Car woes...
First... I moved out to Seattle, knowing that my car wasn't in the greatest of conditions.
Second... I knew that it needed some work; after all, it is now a 15 year old car.
I just didn't realize how much of a pain in the ass it would be to do it myself, in my garage.
Ok. So, on my way out here, I realized that my struts were shot, kaput, crapsky. Not a big surprise since, at that time, I'd owned the car for about 4 or 5 years and had never changed the struts. Ok, no biggie. Since I didn't have the money (and wasn't too worried about it, Seattle having one of the best Metro systems in the country), I just parked the car. Occasionally, I'd go out and start 'er up, let her run for a while, and do some routine "storage" maintenance.
Now, because I had only made $6,600 last year (perks of being a student,) I got back everything I paid in for taxes, plus I was eligible for the Earned Income Credit. All told, I got back a little over $1,000. I figured that this was an opportune time to buy the parts my car needed, and do the work. Here's where the fun began...
1) I called Roosevelt Auto Parts here in town. I tell them I need all four struts and both half shafts for my transmission. They say, "You're in luck. We've got all of that in the warehouse. We can have it here by 2pm." Great! I tell them to go ahead and order them, and I'll be down to pick the stuff up shortly. So, I borrow my roommates car, cruise over to the parts place, pay for it (a whopping $530, since I think they gave me the shop discount for having bought so much at once) and head home.
2) I decide to take care of the rear of the car first, figuring that it'll be a breeze to replace the shocks. First surprise: Turns out that they're mini-struts, not shocks. Not a big deal, just something neat about my car. So, I get those done with very little hassle, put the tires back on, and turn the car around in the garage, in order to start working on the front end the next day.
3) On to the front end of the car: I mentally flip a coin, and decide to start on the driver's side first. I won't go into complete details, but I spent 8 hours working on that side of the car, because a) I've never done anything that complex before and, b) I wanted to make sure I could put everything back together right. With the help of my roommate I get the old half-shaft out, replace the old strut (which was boned - there was no tension or pressure left in it), and get ready to put the new half-shaft in. It connects to the transmission perfectly, but when I try to slide the spindle in through the rotor assembly, I find out that it's the wrong size. Great. So, I call the Parts store back, and explain the situation to them. I'm told that they don't have any in stock at the warehouse, and they'll have to see if they can get one in. Ok, I figure that's not a big deal. They tell me to call back on Monday (this being a Saturday) and they'll let me know what the deal is. I call back on Monday, only to find out that they're "not sure when we'll have one in, but I'll keep checking at the warehouse." Uhm, dude? Mind if I point out to you that this is NOT a common car? I'm sure it was absolute LUCK that you guys even HAD the parts at the warehouse, since I typically have to order the parts ahead of time. And now you're telling me that you're going to get ahold of your warehouse until one is available? I ask him to see about ordering another one, rather than waiting. He tells me he'll have to call me back the next day, since the warehouse is closed (it's after 5.) So, I wait for a phone call all day, and finally call him back around 4pm, since I STILL haven't heard back from him, only to be told that it's going to take two weeks for another one to be shipped. Whoa? Hold up? Two weeks? I tell him I'll have to think about it, and then I jump on AutoZone.com, and find out that a) they can have the parts to me in about a week, b) they're cheaper than they were through Parts Plus and, c) they have a satisfaction guarantee. Needless to say, I drive over to Parts Plus (again, in my roommates car) and return the parts. I go home, order the parts from AutoZone, and wait.
4) Today, March 4th, I got the parts. First off, they arrived early. I was honestly expecting to get them the beginning of next week. So, I start getting the parts put in. Drivers side goes smoothly: I disconnect a few things, slide the half-shaft into place, and put it all back together. Done. Now, on to the passengers side. Since the drivers side is done, getting everything dismantled is a cake-walk. I manage to get the old half-shaft out pretty easily, although I didn't realize that I'd end up dumping the contents of my transmission, so I end up with a HUGE puddle of transmission fluid all over the floor. No big deal, I'm going to be taking the cores back, so I'll pick up some new fluid. I get the new one plugged in, and with a bit of wiggling and cussing, I get the spindle in through the rotor assembly. I get the new strut in place, get everything bolted down, and run to AutoZone to return the old half-shafts for my core charge.
5) I get home. I put the tire back on, drop the car to the ground, and go to back it up. I need to clean up the puddle of transmission fluid, and I can't do that while the car is sitting on top of it. I back the car up and dump a bunch of cat litter on top of the fluid, letting it soak it up. Meanwhile, I go to fill the transmission with new fluid. (It needed to be replaced anyways - it wasn't a vibrant, cherry Kool-aid red anymore) Not paying attention to what I was doing, I pour three quarts of transmission fluid into the oil. That's not a HUGE deal - transmission fluid won't harm the engine, and can actually clean it. Although, 3 quarts is a bit much. As it is, I planned on completely changing the oil in my car anyways. Not a huge deal. Then, realizing my mistake, I go and dump a quart of transmission fluid into the transmission. A few seconds later, I hear the tell-tale sound of dripping fluid. My heart sinks, and I drop to the floor, looking under the car where I see a puddle of transmission fluid forming...from the passenger side of the transmission. My heart sinks even more. So, apparently, in either taking out the old passenger side half-shaft, or putting in the new one, I guess I popped the transmission seal. It's either that, or the half-shaft was the wrong length, and I'm going to get to deal with the same problem that I had when I had a half-shaft replaced back in Fargo a few years ago. (Basically, I went in to get a half-shaft replaced [same side, now that I think about it] and later on that day, I noticed a puddle of transmission fluid under my car. I went in, they noticed that the seal had popped, and they replaced it. This happened a few times. Finally, they ordered a new half-shaft, and found out that the one they had installed was the wrong length.) So, now I get to screw around with this, and try to figure out the problem. Either there's a seal that needs to be replaced when you replace the half-shaft, and I wasn't told... Or, the half-shaft is the wrong length, and I get to go through that hassle again.
On top of all that, I found that I'm going to have to replace the ball joints in my car. One, because the boot is torn all to hell, and another one because I mashed the end of the bolt while trying to deal with the wrong half-shafts. *grunts* All this, while not having a job... Wunderbar. Cross your fingers for me; maybe I'll get a job at the Fairmont Olympic, and I'll be able to afford to take the car in for repairs, instead of trying to do it myself. Of course, it's STILL cheaper this way.
Second... I knew that it needed some work; after all, it is now a 15 year old car.
I just didn't realize how much of a pain in the ass it would be to do it myself, in my garage.
Ok. So, on my way out here, I realized that my struts were shot, kaput, crapsky. Not a big surprise since, at that time, I'd owned the car for about 4 or 5 years and had never changed the struts. Ok, no biggie. Since I didn't have the money (and wasn't too worried about it, Seattle having one of the best Metro systems in the country), I just parked the car. Occasionally, I'd go out and start 'er up, let her run for a while, and do some routine "storage" maintenance.
Now, because I had only made $6,600 last year (perks of being a student,) I got back everything I paid in for taxes, plus I was eligible for the Earned Income Credit. All told, I got back a little over $1,000. I figured that this was an opportune time to buy the parts my car needed, and do the work. Here's where the fun began...
1) I called Roosevelt Auto Parts here in town. I tell them I need all four struts and both half shafts for my transmission. They say, "You're in luck. We've got all of that in the warehouse. We can have it here by 2pm." Great! I tell them to go ahead and order them, and I'll be down to pick the stuff up shortly. So, I borrow my roommates car, cruise over to the parts place, pay for it (a whopping $530, since I think they gave me the shop discount for having bought so much at once) and head home.
2) I decide to take care of the rear of the car first, figuring that it'll be a breeze to replace the shocks. First surprise: Turns out that they're mini-struts, not shocks. Not a big deal, just something neat about my car. So, I get those done with very little hassle, put the tires back on, and turn the car around in the garage, in order to start working on the front end the next day.
3) On to the front end of the car: I mentally flip a coin, and decide to start on the driver's side first. I won't go into complete details, but I spent 8 hours working on that side of the car, because a) I've never done anything that complex before and, b) I wanted to make sure I could put everything back together right. With the help of my roommate I get the old half-shaft out, replace the old strut (which was boned - there was no tension or pressure left in it), and get ready to put the new half-shaft in. It connects to the transmission perfectly, but when I try to slide the spindle in through the rotor assembly, I find out that it's the wrong size. Great. So, I call the Parts store back, and explain the situation to them. I'm told that they don't have any in stock at the warehouse, and they'll have to see if they can get one in. Ok, I figure that's not a big deal. They tell me to call back on Monday (this being a Saturday) and they'll let me know what the deal is. I call back on Monday, only to find out that they're "not sure when we'll have one in, but I'll keep checking at the warehouse." Uhm, dude? Mind if I point out to you that this is NOT a common car? I'm sure it was absolute LUCK that you guys even HAD the parts at the warehouse, since I typically have to order the parts ahead of time. And now you're telling me that you're going to get ahold of your warehouse until one is available? I ask him to see about ordering another one, rather than waiting. He tells me he'll have to call me back the next day, since the warehouse is closed (it's after 5.) So, I wait for a phone call all day, and finally call him back around 4pm, since I STILL haven't heard back from him, only to be told that it's going to take two weeks for another one to be shipped. Whoa? Hold up? Two weeks? I tell him I'll have to think about it, and then I jump on AutoZone.com, and find out that a) they can have the parts to me in about a week, b) they're cheaper than they were through Parts Plus and, c) they have a satisfaction guarantee. Needless to say, I drive over to Parts Plus (again, in my roommates car) and return the parts. I go home, order the parts from AutoZone, and wait.
4) Today, March 4th, I got the parts. First off, they arrived early. I was honestly expecting to get them the beginning of next week. So, I start getting the parts put in. Drivers side goes smoothly: I disconnect a few things, slide the half-shaft into place, and put it all back together. Done. Now, on to the passengers side. Since the drivers side is done, getting everything dismantled is a cake-walk. I manage to get the old half-shaft out pretty easily, although I didn't realize that I'd end up dumping the contents of my transmission, so I end up with a HUGE puddle of transmission fluid all over the floor. No big deal, I'm going to be taking the cores back, so I'll pick up some new fluid. I get the new one plugged in, and with a bit of wiggling and cussing, I get the spindle in through the rotor assembly. I get the new strut in place, get everything bolted down, and run to AutoZone to return the old half-shafts for my core charge.
5) I get home. I put the tire back on, drop the car to the ground, and go to back it up. I need to clean up the puddle of transmission fluid, and I can't do that while the car is sitting on top of it. I back the car up and dump a bunch of cat litter on top of the fluid, letting it soak it up. Meanwhile, I go to fill the transmission with new fluid. (It needed to be replaced anyways - it wasn't a vibrant, cherry Kool-aid red anymore) Not paying attention to what I was doing, I pour three quarts of transmission fluid into the oil. That's not a HUGE deal - transmission fluid won't harm the engine, and can actually clean it. Although, 3 quarts is a bit much. As it is, I planned on completely changing the oil in my car anyways. Not a huge deal. Then, realizing my mistake, I go and dump a quart of transmission fluid into the transmission. A few seconds later, I hear the tell-tale sound of dripping fluid. My heart sinks, and I drop to the floor, looking under the car where I see a puddle of transmission fluid forming...from the passenger side of the transmission. My heart sinks even more. So, apparently, in either taking out the old passenger side half-shaft, or putting in the new one, I guess I popped the transmission seal. It's either that, or the half-shaft was the wrong length, and I'm going to get to deal with the same problem that I had when I had a half-shaft replaced back in Fargo a few years ago. (Basically, I went in to get a half-shaft replaced [same side, now that I think about it] and later on that day, I noticed a puddle of transmission fluid under my car. I went in, they noticed that the seal had popped, and they replaced it. This happened a few times. Finally, they ordered a new half-shaft, and found out that the one they had installed was the wrong length.) So, now I get to screw around with this, and try to figure out the problem. Either there's a seal that needs to be replaced when you replace the half-shaft, and I wasn't told... Or, the half-shaft is the wrong length, and I get to go through that hassle again.
On top of all that, I found that I'm going to have to replace the ball joints in my car. One, because the boot is torn all to hell, and another one because I mashed the end of the bolt while trying to deal with the wrong half-shafts. *grunts* All this, while not having a job... Wunderbar. Cross your fingers for me; maybe I'll get a job at the Fairmont Olympic, and I'll be able to afford to take the car in for repairs, instead of trying to do it myself. Of course, it's STILL cheaper this way.