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Apr. 23rd, 2011
More maintenance
Apr. 23rd, 2011 08:39 pmRotated the tires on all the vehicles. While I had the tires off on the Taurus I found that the front brakes were in very bad shape. Not dangerous but probably reduced stopping power, and deteriorated parts to the point where one of them could have gone south easily. Replaced the pads and rotors.
When I went to start the Taurus to road test the brakes, it ran for about 3 seconds and died, and afterward sounded to me like the starter gear was just stripped. However, after pulling the starter motor and finding it in fine condition, I determined that the motor was actually turning, and the cams as well, though there was hardly any compression. My guess is that the timing chain jumped. It has 142,000 miles on the original chain so we'll have it towed to our local shop and have that taken care of next week. Assuming it's just a timing chain, it should just be a few hundred bucks, though I don't really know what's involved. If they have to drop the engine out to do it, it could be a bit more.
Sheesh, I didn't even get to move the car an inch after fixing the brakes. And I never did change the oil, that was on the list too.
Odometers:
Taurus, 142371, van 113956, Fusion 58475
When I went to start the Taurus to road test the brakes, it ran for about 3 seconds and died, and afterward sounded to me like the starter gear was just stripped. However, after pulling the starter motor and finding it in fine condition, I determined that the motor was actually turning, and the cams as well, though there was hardly any compression. My guess is that the timing chain jumped. It has 142,000 miles on the original chain so we'll have it towed to our local shop and have that taken care of next week. Assuming it's just a timing chain, it should just be a few hundred bucks, though I don't really know what's involved. If they have to drop the engine out to do it, it could be a bit more.
Sheesh, I didn't even get to move the car an inch after fixing the brakes. And I never did change the oil, that was on the list too.
Odometers:
Taurus, 142371, van 113956, Fusion 58475
Things getting old
Apr. 23rd, 2011 10:39 pmThe battery in my phone and my Sansa Fuze both seem to be dying lately, so I ordered some replacements. The phone is an easy one, found some for $2.50 each. The Fuze used to last a good 16 hours on a charge, it's down to about 6 now which isn't even a whole day's listening. I found a new battery for $10 shipped. It will probably be "interesting" getting the thing apart, and maybe even more interesting getting it back together with a new battery, but I figure it's worth a shot.
I'll probably try to clean it up a bit when I'm in there, a little zero residue cleaner and some compressed air probably can't hurt, the wheel has been a little dodgy at times so I assume there's some lint or something in the encoder.
Hopefully Woot will have refurbs on sale again soon. I bought a backup for $25 there about 6 months ago but sold it to a friend at work who needed one at the time. I honestly have never had or seen a better audio player for what I need it for than the Fuze. I can't think of a single thing I'd change about it. Unfortunately, the current version of it (the Fuze Plus) is a gigantic step backwards; they went with a touch screen. I can't use a touch screen without looking at it. The regular Fuze I can work easily while it's inside my pocket riding down the road, without looking at it.
I'll probably try to clean it up a bit when I'm in there, a little zero residue cleaner and some compressed air probably can't hurt, the wheel has been a little dodgy at times so I assume there's some lint or something in the encoder.
Hopefully Woot will have refurbs on sale again soon. I bought a backup for $25 there about 6 months ago but sold it to a friend at work who needed one at the time. I honestly have never had or seen a better audio player for what I need it for than the Fuze. I can't think of a single thing I'd change about it. Unfortunately, the current version of it (the Fuze Plus) is a gigantic step backwards; they went with a touch screen. I can't use a touch screen without looking at it. The regular Fuze I can work easily while it's inside my pocket riding down the road, without looking at it.