Actually, I've had a bad week. Felt a stumble in my truck earlier this week. Went home and pulled a P0306 code. Mis-fire on #6. Ohm out the COP (coil on plug), and injector. Both are within spec. Compression test went to 90 - uh oh.
Also found coolant on the plug -> yep, you guessed it: Head gasket. I'm pissed. That gasket was done at 62,xxx miles under warranty for a TSB about metal shavings on the block during assembly. Well, I'm at 92K and my extended warranty ran out 2K miles ago. Dropped the truck off at my deal to confirm (who are actually pretty good to work with). They pulled the intake to check for a leak "that sometimes happens there". Looking at minimum $1500 - $1700. If the head is cracked I'm screwed. If the block is cracked, I'm fawked. I had them throw it back together and I'm probably picking it up tomorrow AM. The service manager offered 15% off the repair. I guess they really don't have to give me anything, so it's better than nothing.
Angie's Malibu needs an exhaust, which is a welded system (i.e you need to replace the whole thing). The two flex joints up front rotted and it leaks. Only a handful of supply sources carry it, and it's about $1400 just for the parts (that's what you get when you build a Chevy/Saab on the same chassis). Inspection sticker just ran out and I'm going to weld in universal flex joints for $44.00. Just need the time.
I've been driving Michaela's XJ to work. On the way home today, I was cut off and slammed on my brakes. Well, apparently the driver's lower control arm mount was rotted worse than I thought and decided to break completely off. I nearly drove off the side of the road in downtown Worcester. The only thing that kept me going straight, was the the fact that I'm running 33's with no lift and trimmed fenders. The driver's tire hit the inner fender, so the axle could only turn so far. If I had the stock 215/75r15's, the tire would have allowed more room before bottoming out and would have tossed me into parked cars and PEOPLE. When I came to a stop, I was a nervous fawking wreck.
So, what to do. I coach soccer and had our first practice tonight. I had a ratchet strap, but didn't think it would hold. Low and behold, I found a plastic bag with a length of chain! I also found a handful of spare bolts (had cleaned the XJ for Michaela). Ratchet strapped the control arm back in place and chained her up. Released the strap and headed home. The chain kept the axle located and tire out of the fender, but I couldn't hit the brakes too hard, because she'd still pull. 70% of your braking comes from the front, and with the borken link, she had a lot of pull. I drove home using limited foot and a lot of parking brake. Thank God the rear brakes work well.
When I made it home, Angie had a Scout meeting, so I'm not forced to drive the YJ. 38's with no fender flares and flat tow trailer lights. I took back roads and didn't have a problem.
So, what does this vent mean? I'm not sure. Only that I've had a very bad week. I'm going to concentrate on Angie's Malibu first, get a sticker, and then fab some new lower control arm mounts for the XJ and weld them in. I think I have a couple of TJ or XJ low pinion housings I could cut them off too. I think I'll do both sides.
As far as the truck goes, I think I'm going to trade it in. Definitely don't have the coin to get what I really want right now. What I really need is a decent commuter. Been actually thinking about getting a regular car. We'll see. Angie found a 2008 Liberty that's in real nice shape. Why a Liberty? Well, the mileage ratings aren't too bad and we can still tow the camper. I don't have $43,000 kicking around for a new F250 crew. So, we'll see. At least it's a nice weekend.
