it keeps going...and going...

[quarrel]

I got my car back today after two days in the shop. A few weeks ago it developed a problem where it wouldn’t start right after I shut it off. The garage spent the entire first day trying and failing to reproduce the problem because they were letting it sit for 15-30 minutes after running. Lesson #1: if the problem happens after one or two minutes, tell the garage “after one or two minutes”, not “after a short time”.

Total cost: about $200 for labor and a new coolant temperature sensor.

There’s also been a whining noise under the hood for a month or so. According to the mechanics, it’s the steering fluid pump failing. That’ll be another $300. They didn’t fix it and didn’t recommend doing so right now. They say that because it’s so expensive, most drivers wait until it gets so bad that you can feel it in the steering. In the meantime I’ll do a little poking to confirm whether it’s the pump itself going bad (which you fix by replacing) or whether it’s air in the line (which you fix by flushing the fluid and maybe fixing a leak).

I had them check the belts. I don’t remember ever replacing them. The tech said they’re still good for a little longer, so I obviously did replace them once. There’s no way the originals would still be good after 190,000 miles.

And when I do get the timing belt replaced, the mechanic says they can also replace the gaskets around the engine that are starting to leak oil, for no additional labor charge.

So all I have to fix right now are the cracked windshield (which, honestly, I’ve been putting off for forever), the loose right headlight (again — I swear I’m going to get that one right eventually), and the speakers (front right and both rear are dead; the former wore out, while the latter are probably the victim of a wiring break).

Oh, and in the winter, it smokes bad until it warms up. There’s a slim chance the same bad temperature sensor was causing that. I’ll just have to wait and see.

EDIT: The brakes are at 7/32". I'm told they won't need changing until 2/32". I'm surprised they're still good, since I've gone as long without a change as I ever have and since one squeaks.