Adventures in Truck Repairs
Sunday, 26 June 2005 00:38![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dr_phil_physicsFriday was Chevy Day. I took the 1985 S-10 Blazer in for an oil change in the morning, then swapped Blazers and took the 1989 in for the afternoon. Oil change, tighten the bolts on a loose steering column (hey, your bolts would rattle loose after 279,000 miles, too), and an AC recharge.
The latter involved finally making the change from the old refrigerant, still used in new vehicles in 1989, and getting a new compressor. Changing refrigerant didn't require the new compressor, the fact that the old was leaking did, because the AC became less effective, which is why I was there to get the AC servicing done in the first place. Simple. Lemmen-Grand Chevy in Coopersville MI has a lovely "business" section to their customer lounge, with two desks equipped with power and phone jacks. I was able to put much of a day's work laboring there.
I've been driving the 1985 Blazer, the "winter Blazer", for the last couple of weeks, because its AC has actually worked better and with my crazy schedule, I hadn't had time to get the 1989 in for repairs or to get its snow tires off. Now, of course, with a lovely newly rebuilt AC system, I can drive the 1989 "summer Blazer" in the blazing heat of a West Michigan summer, and on the way to Kalamazoo on Monday, I'll stop at Goodyear and get the snow tires swapped out for the regular tires.
All of This Comes Just in Time
As I was walking up the driveway today, I noticed the 1985 Blazer in the garage seemed to be listing to the right. Upon further review, I saw the right front tire was F-L-A-T. Damn. This is going to be a pain. I "might" be able to temporarily reinflate the tire, if the bead isn't broken and the damage not too severe. But there is little room to work in the garage on that side, and the 12-volt cigarette lighter/socket is inconveniently hidden behind where I mounted the CB radio.
Am I annoyed? Sure. On the other hand, it didn't leave me stranded on the road or blow out at 70mph on the freeway and it didn't keep me from my job the last critical four weeks, so I'm really not going to be too upset.
But I'm going to have to be creative to figure out how to deal with this one (grin).
Dr. Phil
The latter involved finally making the change from the old refrigerant, still used in new vehicles in 1989, and getting a new compressor. Changing refrigerant didn't require the new compressor, the fact that the old was leaking did, because the AC became less effective, which is why I was there to get the AC servicing done in the first place. Simple. Lemmen-Grand Chevy in Coopersville MI has a lovely "business" section to their customer lounge, with two desks equipped with power and phone jacks. I was able to put much of a day's work laboring there.
I've been driving the 1985 Blazer, the "winter Blazer", for the last couple of weeks, because its AC has actually worked better and with my crazy schedule, I hadn't had time to get the 1989 in for repairs or to get its snow tires off. Now, of course, with a lovely newly rebuilt AC system, I can drive the 1989 "summer Blazer" in the blazing heat of a West Michigan summer, and on the way to Kalamazoo on Monday, I'll stop at Goodyear and get the snow tires swapped out for the regular tires.
All of This Comes Just in Time
As I was walking up the driveway today, I noticed the 1985 Blazer in the garage seemed to be listing to the right. Upon further review, I saw the right front tire was F-L-A-T. Damn. This is going to be a pain. I "might" be able to temporarily reinflate the tire, if the bead isn't broken and the damage not too severe. But there is little room to work in the garage on that side, and the 12-volt cigarette lighter/socket is inconveniently hidden behind where I mounted the CB radio.
Am I annoyed? Sure. On the other hand, it didn't leave me stranded on the road or blow out at 70mph on the freeway and it didn't keep me from my job the last critical four weeks, so I'm really not going to be too upset.
But I'm going to have to be creative to figure out how to deal with this one (grin).
Dr. Phil
