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Thursday, April 21, 2016

168,600 Miles - Vic Gets Some Much Needed Attention

Vic 2.0 got some attention today.  The steering has been odd... when the outside temperatures were cold, the steering would feel heavy and "notchy".  The fact that as the engine bay/outdoor temps got higher, the steering was a bit better, made me rule out what the actual cause seems to have been, the upper steering shaft.  The lower one was changed last year under the Ford recall.  Taxi Guy lubed it up and says to try that.  Seemed nicer during the drive home.  Time will tell.

Another issue is the rear end has slowly been staining the driveway.  The bearing in the differential needs to be replaced, but due to my financial situation, he topped off the fluid and we will simply watch it.  I don't know how such a small drip makes such a large stain...

Next, the air conditioning had stopped blowing cold.  Happened all of a sudden.  I could hear the compressor turn on/off over and over, with no cool air coming through the vents.  I figured it needed a recharge.  Turns out the cause answered yet another issue.

Last week, I found a small green puddle under the car, sort of under the battery.  I assumed it was coolant leaking from the plastic tank nearby.  But it didn't smell like coolant.  It ended up being from a rotted out a/c condenser.  I had asked Todd if "freon" had a color, and he assumed it was a gas and therefore it didn't have a color.  Well... it does.

In fact, all the years and miles Todd had the car, one of the very few repairs he had to do was to replace that part!  So the car is now on it's THIRD condenser.

Vic also got a nice oil change.  I have decided to go with Mobil 1 again, as Vic 1.0 seemed very happy with it.

Next on the list is a wax-job and taking off the snow tires.

Long time readers may like to know the BBS-style alloy wheels from Vic 1.0 helped to pay for today's bill.  Taxi Guy has a buyer for them!