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.