Wild goose chase
Let me start off by saying my sleep schedule is officially screwed up. Went to bed after 8 AM Sunday and woke up around 6:30 PM to set up an unwanted all-nighter. The plan was to wake up today at 7:00 AM and leave my dorm around 7:30 to go to HP Performance in Orange Park (close to Jacksonville), where they would hopefully be able to fix the suspected vacuum leak in my Mustang. However, because of my sleep schedule, I couldn't fall asleep and ended up staying up all night. So I set off for Orange Park around 7:30... I was supposed to follow this map:
But since I couldn't find 24 (it was seriously not well-marked, not to mention it was raining), this is the route I ended up taking:
As you can see, that was not efficient. Heading east on 20, I expected to eventually intersect 301 or 215, where I could turn north ... but it never happened. Oh well, it was an interesting drive, to say the least.
I finally got to HP Performance around 10:15 I think, and Tony (the main guy there) took a look and identified two vacuum lines / hoses that needed to be replaced. So I drove to the nearest auto parts store and bought the one thing, then had to go to another auto parts store to get the other thing. Went back to HP and another one of the guys pulled the one cracked hose out and looked at the part I bought and told me I was missing the hose, so I went back to the auto parts place to get it. That store didn't have it, but their other store up the street had it, so I went there to get it, but not before stopping at Wendy's to get some food. Went back to HP and ate my lunch, then the one guy started working on those parts after the engine had cooled down. After fixing the one vacuum line and replacing the other hose, the problem didn't appear to be fixed. Without being too technical here, he then took a voltage reading on the TPS and it was WAY off. He had to take that part and drill out the screw so that it would get the desired voltage reading. After playing with that for a little while and getting it to the desired reading, bam, problem fixed. It was about 3 PM at this point. They charged me $65 for their work, which I thought was a good deal considering the amount of time that was spent on the car. They told me to drive it around to make sure it was okay, so I did. I have to admit, it felt weird driving it. I was so used to the engine acting like a carbureted engine when pressing the gas and releasing off the gas, and it turns out that had an effect on gear shifting. Before, it was difficult to shift smoothly, and I thought maybe it was the transmission. Wrong. It was because every time I pushed the clutch in, the RPMs went to about 700, which caused it to be rough when shifting gears. Now, the RPMS go between 1000-1500 when I push the clutch in, and the shifts are smooth. It shifts like a new car, seriously. Having driven Arash's car, it feels almost the same now. Me = very happy. Next, I plan on doing a much-needed tune-up: spark plugs and wires (still the originals!!), cap & rotor (likewise!!), oil and filter change, tire rotation, and new windshield wipers (um, yeah, I realized that big-time today driving in the rain. Rain-X wipes would also be a good investment).
But since I couldn't find 24 (it was seriously not well-marked, not to mention it was raining), this is the route I ended up taking:
As you can see, that was not efficient. Heading east on 20, I expected to eventually intersect 301 or 215, where I could turn north ... but it never happened. Oh well, it was an interesting drive, to say the least.
I finally got to HP Performance around 10:15 I think, and Tony (the main guy there) took a look and identified two vacuum lines / hoses that needed to be replaced. So I drove to the nearest auto parts store and bought the one thing, then had to go to another auto parts store to get the other thing. Went back to HP and another one of the guys pulled the one cracked hose out and looked at the part I bought and told me I was missing the hose, so I went back to the auto parts place to get it. That store didn't have it, but their other store up the street had it, so I went there to get it, but not before stopping at Wendy's to get some food. Went back to HP and ate my lunch, then the one guy started working on those parts after the engine had cooled down. After fixing the one vacuum line and replacing the other hose, the problem didn't appear to be fixed. Without being too technical here, he then took a voltage reading on the TPS and it was WAY off. He had to take that part and drill out the screw so that it would get the desired voltage reading. After playing with that for a little while and getting it to the desired reading, bam, problem fixed. It was about 3 PM at this point. They charged me $65 for their work, which I thought was a good deal considering the amount of time that was spent on the car. They told me to drive it around to make sure it was okay, so I did. I have to admit, it felt weird driving it. I was so used to the engine acting like a carbureted engine when pressing the gas and releasing off the gas, and it turns out that had an effect on gear shifting. Before, it was difficult to shift smoothly, and I thought maybe it was the transmission. Wrong. It was because every time I pushed the clutch in, the RPMs went to about 700, which caused it to be rough when shifting gears. Now, the RPMS go between 1000-1500 when I push the clutch in, and the shifts are smooth. It shifts like a new car, seriously. Having driven Arash's car, it feels almost the same now. Me = very happy. Next, I plan on doing a much-needed tune-up: spark plugs and wires (still the originals!!), cap & rotor (likewise!!), oil and filter change, tire rotation, and new windshield wipers (um, yeah, I realized that big-time today driving in the rain. Rain-X wipes would also be a good investment).