September 19, 2020
I spent two days and quite a bit of money having some maintenance work done on the van. I needed an oil change which cost me $100. It is the most I have ever paid. It is usually around $65. The tires also needed to be rotated, which was done at a reasonable price of $30. The cabin air filter needed to be changed, $23. I did this myself after watching a youtube video on how to do it. I also had one headlight out $20. I did this myself after watching a youtube video, but I have to confess I was nervous about this one. It involved removing a few pieces, but I am happy to say it all went well. Then about a week later the other headlight goes out and needs to be replace. Now I am a pro at changing the lightbulbs!
I also did laundry, got my propane tank filled and went grocery shopping while in town.
Congratulations. Since I need frequent hand surgery, I joke with my surgeon that I’ve watched it on You Tube and probably could do it myself. There is a concept in engineering called mean time to failure. It is a very important in aviation for example. That’s how they know to change a part before it fails in flight. Mean time to failure applies across the board. In automobiles the price you pay generally a function of mean time to failure. My last car was an Acura which went 14 years before its first unscheduled maintenance. That was followed closely by a number of expensive repairs. It’s also true in light bulbs. When your first one failed, it followed that the other would not be far behind. It’s also true with components such as fuel pumps, water pumps and alternators among other components. Drive on!
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Well, I hope I don’t have to watch any more repair youtube video’s. I’ve already had to use the duck tape. Oh, you’ll like this one…I have some guy line holding some pipes up under the van.
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I used to use old wire coat hangers.
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Kudos to you for doing some of your own mechanical work. You can learn pretty much anything on You Tube!
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Yup, step by step instruction.
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Duct tape and WD-40. If it moves and its not supposed to Duct tape it. If it doesn’t move and its supposed to, spray it with the WD-40. LOL
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Thanks, neighbor.
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Gee, with all this “do it yourself” auto repair, fix and replace experience your getting on this latest adventure, have you thought about a career in the automotive industry?
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No thank you. It gets your hands dirty!
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