(no subject)

[plonq]

The news on the car was mixed, but not as bad as I'd been expecting.  The calliper on the rear driver-side wheel was ceased, and had to be replaced.  I had suspected that the brake might be dragging on that wheel, but I could feel the difference as soon as I pulled out of the mechanic's parking lot.  The mystery sound that I had thought might be a strut or bearing turned out to be... the exhaust pipe.  Apparently some idiot (waves) went ploughing through some ice this past winter and had twisted and sheared one of its moorings.  Low car + deep frozen slush = bad.

They hooked the car up to the scope for me (at a cost, of course) and found out why the "check engine" light keeps coming on.  One of the two oxygen sensors (the rear one) is very slow to trip.  They are recommending that I have them both replaced (of course - at a cost of $150 each), but I'm going to hold off until next time.  The sensors are not a show-stopper, but if they stop working then it will definitely impact on performance and fuel efficiency.  Other than that they gave my car a clean bill of health.  That puts us one step closer to MFF.

Comments

Brake Break

[whiffert.livejournal.com]

The calliper on the rear driver-side wheel was ceased, and had to be replaced. I had suspected that the brake might be dragging on that wheel, but I could feel the difference as soon as I pulled out of the mechanic's parking lot.

Heh. I went throught that myself not long ago. I knew I had trouble when I heard a brake shoe fall out and hit the pavement. I spent 2 weeks using the caliper piston as a break shoe. It doen't work well and tends to put large nasty gouges in your disc.

For extra misery, I tried doing the brake work myself and broke a bolt. I ended up replacing the caliper and rotor, which were really not as expensive as I had feared. It WAS a major bitch as everything was froxen with rust.

Good luck on your automtive endevours :)

Re: Brake Break

[plonq.livejournal.com]

On my last car I did most of the maintenance myself (from oil changes to replacing ruptured fuel and water pumps), but this car is a bit harder to work on.

The one real down side to this car is that it's classed as a "performance" car, so all of the parts are very expensive. ;p