I'll let my dad finish it up tomorrow with the plug wires, O2 sensors, and changing the gas soaked oil.

All in all I actually had a pretty fun day. I don't think I'm ready to do it all day every day; but it might be nice for a once in a while type of thing.

Other big news to report is that Wednesday was my sister Audrey's birthday, she turned the big 2-8! I asked if she wanted to go out for dinner and she said that yes, she would like to go out to the mexican restaurant, but only on the condition that I promised not to tell them that it was her birthday. I had no intention of telling them that it was her birthday since I wouldn't want to be put through that humiliation myself and I like to abide by the golden rule. But seeing as how she told me not to tell them and seeing as how I really don't like people telling me what to do I simply had no choice.

She was a good sport about it though and she got a free dessert so it wasn't all bad. I actually think she secretly enjoyed it. After dinner it was back to my mom's house for cake (carrot), ice cream (vanilla), and presents (I didn't care about them, they weren't for me) with my grandparents, one of my cousins and her boyfriend.

A wonderful time was had by all.