The big news is a schedule change. The shop will be closed on Sundays, leaving me only Saturday morning to work on cars. I'll just have to make the most of it.
My wife's Toyota Camry wagon finally died. I have been saying for months that the next big thing to go out will be the end. It turned out to be the steering rack, which I replaced once already. The reason it failed was the poor quality aftermarket parts that are available. The windshield wiper motor I replaced recently in the van is failing, same story. Hard to find quality parts these days.
For a replacement I have been focused on two cars, a BMW 5-series wagon, or a Honda Element. My wife was not excited about either, which is why we put off replacing the Toyota until it actually died. The key criteria was that she could put her road bike inside, without taking it apart, and she did not want a van or a big SUV. This car functions as our "nice" family car, and I thought it was time we showed up looking less like the Beverly Hillbillies.
The Toyota died Monday before last, at Costco. I had it towed back to our place for troubleshooting. When I determined it was the rack I jumped on Craigslist and confirmed what I already knew, there were no suitable 5-series wagons for sale. A nice one in Kona, but too much hassle to bring it home (you can't drive across the ocean). A couple of nice Elements, one real pretty but manual and I want an automatic. Then I stumbled upon a Subaru Legacy wagon. My wife has always had a thing for Foresters and the Legacy wagon. 2001, a little older than I wanted, but when I went to see it I could tell at once that this was an extremely clean, well kept car, worth every penny. Got a great deal on it, too, so all the better.
I decided to donate the Toyota to the shop. Yesterday was the day to tow it in, which they do for free. The Lotus needed a safety check, so my first Saturday would be getting those things done.
The last time I drove the Lotus I noticed the brakes were dragging. This has always been an issue with this car, due to a problem with the design of the rear brakes. The fix is to ratchet back the adjusters by hand. I did that, got the paperwork in order, and drove out to the shop. Passed the inspection without a hitch. The tow truck was supposed to follow me home, hook up the Toyota, and that would be my day. Just as we were about to get onto the freeway the Lotus quit. I rolled to a stop on the shoulder with the tow truck behind me, and after a quick check to make sure the primary wire had not fallen off of the distributor (that has happened before) and that the Holly fuel pump was still running (it was) we towed it back to the shop. It was funny to see; we left with the tow truck following me and returned a few minutes latter with the tow truck towing me.
I am almost certain the problem is with the carburetors. The air pistons get sticky. Old age. I'll figure it out next Saturday.
We did get the Toyota, so my wife can park in our stall, but the Lotus is still at the shop and nothing got done on the E9. The strange thing is I had my phone with me but never thought to take some pictures of all this. I should hand in my journalist card.
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