This is another in the long line of “Oh God My Car” posts, although I haven’t had one in a while.
Lately, I’ve noticed that the minivan is running a bit rough and has no get up and go. The old girl has about 120,000 miles on her, so I decided it was time for a tune-up. When I bought the van, I asked the dealership how long to go before doing that kind of thing. With all of the “You never need to do maintenance on this Cadismack V2750 Vorquart engine” commercials, I wanted to make sure I didn’t follow my old habit of doing a tune-up every twenty to twenty-five thousand miles if it wasn’t necessary. They assured me that I could go at least 100,000 miles before I had to change the plugs and wires and such.
I must have ‘Sucker’ tattooed on a place that’s only visible to auto dealers.
Here’s what the six plugs looked like after 120,000 miles:
As you can see, I may have waited a wee bit too long in replacing them. I’ve never had plugs get that rounded off.
Replacing them was easier than I thought. Like all Chryslers, the minivan has a “cab-forward” engine compartment, which basically means that the engine compartment is shrunk and rotated 90 degrees. Getting to the back three plugs basically meant I gave the engine a big bear hug and worked by feel. The guy at the auto shop where I bought the replacement plugs and wires actually suggested loosening the motor mounts and tilting the engine forward. Since I’m a little black rain cloud and I didn’t feel like explaining to Irish Woman why the motor to the van was on the ground under the van, I decided to just get up close and personal with the top of my engine and practice seeing with my fingertips. But after figuring out where everything was, I got them in and out pretty quickly. I’m glad I let the car sit for about 12 hours before I did the work, or I’d have been searing oily dirt into my chest in a festive pattern.
While I was at it, I changed the oil. I’d gone about 8,000 miles on this oil change, and since I was dirty and greasy already, why not? I may go back to the old standard of doing an oil change every 3,000 to 5,000 miles. This oil was quite black, and I need to baby this motor as long as I can.
My 86 year old neighbor came over to see what I was up to*, and he commented that it was the first time he’d seen anyone under the hood of their car on our street in a long time. He also marveled at how tightly everything was packed into the engine compartment.
So what did I get for my $75.00 worth of parts and a couple of hours of my time? I got back a lot of power in my engine, lost the hesitation that the car developed in the past month or so, and got back a pretty smooth running engine. I also saved about $200 by doing it myself, so the Scrooge Olafsen in me is satisfied.
So, here’s hoping that with a little elbow grease and a little time, I’m doing enough to keep that bucket of bolts going for another fifty to sixty thousand miles. My best case scenario for this is that I keep it running well enough, long enough, that I give it to Girlie Bear to take to college. I have no illusions that she’ll want a rusty old rattletrap of a 10-year-old mini-van, but it’s better than walking.
*Watching me do stuff seems to be a favorite pastime among the older gentlemen in the neighborhood. Landscaping, carpentry, cleaning nasty old stuff, home improvements, and automotive maintenance all get an audience. If it’s something that takes a while, eventually someone brings a cooler of beer and maybe even a lawn chair to sit and watch me. They’re all old enough that I don’t ask if they want to lend a hand, but since they all built the houses in the neighborhood, I can go to them with my “OK, WTF was the builder doing when he …..” questions. And it’s good to occasionally be offered a chance to sit and listen to them tell stories about their old cars, building the houses, and the projects that their wives have thrown at them over the years.
DaddyBear’s Den 