Three-Letter Acronyms & Four-Letter Words

Let me first give my thanks to the guys over @ Brake Specialists Plus in Cedar Park for getting the Corolla fixed up in time for me to get to Dallas.

I was afraid that they would not be able to get the car done in time, as they did have to remove major parts of the engine and transmission to replace the rear seal that was leaking oil.

While I was there settling up my bill of $993 (and change) a guy from AutoZone stopped by and was attempting to pitch them on buying parts from AutoZone. One of the things that I heard come up in conversation was the quality of the work that Brake Specialists Plus. I took the opportunity to chime in that they have always done really good work for me, and to thank the guys for fixing up my car.

I then proceeded to drive to Dallas. Luckily I had almost a full-tank of gas, as I was running late and stopping to fill-up the tank would definitely make me later than I wanted to be.

I did however manage to make it to Dallas in time for the Mavericks game. It has been a significantly long time since I had attended an NBA game. The last one that I can remember attending was at The Palace (in Aurburn Hills), watching the Pistons play someone that I cannot remember. That had to have been 15-17 years ago.

I went to the game with the President/CEO of NetworkIP, Pete Pattullo. (NetworkIP is the parent company of Jaduka.) He ask me if I had been to an NBA game lately, as to prepare me for the amount of advertising that I would see at the stadium and during the game. He also prepared me for the 'Vegas Show' like nature of the game, as during every break they had some sort of thing going on.

Now, the most interesting thing that I saw in regards to advertising and filler content was, the 'Merchandising Special of the Night'.

Ummmm, so here is the thing. There are shops, selling various forms of Dallas sports memorabilia, that is cool. But the 'Merchandising Special of the Night' was like a live 30 second infomercial for whatever product they are attempting to sell more of. That night it was a book written by the coach of the Mavericks.

It was presented by a nice lady, whom I assume is some sort of Mavericks celebrity (unknown to me), and one of the Maverick's cheerleaders.

But the kicker, the real coup de grace was that at the end of this short infomercial, they announced that 'This Merchandising Special of the Night is brought to you by Adidas."

OK, your fscking kidding me. The live infomercial was sponsored. More power to the Mavericks advertising sales people. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the kids with the mops and towels that keep the floor clean during the game were sponsored by JaniKing.

The Mavericks beat the Clippers 103-90.

Anyway, I did not notice any oil leaks under the car. And the car most definitely had full electrical power. The car also seemed to be a little bit quieter. In case I have forgotten to mention the Corolla was once VERY noisy, but since they tuned the timing belt, the Corolla had instantly become a lot quieter.

Well, I am finally taking a couple of days off. Gina is going to the Philippines soon, so I have taken today and tomorrow off.

Laterz

So for the last couple of weeks I have noticed that there is some oil leaking under my car. While more noticeable than a little drip, it was not enough for me to panic and rush the Corolla into the shop. They had just replaced some belts and tuned my timing belt, so I know they had to open up part of the engine that has oil in it, I figured that something just needed to be tightened.

This morning at 8:10 am I found out that is not the case. We had dropped the Corolla off at the shop last night after dinner and a trip to CostCo. But for a reason relating to copper and electricity. The alternator in the Corolla had finally died.

For the past couple of months (possibly three months) the little battery shaped light on the console has been flashing (or sometimes just stayed on). The battery (despite looking very bad) is fine. This meant that the alternator was on it's last legs.

Well, last night after dinner, Gina dropped me off @ CostCo (we had left my car there earlier). I started it up and turned on the lights and cranked the radio. I noticed that the console lights looked dim, I dismissed it as possibly just my own slightly neurotic issues with light and visibility. However, after cranking the dimmer up to the max brightness the lights still did not get to what was their normal brightness.

I was cruising down the access road of 183 about to merge over and get onto the highway, when the radio rebooted.

This freaked me out, as I had been in a car before when the battery had completely died (after the alternator died) and surprisingly the vehicle will come to a complete stop, quickly. Not wanting to repeat that event, I immediately shut off the radio and even removed the faceplate, seeing as it was shining quite brightly in comparison to the console lights.

I stayed on the access road, in the hopes that if the Corolla did finally drain the last of the battery I would at least be able to get the car into a driveway, rather than have to call a tow truck while on the side of the expressway.

I also immediately called Gina who was probably about 5-10 minutes ahead of me. I asked her to wait for me to follow me home, so that in case I was stranded, I wouldn't be alone.

The battery lasted long enough for me to make it to the Brakes Specialist up in Cedar Park (my mechanic of choice).

I woke up early this morning and headed over to the mechanics to drop off the keys and inform them of what needed to be done. As I also was due for an oil-change, and wanted to inform them of the oil leak that I had noticed.

When they called me this morning shortly after eight o'clock, they informed me that the 'rear seal' between the engine and the transmission had busted (I forget the word he used). He informed me that there was oil all over the under-side of the engine and that I should have noticed it earlier.

Well, so my theory on this is as follows.

They recently tuned my timing belt, in doing so they gave me 'more power'. This tuning had two effects on the car, I do indeed have more power between 10 and 50 miles per hour, I can feel the car accelerate faster. It also made the inside of my car a heck of a lot quieter.

I believe that because the timing belt on my car had been in that state for so long in the 'less power' mode that when it got 'more power' it broke the seal. Because, I didn't notice any oil immediately after they did their work, but a couple of days later.

Well, the damage bill for the alternator + rear seal (and I assume the oil-change) is about $900.

This price tag brings to mind the idea of a new car.

However, $900 isn't too bad considering I don't have a car payment now. And even if you combine the alignment and other work I had done when they were doing the tuning of the timing belt, that makes the 2008 care charges about $1400 (including the alternator&seal).

That is still well below a $300 a month car payment.

So I am willing to give the Corolla one more chance. Brake Specialists are currently doing whatever they are doing to fix everything.

I am hoping they will have all of the work completed by 3pm. However, I am expecting a call from them around 2pm to tell me that they won't be able to finish it all. This means that I will need to rent a car this afternoon.

Because, I am driving to Dallas this afternoon (hoping to be on the road by 3pm) for some meeting tomorrow.

I am glad that the alternator decided to finally die yesterday, rather than while I was on my way to Dallas.

Anyway, back to the grind.

Laterz

I had to replace the headlights last night. That was not fun.

I remember that Gina's headlight replacement was fairly quick and simple. Sort of just a reach in behind the lamp housing, twist and pull it out. This is not the case on the Corolla.

I had to remove the grill. Then remove the parking lights (which I also replaced as they burned out). Then I had to remove several screws and use a socket wrench to undo some bolts that hold the actual headlight housing in place. Pull out the housing, then twist and pull out the burned out lamp.

Insane right?

I don't think I ever commented on how arduous the task was for the speaker guy at Best Buy to replace the rear speakers in my car. I had figured that maybe you had to unscrew something in the trunk (since I can see part of the speaker housing from there) and then you pop-up a piece in the rear window.

Nope. Not at all.

He had to remove the backseat. He HAD to REMOVE the backseat. Yes, REMOVE the backseat.

Then he could get to the piece that holds the speakers, remove that and replace them.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love my car and am still a huge fan of Toyota. But this might recurring theme on how hard it is to remove and replace pieces might be a key element in why Toyota cars & trucks tend to last a bit longer.

If the headlamps are better secured to the car than the nuclear football is to the man carrying it then a Toyota engine is probably like fort fscking knox.

Anyway, I replaced the lights and put back all the screws and nuts for the bolts and stuff. Fun Fun.

While I was in there I did notice the amount of actual damage that my car accident had, it wasn't just my bumper that got banged up. There is a reinforcement bar (presumably part of the overall frame) is a little bent. Interestingly enough, the headlight housings are secured to this bar as is part of the grill.

One of the snaps for the headlight housing is busted. I am not worried about it, the thing has been working just fine for the last 8-9 years. However, it might explain a little bit more about why my car is so noisy.

Oh well, lunch is over. Back to the grind.

Laterz.