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Friday, May 30, 2008

It's always something

I may not get around to posting anything interesting this morning, I've got a bunch of crap going on.

First, somehow I thought it was Thursday, so I'm a day behind. Argh! I hate that. I stopped wearing a watch after I retired, and sometimes that bites me right on the ass. Like today, when I thought I'd have time to take care of a number of little jobs, so I could start production work tomorrow. And I will be starting production work tomorrow, on the weekend dammit. Because I have deadlines and it has to be done.

Second, the sump pump for the integrated humidifier in the basement furnace room is kicking on and off for some strange reason. I've got to go troubleshoot that and figure out what the problem is. It shouldn't be running at all, it's spring in Alaska, trust me, it's plenty humid enough in the house without the humidifier. Something has gone pear shaped down there, and I need to fix it before it becomes a major issue.

And third, I have to pull the oil pan on the mustang. When I replaced the valve cover gaskets two weeks ago, I also replaced the PCV filter. This upped the pressure in the engine crankcase back to proper specification. That's the good news. The bad news is that the increased pressure has caused the saddle gaskets between the rear mainseal and the oil pan to start leaking. Seriously leaking. I hate oil leaks, or leaks of any kind in a car engine. And in this case the leak is significant enough that the car is dripping about a quart of oil a week. Not only does that make a mess on the garage floor, it's costing me money - oil, $140 per barrel = $5qt Syntec, and etc. So I've got to pull the oil pan. Now in order to pull the oil pan I have to do the following, pull the air cleaner box in order to access certain bolts, remove the starter, remove the exhaust system crossover H-frame, unbolt the engine mounts and loosen the transmission mount, jack the engine up two inches, and swear in the proper sequence of profanity in order to appease the automotive gods. Replacing the actual gasket is the work of about fifteen minutes - but to get to the dammed thing is a two day job. I swear there is a special place in hell for automobile designers and engineers.

So, I'm busy today. And not happy about it. I hate working on cars, but it has to be done. And so I'm off to the shop. More later, maybe.

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