Three Cats and Car Breakdown

 I took up the three cats this morning--the stray boy from Albany, who now gets a home, and also the two girls from Halsey.

But on the way, on the hill on the interstate, near the Turner exit, pressing on the gas, I felt a give of sorts, then power loss, then the check engine light began blinking.

Holy cow, not again.

I believed it to be another blown coil pack and now my four cylinder car was running on three.

I got the cats checked in, checked the oil and water, and to be sure both belts were still intact.  All those were good.

I went the backroads home because a chugging slow car on the interstate is a hazard to all.

I began calling mechanics.  One had no appointments til late December!    I found a mobile female mechanic online.  I'd never heard of her but called her.  I got a text back asking if I could text so I did.  I told her what I figured to be wrong. 

When I got home, I checked the coil packs and was puzzled to find it was the same one bad as blew back in September.    Uh oh.  And there was oil down in there again.  And the boot came off the end of the coil pack and was stuck down around the plug and I couldn't pull it out using needle nose pliers. 

That's when I realized I wasn't going to try to change a valve cover gasket, not with the tools I have, most from the dollar store.

Youtube and the husband of someone I helped with cats had told me back in September it could really be the valve cover gasket, leaking oil up into where the spark plug sticks up to meet the coil pack, causing it to blow.

But back then, I wanted to believe I'd accidentally spilled oil around the coil pack seals and it somehow got down into that one tube.  But I hadn't changed the oil and been careful when I added some not to spill any.

So anyhow, I called lots of mechanics and finally got an appointment but not til next Monday.  Then suddenly the mobile mechanic texted back a pdf with an estimate, which included the cost for a new valve cover gasket and another coil pack.   She said she'd come this evening.  

Meanwhile, the lady who brought over Martin, the stray boy, gave me a ride back to the clinic to pick up the three cats.  The Halsey lady picked up her two here.

The mobile mechanic arrived two hours later than she'd estimated, which is par for the course with mechanics.  They never know how long a job will really take and just guess.

She worked on it several hours out in my neighbors driveway, had some nice lights, good equipment seemed unbelievably knowledgable and skilled.  Left when I was inside my house keeping warm.  Its freezing here.   Said by text she'd had to run and to go try it out.  But it wouldn't start.  She texted to turn the ignition on five seconds three times then try to start it.  And that worked.  It rumbled and grumbled, jerked and bucked, and churned to life then ran fine.   

I was/am impressed.   Price was reasonable.   The old valve cover gasket was so brittle the piece she handed me to show how bad it was crumbled.

Anyhow, here are the three lucky cats and I feel lucky I found a mechanic who came THE SAME DAY!  Can you believe that?   I couldn't.   

Stormy

Winter

Martin

Turned out to be an all right day except for another car repair bill.   But that's life.