Burning Through
I've been having some power and occasional jerking problems with my car since the end of March. Took it to my local mechanics twice but it behaved for them there and they had no idea what was going on, especially since the car's computer system wasn't telling them anything. Last week I took it back to the mechanics again and told them this time to take it out on the highway, which is where the acceleration problem is most obvious, with the Elantra having to gradually work its way up to 55 mph, sometimes with some jerking along the way. (General city driving of 20 mph to about 40 mph mostly feels normal.)
That finally got me a diagnosis: the Elantra burned through two quarts of oil over the 1,000 miles I'd driven since its oil change at the end of March, which is very much abnormal. The oil thing accounts for the power and timing problems with the engine. It's something that's a problem with many Hyundais(!). (And it's fine for them to keep selling cars like this how?) He hadn't thought to check the oil before. In addition to being a huge problem that requires replacing parts of the engine(!), it's something my local mechanic can't fix but he said the engine might still be under warrantee with Hyundai even though the Elantra is eight years old and I bought it second-hand, so I should check with Hyundai.
Calling my nearest Hyundai service section told me that I am under warrantee but there's a process to get approval for the work. I had to bring them all my maintenance records of what work I'd done since buying the car, probably in an attempt to blame my "negligence" for the problem as opposed to Hyundai's crapsack engineering, and that I had to have a certified Hyundai service section give me Hyundai oil and a Hyundai oil filter, which cost $87(!), drive the car for 1,000 miles, come back for them to check the oil consumption and top off, drive for 1,000 miles, come back for them to check the oil consumption, and drive 1,000 miles and come back for them to check the oil consumption. (If the Elantra burns a lot of oil before hitting 1,000, something I'd find out due to performance and checking the oil stick, I can return sooner.) This is gonna take a while. I got the first Hyundai oil change and filter Saturday. They also did the recall work on the undercarriage while it was there, which I didn't have to pay for.
The $87 annoyed me even more because I had to pay my mechanic for the oil he put in the day before because it's not safe to drive a car on that little oil. Hyundai just drained that new oil out to put their own in.
If Hyundai rejects me by deciding to hold me to blame or telling me I just need to pay $87 for Hyundai-certified oil changes and shlep to a Hyundai service station three miles away every three months, I will scream and throw a massive fit and hopefully make the local Hyundai people regret having ever been born.
One hilarious moment when I checked the car in with the Hyundai intake person Saturday was when she asked, "Does it shake like this a lot when turned on?" and I answered, "...yeah."
Another hilarious moment was telling my dad about this and him being "Oh yeah, I did have some problems with the Hyundai Elantra I bought, which is why I sold it." This is the man who only told me often that he loved that car and was with me when I bought my Elantra and said nothing.
But the process for getting an approval has started, and the car does drive better and has more pickup, though not entirely without problems, since getting the certified oil all the way to the top and filter. I've driven it 85 miles since I picked it up from Hyundai.
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It'd been a while since I'd checked out Manhattan store windows and I wanted to take advantage of my new oil and hopefully better-behaving car, so I drove into the city after 3 a.m. and was very happy with what Bergdorf Goodman and Kleinfeld Bridal had on display for me, though I also shot at Bloomingdale's. I was especially happy that Bergdorf Goodman brought some art pieces from past Christmas/holiday windows back out for the current, very colorful displays. You can see all of them at my Flickr.
Judging by some of the outfits at Bloomingdale's, chartreuse is back in. Whyyyyyyyyyy.
I was hungry on my way home, so I stopped at White Castle. Eating one of their double hamburgers in my car in their parking lot at 4:45 a.m... I was living the high life. Freedom!
I was happily highway driving Sunday. It made me so happy being on the road at high speeds and listening to my music.
I get antsy when I can't be highly mobile and I'm relegated to depending on chancy body strength with walking or mass transit.
The Elantra's air conditioning isn't working though, just blows hot air. I mean, c'mon. One problem at a time please. I've been driving with the windows all the way down on regular streets and with them cracked open for higher speed highways.
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In addition to the car stuff, I also did laundry and installed my bedroom's air conditioner with my dad's help Saturday. As usual, opening up the wall and positioning my AC required taking 40% of my room apart and then putting everything back. I was very fortunate that June's temperatures were mostly comfortable for me and I could just sleep with a fan on, but starting the last week of June and going on into now it's gotten much hotter and more humid so I've been suffering. My whole body, especially my joints, have really been hurting.
This morning my area had a blackout that lasted two and a half hours, which made me physically miserable. Last summer was the first time in my 18 years of living here that we didn't have any blackouts that lasted more than a few minutes, but I guess we're back to business as usual.
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Macy's 4th of July fireworks were basically what they were every year, some colors and shapes and too tasteful, and I saw them at my current annual viewing spot: atop the LIE in Maspeth, which is surely a very American way of doing it. Some people near me called it a "vista linda." A lot of the locals had more interesting illegal fireworks, leaving my area of Queens quite smoky tonight.
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YouTube recommended this trailer, since I like to look at video game stuff even if I don't really play them: "Laika: Aged Through Blood - Official Announcement Trailer | Future Games Show 2023." ...Laika: Aged Through Blood, a Western-inspired motorvania where a mother coyote warrior from an oppressed tribe descends on an endless path of vengeance through a post-apocalyptic wasteland to take back what her people lost. The art is interesting, but the music really grabbed me, and I'm not alone in that, which is why someone else posted the full version of Beícoli's "The Whisper" | Laika: Aged Through Blood | Trailer Song.
That finally got me a diagnosis: the Elantra burned through two quarts of oil over the 1,000 miles I'd driven since its oil change at the end of March, which is very much abnormal. The oil thing accounts for the power and timing problems with the engine. It's something that's a problem with many Hyundais(!). (And it's fine for them to keep selling cars like this how?) He hadn't thought to check the oil before. In addition to being a huge problem that requires replacing parts of the engine(!), it's something my local mechanic can't fix but he said the engine might still be under warrantee with Hyundai even though the Elantra is eight years old and I bought it second-hand, so I should check with Hyundai.
Calling my nearest Hyundai service section told me that I am under warrantee but there's a process to get approval for the work. I had to bring them all my maintenance records of what work I'd done since buying the car, probably in an attempt to blame my "negligence" for the problem as opposed to Hyundai's crapsack engineering, and that I had to have a certified Hyundai service section give me Hyundai oil and a Hyundai oil filter, which cost $87(!), drive the car for 1,000 miles, come back for them to check the oil consumption and top off, drive for 1,000 miles, come back for them to check the oil consumption, and drive 1,000 miles and come back for them to check the oil consumption. (If the Elantra burns a lot of oil before hitting 1,000, something I'd find out due to performance and checking the oil stick, I can return sooner.) This is gonna take a while. I got the first Hyundai oil change and filter Saturday. They also did the recall work on the undercarriage while it was there, which I didn't have to pay for.
The $87 annoyed me even more because I had to pay my mechanic for the oil he put in the day before because it's not safe to drive a car on that little oil. Hyundai just drained that new oil out to put their own in.
If Hyundai rejects me by deciding to hold me to blame or telling me I just need to pay $87 for Hyundai-certified oil changes and shlep to a Hyundai service station three miles away every three months, I will scream and throw a massive fit and hopefully make the local Hyundai people regret having ever been born.
One hilarious moment when I checked the car in with the Hyundai intake person Saturday was when she asked, "Does it shake like this a lot when turned on?" and I answered, "...yeah."
Another hilarious moment was telling my dad about this and him being "Oh yeah, I did have some problems with the Hyundai Elantra I bought, which is why I sold it." This is the man who only told me often that he loved that car and was with me when I bought my Elantra and said nothing.
But the process for getting an approval has started, and the car does drive better and has more pickup, though not entirely without problems, since getting the certified oil all the way to the top and filter. I've driven it 85 miles since I picked it up from Hyundai.
+++
It'd been a while since I'd checked out Manhattan store windows and I wanted to take advantage of my new oil and hopefully better-behaving car, so I drove into the city after 3 a.m. and was very happy with what Bergdorf Goodman and Kleinfeld Bridal had on display for me, though I also shot at Bloomingdale's. I was especially happy that Bergdorf Goodman brought some art pieces from past Christmas/holiday windows back out for the current, very colorful displays. You can see all of them at my Flickr.
Judging by some of the outfits at Bloomingdale's, chartreuse is back in. Whyyyyyyyyyy.
I was hungry on my way home, so I stopped at White Castle. Eating one of their double hamburgers in my car in their parking lot at 4:45 a.m... I was living the high life. Freedom!
I was happily highway driving Sunday. It made me so happy being on the road at high speeds and listening to my music.
I get antsy when I can't be highly mobile and I'm relegated to depending on chancy body strength with walking or mass transit.
The Elantra's air conditioning isn't working though, just blows hot air. I mean, c'mon. One problem at a time please. I've been driving with the windows all the way down on regular streets and with them cracked open for higher speed highways.
+++
In addition to the car stuff, I also did laundry and installed my bedroom's air conditioner with my dad's help Saturday. As usual, opening up the wall and positioning my AC required taking 40% of my room apart and then putting everything back. I was very fortunate that June's temperatures were mostly comfortable for me and I could just sleep with a fan on, but starting the last week of June and going on into now it's gotten much hotter and more humid so I've been suffering. My whole body, especially my joints, have really been hurting.
This morning my area had a blackout that lasted two and a half hours, which made me physically miserable. Last summer was the first time in my 18 years of living here that we didn't have any blackouts that lasted more than a few minutes, but I guess we're back to business as usual.
+++
Macy's 4th of July fireworks were basically what they were every year, some colors and shapes and too tasteful, and I saw them at my current annual viewing spot: atop the LIE in Maspeth, which is surely a very American way of doing it. Some people near me called it a "vista linda." A lot of the locals had more interesting illegal fireworks, leaving my area of Queens quite smoky tonight.
+++
YouTube recommended this trailer, since I like to look at video game stuff even if I don't really play them: "Laika: Aged Through Blood - Official Announcement Trailer | Future Games Show 2023." ...Laika: Aged Through Blood, a Western-inspired motorvania where a mother coyote warrior from an oppressed tribe descends on an endless path of vengeance through a post-apocalyptic wasteland to take back what her people lost. The art is interesting, but the music really grabbed me, and I'm not alone in that, which is why someone else posted the full version of Beícoli's "The Whisper" | Laika: Aged Through Blood | Trailer Song.