Back yard mechanic, no more.. no more..

Back yard mechanic, no more.. no more..

 

Sung to the tune of HIT THE ROAD JACK.. don’t come back, no more…no more..  ha…

 

Last week the King and I had a problem with the old Buick. Seems the thermostat was sticking..  Found this out when the King took it in for quick oil change… as it popped up on the machine..  Not a problem.. the King tells them. I will get it fixed.  Knowing full well, he would get the part and fix it.. Not a big problem..  

Now you got to understand.. the King has been a machine for zillions of years.  And even I can change a thermostat.  I had changed a few in my days… after all being a mechanic’s daughter, you learn a lot of things.  You start out as a go for.. You learn really quick the different of a ¼ wrench from a 7/8 one. Or a quarter inch socket from a ¾ one.  Crescent  wrench or a 3mm from a 15mm… 

So when the King came in and said…. I CAN’T FIND THE THERMSTAT… I am thinking.. is he getting feeble minded? Who can’t find the thermostat?  It is right on top..  I told him. Did you follow the hose down to the motor, where the intake manifold is?  He looks at me disgustedly and said OF COURSE I DID. But I still can’t find it.. look it up on google.. So I googled it… there was one…. can I change the thermostat as the garage wants $280!!..  So I clicked on that..

 

AND that was when the horror set in… It shows where the thermostat is.. KIND OF…. Along with the wording .. this is why the garage is charging $280….    I showed it to the King, and he goes back out to the car.  Comes back in with sad face and says.. I got to go over to see how much Emerald will charge us and get an appointment.  WHAT???  I asked?  He said.. you would not believe what I would have to remove to just get to the thermostat.  So eating humble pie, off he went.. found out they had two cancellations, so we could get it in that day… Long and short of it.. $247.10 later, we had our car back.

 

I think if this car dies on us.. I will look for a 1970 something. Something we still can work on ourselves.  Because this sure the hell isn’t it.. and way more expensive. Heck the car is just barely worth more than the part.   Well, actually the labor, the part we had and that was only $7.

 

So our days of back yard mechanic is pretty much over with.