Perpetual Ruminations

Tuesday

Missed yesterday, so I better get an entry in here today. That makes two days so far this month, not bad, but I would really like to have a better excuse for missing than just running out of time. For example, if I missed a couple of days here because I was out camping and having fun, with no internet access, or even just didn't have time because I was doing something fun.

But, that's not the case. I'm running short on  time because of work, and related problems. Today should have been better, since I got done an hour early. But, I was having some issues with my vehicle, so I stopped by the local garage and got some ideas from the mechanic. He didn't really check it out in depth, just kind of looked and listened, then decided it was the catalytic converter plugged up.

It's an older vehicle, and I can't afford to put a lot of money into it, so I set about seeing what would be needed to do this work myself. I spent the better part of the afternoon under the thing, didn't get as much done as I would have liked, and then discovered something that would indicate it's not the converter at all.

He assumed it was plugged by the way it's running, and because there's no exhaust pressure. But, there's a big hole in the muffler, and all the exhaust is leaking out there. It's showing plenty of pressure, so it's not likely the converter at all. It could be the spark plug wires are bad, they have not been changed in a long time, if ever. Also, the distributor cap and rotor were pretty fouled, which could be the problem, and could be caused by faulty wires.

But, it could also be a failing fuel pump, or a fuel regulator. It could even be a vacuum leak or something similar. There is just no way for me to tell. I will try the wires, cap, and rotor, just because I know they need changing, but if it still isn't running right, I will have to take it in to another mechanic who will at least diagnose the problem a little further.

What this means, however, is more time burned up, and I'm already so short on this commodity that I'm having a tough time getting in here, or even getting enough sleep.