The never ending saga.....

I have always loved cars. Even from a young age, the attaction to these four wheeled machines was just there. The love manifested itself with the purchase of Matchbox cars. Soon, I started to realize that some things are just built better than others. I loved my Matchbox car collection that was built in England; but when the plant was moved to China, the quality of the toy just flat out dropped! I still have a little collection left, and suprisingly, I the cars that I didn't manage to totally distroy are still kept in a car case hidden inside my desk at work. We have a new china cabinet at home, I may just take over a shelf to put them on display again... :-)

Anyways - that was a totaly off the topic paragraph to say I have been working on my real car again. Amy's car is 3 months away from needing an inspection. The check engine light would turn on and off on it's own last year, and I snuck it to the shop while the light was off. It was a lucky moment that delayed the need to really correct the problem for another year. :-)

This year, the light is not going off - it is a pretty solid yellow light that never seems to have an off day. In reading the codes, I get P0141 and P0400. The P0400 code is related to the EGR system. When I took the tube out a while back, this is what I saw:

I cleaned it out pretty good and put it all back together. I think the light went off for a moment once, but that was it. Not nearly long enough to get a new inspection sticker.

Last week I thought I'd see if I could correct it by clearing all the passages into the valve covers. There is one tiny hole on each cover that can be clogged with sludge. I thought I'd see if I could remove the vacuum hoses, and clear them out. I guess I should have known that rubber hoses on a 10 year old car would have become brittle to some extent. Some were impossible to move, and ended up being busted. I ended up going to AutoZone and purchasing some new generic hoses to replace the busted ones. When I put them all back together, I noticed that some of the other hoses I thought were fine were starting to crack. I kind of gave up hope of it correcting the issue, but I did clear out the two tiny little holes on the valve covers.

Yesterday, I went to go get the tires rotated and balanced. Nothing like waking up early Saturday morning to go get tires rotated if you ask me... Yes, I really don't like doing this. If I could, I'd buy the equipment needed to do all the balancing of tires in my own garage. Anyways - I learned that the tires are no good. Steal belt is starting to show through on some of the tires. Looks like I'll need to get some new ones by December if I really want this car to pass inspection. I have a new tire I want in sight by the way - but just need to wait a little before I can get it.

Today, for some reason I felt a little more inspired to correct the other issue. I went ahead and tackled the P0141 issue - which is a bad oxygen sensor. I went to AutoZone and purchased the needed replacements. I jacked up the car, pulled the old ones out and put the new ones in (it really was that simple). I think it will clear the code after a few start/stop cycles - but we will see.

I also went ahead and ordered all new rubber hoses needed to the EGR valve system as well, so hopefully it is just a vacuum leak that is keeping that pretty yellow dash light on, and a few good replacement parts will correct the problem.

Thank you Game...

At small group past week we were talking about things we felt entitled to and Gladice suggested that we play the Thank You Game at the end so we would start to realize how much we had instead of focusing on what we may not have. 

I decided I needed to play the "Thank You Game" specifically for Annabelle so here is what I am thankful for about her:

She is very predictable
She stays in her room at night no matter how long it takes her to fall asleep
She tells me she loves me
She likes to give kisses to her friends and family members
She loves to go anywhere I am going
She loves Jesus and can not go to sleep without saying her prayers (and brushing her teeth)
She asks about and for her friends
She gives the best hugs ever
She has a very grateful heart-she always asks who gave her things and realizes that everything is a gift
She does not let me be in control
She finds absolute delight in going to visit people
 

Thank you Lord for giving me a daughter than makes me rely on you everyday!