Not a good morning....

[iamwhatiseem]

At 5:25am, driving to work... I lose power steering... what the??!!
Then a red battery light comes on... crap probably the Alternator.
Get to work, too dark to see anything.
Go back out... oh... the belt came off... okay...odd... work to get it back on.. pops right back off.
Probably the tensioner. Walk across the street to an Autozone and buy a new one $27... no biggie.
Pops back off. Dammit!! Why did I not by a new belt, probably got stretch or something.
Put that on. Pops back off. Put it back on, looking for reasons that it is popping off... what's this? Why is the camshaft pulley a good inch out of alignment with the other pulleys?? Okay this can't be good. Little bit of a panic.
Look around... this vehicle has what is called a "Harmonic Balancer"... basically a piece that prevents any vibrations from the camshaft from affecting other parts. It wears and may very well move the pulley in or out.
Yeah... now that I look I can see exactly that is it.
Only... you have to take the world apart and all manner of things to replace it.
Dammit... here goes $500 or so to pay someone else.
Ugh.

 

[1srelluc]

Well at lest you got a new belt for half what a mechanic would charge ya.

Oh wait, in before the mechanic won't warranty the work with your "low-rent" Auto Zone belt.

 

[okfine]

At 5:25am, driving to work... I lose power steering... what the??!!
Then a red battery light comes on... crap probably the Alternator.
Get to work, too dark to see anything.
Go back out... oh... the belt came off... okay...odd... work to get it back on.. pops right back off.
Probably the tensioner. Walk across the street to an Autozone and buy a new one $27... no biggie.
Pops back off. Dammit!! Why did I not by a new belt, probably got stretch or something.
Put that on. Pops back off. Put it back on, looking for reasons that it is popping off... what's this? Why is the camshaft pulley a good inch out of alignment with the other pulleys?? Okay this can't be good. Little bit of a panic.
Look around... this vehicle has what is called a "Harmonic Balancer"... basically a piece that prevents any vibrations from the camshaft from affecting other parts. It wears and may very well move the pulley in or out.
Yeah... now that I look I can see exactly that is it.
Only... you have to take the world apart and all manner of things to replace it.
Dammit... here goes $500 or so to pay someone else.
Ugh.

Isn't that the old Mazda you just bought?
And you drive your wife to the doctor in that thing. Shame on you.

 

[odanny]

What kind of old beater do you drive?

 

[iamwhatiseem]

2006 Explorer... 169,000 miles. Paid for 10 years ago.
We are 58 and 59... all about saving/investing... not about paying car payments.
Wife has the 2020 Fusion, that's our "good car". Mine is just back and forth to work.
Only a dumbass pays $400-$600 a month to drive 5 miles a day.
Anyway...

 

[Missourian]

I think you mean the crankshaft instead of camshaft.

This is why I won't buy a new car.

Everything is too jammed together.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

The worst of it is paying someone else to fix it.
Not my thing. I am 58 years old and I can easily count on one hand the number of times I have paid someone to fix anything.
I have drywalled, roofed, put floors in, rewired houses, plumbed. siding, windows and framed rooms.
I have replaced carburetors, water pumps, manifold, master cylinder, alternator, starter.. painted several cars, brakes... and on.
Getting old sucks. And so does RA.

 

[Missourian]

The worst of it is paying someone else to fix it.
Not my thing. I am 58 years old and I can easily count on one hand the number of times I have paid someone to fix anything.
I have drywalled, roofed, put floors in, rewired houses, plumbed. siding, windows and framed rooms.
I have replaced carburetors, water pumps, manifold, master cylinder, alternator, starter.. painted several cars, brakes... and on.
Getting old sucks. And so does RA.

In an older car this is an easy fix.

With these new ones... spend 10 times longer getting to the repair than making the repair.

Old Blue let me down yesterday... brought it home on a chain. It's an 89 F-150.

The throttle position sensor is UNDER the throttle body! Got to remove the entire throttle body, fuel lines, coolant lines... just to TEST it.

Skip. Save that for last.

Turned out it was a loose wire connector to the fuel pump relay.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Well sonofabitch... they got the pulley on, belt rides normal again... yay!
Wait... WTF is that little stream of liquid pouring out?? Where is THAT coming from?
Awesome!!... apparently when the belt flew off it smacked the oil cooler and put a hold in it.
Now it leaks anti-freeze.
So... yeah... you have to take the world apart to get to the thing. Part is $110. Another $150 in labor.
FFS!!

 

[Tumblin Tumbleweed]

The worst of it is paying someone else to fix it.
Not my thing. I am 58 years old and I can easily count on one hand the number of times I have paid someone to fix anything.
I have drywalled, roofed, put floors in, rewired houses, plumbed. siding, windows and framed rooms.
I have replaced carburetors, water pumps, manifold, master cylinder, alternator, starter.. painted several cars, brakes... and on.
Getting old sucks. And so does RA.

Yep. Unfortunately, that basic knowledge is being made obsolete with every new iteration of the automobile.