Perpetual Ruminations

Monday

Even though I made it in here early again today, I won't have much time to spend. I have to go pick Rhonda up from work later this afternoon. We finally have two vehicles again, and of course one of them has to break down.

This time, however, I was actually able to work on it and fix it myself. We had gotten some gas from a different station a while back, and the GMC started misfiring  before we even got it home. I suspected water in the gas, and we run a couple more tanks of good gas through it but it kept running rougher and rougher. The last week or so, it just didn't want to start good at all, and last night it wouldn't start at all.

I figured the water in the gas must have fouled the spark plugs, or even cracked them. So, today on the way home I stopped and picked up some new plugs and after I got home i set about changing them. Normally, this is not a real difficult process, but then, neither was the other jobs that I had to have hired out lately. Normally they would be something I could do myself -- normally. But, this GMC Jimmy just does not have any room to work on anything. Even though it's a six cylinder, it barely fits. What room there is around the engine is stuffed full of other equipment.

It was the same with the plugs. The driver side was the worst and I had to remove two of the plugs from under the vehicle. Not right under, but from inside the wheel well. It was kind of crazy, but that was the only way to get at the back two plugs on that side. Of course, if the vehicle was up in the air higher, and the tire was removed, this would not be real bad, but for me, working in the driveway, it was a matter of lying flat on my back, sliding part way under the vehicle, and then reaching up into the access area to work. It about killed my arms by the time I had these two removed.

The front plug on the driver side was a little easier, but still a tight squeeze. The passenger side was much better, and I could change all of them from the top reaching down. There still wasn't a lot of room, but enough to squeeze my arms in and work. Of course, it did not help that the old plugs did not want to come out, and it with a lot of force all the way out with each and every one of them. By the looks of them, I don't think they have ever been changed before. Did I mention it's a 1993 GMC Jimmy? That's right, the plugs looked like they may have been the original plugs that came with the vehicle. If they were not the originals, they we changed a long time ago.

I did get the job done, and after two and a half hours I was ready to start it up. Last night it would not start, but flooded out instead. Today, after changing the plugs, it fired right up and ran pretty damn good. It still needs a new cap and rotor, but I can do that after the weather gets a little better. That will be a reach, but it's on top of the engine and I should be able to do that myself, too.

I was going to wait until tomorrow or Wednesday to work on it, but it's snowing out, and there is a possibility of getting quite a lot of snow. I'm off the next two days, as is Rhonda, but if the weather gets too bad, we may have to work for one of the guys who lives a ways out of town. Hopefully not, but it's better to be safe than sorry. So, I wanted to get the Jimmy running, since it has four wheel drive and gets through the snow pretty good. I think our new van will do pretty good, too, but why take the risk when we have four wheel drive? So, instead of waiting, I tackled the job this afternoon. Then after I came in, I seen we are in for some real cold weather and wind again. Now I'm even happier that I did the work today. it wasn't too bad out, around twenty degrees and just a light breeze.

Now, I have two vehicles running again, I have four wheel drive if it's needed, and I even got my journal entry done before it's time to go pick Rhonda up. It's shaping up to be a good day. Now if that other guy can make it in so we can get right back home and enjoy a relaxing evening together.