CAR REPAIR

My 1991 Camaro RS had been running fairly well. You might ask why anyone would drive a car that is 18 years old. Simple. It's paid for. It doesn't look so hot after 18 years of Florida sun. The polymer coating is peeling off (almost all gone by now). The vinyl on the dash is cracked and dried out. The upholstery is worn and has holes. But the engine is sound and except for the occasional hiccup, I only pay for routine maintenance (oil changes, fuel system cleaning, transmission flush, cooling system flush, those types of things). The latest hiccup was costly though.

Friday night I picked up wifey in Daytona Beach. The car seemed to be running a little funny; nothing I could put my finger on; just didn't feel right. All the gauges looked fine and the "check engine" light was off. We got home without incident. Saturday while taking wifey to the Deland bus stop, I noticed that the temperature gauge was all the way over to the right. The car didn't show any other signs of overheating. There was no steam coming from under the hood that would indicate a hose or radiator leak. The hoses and radiator didn't seem abnormally hot to the touch. At first I thought maybe the gauge was bad. Sometimes a resistor will burn out in a gauge and it will go all the way over past the red line. My tach has that problem; it red lines as soon as I start the car up. I didn't know if the temp gauge worked the same way, but the needle started to drop as the engine cooled so the gauge was working fine.

I took the car to the nearest repair shop which happened to be Xpress Lube. No, they don't just do oil changes. I had my radiator replaced by them before. The guy told me that it just might need a coolant change. In a few minutes he gave me the bad news. After replacing the coolant, he had checked the system and was getting no suction from the water pump. I asked if he would put in a new one. They didn't do that kind of job. He suggested I take it down the street to Goodyear. At least he didn't charge me anything. I got to Goodyear around 2:45pm. It looked very unbusy. They had closed at 2pm. So now what? I checked the temp gauge. It was okay. The coolant refill had cooled down the engine; but for how long? I knew there was a GM dealer with a service shop not too far away. I got there at 3pm. The sign said they closed at 4pm. The tech said it was a 3 hour job and it wouldn't be finished that day. I couldn't leave the car because I had to pick up wifey at 11pm. I didn't want to have the additional expense of renting a car. By this time, the water pump had started to leak.

I checked the temp gauge. It was okay. I wondered if I could make it to Firestone in Daytona (where I usually take the car for maintenance). I knew they were open until 6pm but it was 20 miles away. I kept my eye on the temp gauge the whole way. Miraculously it was only half way over when I got to Firestone. We are all on a first name basis at Firestone. I've been taking my car(s) there for 15 years. I told Robert I needed a water pump, but I had to have the car back that day. No problem. He called his supplier. They didn't have the pump and would have to get it from another store. My heart sank. 3:45pm. 3 hour job. 6:45 pm. They close at 6pm. Robert must have noticed my unease. "Don't worry, we'll have your car fixed today...even if we have to stay late." I signed off on the estimate and they got to work on the car.

Once they started taking the car apart they started finding other problems. The car is 18 years old. Stuff corrodes and breaks. The first thing they showed me was the throttle cable. It was nothing immediate but down the road it may need to be replaced. The hoses on something they call the "throttle block" were all frayed and brittle so they sent out for new ones. The serpentine belt needed replacing but I said I would take care of that (that's something I know how to do and they charge $59.99 to change it). The auto parts guy showed up with the throttle block hoses. They were the wrong size. The correct ones would have to be ordered. Uh oh. "We'll make our own." said Ken (the tech). (why didn't they just do that in the first place?) "Because the manufactured ones come already bent." (I see. Grabs the hose; bends it. Here.) They requested that I go back to the customer lounge. Well, this was taking forever. They had to take all kinds of things off the car to get to the water pump. Chevy must have designed it this way to prevent backyard mechanics from doing the work themselves. It was well past 6pm when they found another problem. There was a pin hole in the thermostat housing. (So duct tape it. Nope, won't hold up under pressure. Anyways, they don't have any duct tape. What? What kind of mechanic are you?). Well, the auto parts places were all closed by now so they can't get the part. It's not leaking now, but it's only a matter of time so it has to be replaced. They put the car back together so I could drive it.

It was now 7:30 pm and I'm out the door. Robert is going to call around today to find a thermostat housing. It's just an aluminum thingie that the thermostat sits in. It was corroded by the anti-freeze (why would they use a metal in the cooling system that can be corroded by anti-freeze?). Anyways, he said if he found one he would only charge me the price of the part, no labor. They only have to take the top half of the engine apart to put it in. He just called. He wasn't able to find the part. But it's Sunday. He will try again tomorrow and give me a call. It's not an emergency type deal. If they can't find one, maybe they can repair it (I'll bring them my roll of duct tape). The car is running fine again and the temp gauge is back where it should be. All in all I'm out $723 not including the housing. As I was leaving, Ken took a parting shot at me. "I love how well your car runs (you mean for a dinosaur?)." "Wanna buy it?" "Ah........no. By the way, that humming noise is your front left wheel. Bearings." "You mean the front right? They said there was a little bit of play in that wheel." "Uh uh. It's the front left." "Great!"