I was just under a car.
I should elaborate. I just spent the last 4 hours (willingly?) under one of my cars.
For reasons that don’t bear explaining, I currently have 3 cars. I’ve been trying to get rid of at least one of them for the last 4 years, but it keeps having mechanical troubles, and I fix them slower than the new ones show up. It’s not really been an issue since I have a reliable daily car (2001 VW Passat), and my other hobby car (1995 VW Corrado) doesn’t really leave the garage much (ever).
But this week a friend was in an accident, and I’m loaning him a car while his is repaired. To keep his life simple, I’m loaning him the reliable Passat, and I’ll drive my “fun” car. Unfortunately, the problem car is blocking the driveway, so I need to move it to be able to get the Corrado out of the garage. To move the problem car, I had to connect the battery (disconnect to prevent draining it), and start it up for the first time in 4 months.
Problem 1. The hood cable broke the last time I moved it (hence the reason it’s been blocking the driveway). I had left the hood popped so that I could get in easily, but someone (roommate? neighbor?) must have seen it, and shut it, “as a favor”. So I jacked up the car, and cracked out the tools to try and pop the hood manually.
Problem 2. My floor jack died. It’s apparently an $80 piece of junk. I am told I was supposed to buy a “real” jack for > $200. Sigh. I just used the little portable jack that came with the car…
Problem 3. I still couldn’t pop the hood (even with instructions from the net). Off to borrow/buy tools. It took 3 trips to get the tools I needed. 18 hours, $40, and 1 headache later, the hood is popped, and I’ve left a screwdriver in the bracket to prevent it from being shut again.
Problem 4. I ended up getting the hood open because the headlight housing is broken. I hadn’t noticed this before, and it’s another thing I need to fix…
Problem 5. The engine is now tapping. ARGH!!! I hope this is just a simple problem, and not time for an engine rebuild….
Add to this the existing problems (thermostat, heater core, sunroof, general interior nastiness), and I’ll never get this thing sold.
Update: The tapping worked itself out during a test drive around the block. Yeah!