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I Must Be Joe Btfsplk

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AngliaGT

AngliaGT

Great Pumpkin
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The story of my life,it seems -
Took the GT to a local shop,due to a leaking rear main seal.Figured It'd take me
over a year if I did it myself,& I could be driving it soon instead.
Turns out that they found a few major things wrong (that I probably wouldn't
have found,so the bill was a lot more than I had planned on.
When I got it back,it still didn't run right,due to a worn distributor,& a bad crankshaft,
so now will need to spend even more money,as it needs to be fixed.I've been feeling really down
about this,& am actually considering selling it after it's fixed,& possibly going another direction.
Then the "CHECK ENGINE" light came on on the Miata.It came on once before,& cost me $60
to put it on a (good) scanner that told me it was a switching solenoid that cost $110,but was able
to replace myself.Now the "CHECK ENGINE" light's come on once again.It will also need two new
tires at some point,as I got a flat that was unrepairable,& am using one of the used tires that I've
kept around,but is about 6 years old.
Then my '94 Dakota 4WD had it's "CHECK ENGINE" light come on also,& I'll need to be buying
tires for it pretty soon (more $$$).
Is this some kind of virus,&,id so,where does it end?
 
I always figure that the money I spend on maintenance of an older car keeps me from making payments on a newer car. Which, I believe, is a good thing.
 
waltesefalcon said:
I always figure that the money I spend on maintenance of an older car keeps me from making payments on a newer car. Which, I believe, is a good thing.
Click to expand...
+1 My mechanic constantly <constantly> told me the same thing. And with the average new car payment $726 and the average used $533. Sheesh!

Doug I feel your pain - it never seem to rain but it pours.

1. Buy your own scanner - they are cheap ($100) and mine has paid for itself over and over.

2. Buy some used tires for the Miata/ Dakota

3. Send your ditributer to Jeff Schlemmer (2-300 dollars)

4. Have fun!
 
I can't ever see us ever buying another new vehicle.
What really hurts is that I've been saving money for our
trip to California,so we don't have any bills afterwards,but
things like this just seem to keep happening.
If it was just one vehicle at a time,it would be manageable.
 
I keep getting happier and happier I bought the daily driver right before the pandemic started and before prices went really crazy. My then daily driver was having issues with it's brains and had 150k miles so figured the money they wanted to figure it out and repair wasn't worth it for a then 20+ yo car. So bought new, and figured having one last thing like that on the ole credit report before retiring wouldn't hurt. So put down 50% and financed 50, payments under $300 for a 2020 Corolla, with a manual... Now I see ads wanting to lease or buy for way more than that for many things.
 
AngliaGT said:
The story of my life,it seems -
Took the GT to a local shop,due to a leaking rear main seal.Figured It'd take me
over a year if I did it myself,& I could be driving it soon instead.
Turns out that they found a few major things wrong (that I probably wouldn't
have found,so the bill was a lot more than I had planned on.
When I got it back,it still didn't run right,due to a worn distributor,& a bad crankshaft,
so now will need to spend even more money,as it needs to be fixed.I've been feeling really down
about this,& am actually considering selling it after it's fixed,& possibly going another direction.
Then the "CHECK ENGINE" light came on on the Miata.It came on once before,& cost me $60
to put it on a (good) scanner that told me it was a switching solenoid that cost $110,but was able
to replace myself.Now the "CHECK ENGINE" light's come on once again.It will also need two new
tires at some point,as I got a flat that was unrepairable,& am using one of the used tires that I've
kept around,but is about 6 years old.
Then my '94 Dakota 4WD had it's "CHECK ENGINE" light come on also,& I'll need to be buying
tires for it pretty soon (more $$$).
Is this some kind of virus,&,id so,where does it end?
Click to expand...

I use a Bluetooth ODB-II scanner on my Mazda - it can talk to a phone or tablet directly (on Android there is a free app called "Torque" that reads it, not sure about Apple devices). I got someone who has access to Amazon to order it for me - cost around $25.00. It helped me solve my check engine light last year (turned out to be O2 sensors) and also works on my early 2000's Ford Ranger.

I wish there was a simiar way to read older systems - my 1989 GMC has the "flash the codes on the check engine light" method tells you what error is stored, but there is no way to see the readings leading up to the error to figure out WHAT is wrong and after replacing every sensor on the thing it still is messed up - I'm seriously considering finding the right adaptor to mount an old-school carb on the thing and be done with it.

I always consider tires to be consumables like oil changes - they are stupidly expensive but also have a known finite lifespan.
 
Don't O'Reilly and Auto Zone do free OBD scans?

And remember, the fix could be something as free as tightening the gas cap!!
 
Some scanners seem to give more detailed information than others.
There is a shop that I'll probably take them to,& they don't charge me.
I plan on keeping the Miata & Dakota for as long as I can.The
'94 Dakota only has 86,000 miles on it,no rust,an is rattle free.I looked
for years for it.
And then there's annual registration fees (& property tax).The Miata
was only $30.25/$25.
 
YakkoWarner said:
I use a Bluetooth ODB-II scanner on my Mazda - it can talk to a phone or tablet directly (on Android there is a free app called "Torque" that reads it, not sure about Apple devices). I got someone who has access to Amazon to order it for me - cost around $25.00. It helped me solve my check engine light last year (turned out to be O2 sensors) and also works on my early 2000's Ford Ranger.
Click to expand...
I use the same app when I need to. It's really nice to be able to choose what sensors to log data from as you drive around.
coupe torque.jpg
 
I use a flip phone also. I ended up buying a cheap (around $20 a couple years ago) prepaid Verizion android phone and just never installed the SIM card. I got it mainly to be a music player for the car (did not want to spend hundreds on an MP3 player with decent storage, the cheap phone plus an SD card gives me a 128GB MP3 player) but since it does have WiFi connection I can install apps like PowerAmp, OpenStreetMaps GPS and the Torque OBD-II interface.
 
AngliaGT said:
Not sure what those last things in your post are.
Remember,you're talking to a guy who just might get
around to installing that 8 track player in my car someday.
Click to expand...

The last things are just apps for the Android device - PowerAmp is a music payer app that works without internet connectivity, just plays files stored on the device. The OpenstreetMaps lets the device work similar to a standalone Garmin or TomTom GPS - again works without requiring a constant internet connection, and Torque is the app that monitors the OBD-II device.
 
WAIT! - It just keeps getting better!
Got a call from my Wife while i was at work yesterday.She
said that she was in Forest,VA (about an hour from Roanoke),
& the clutch quit working on HER car.
Turns out that there was a very nice couple who lives there
(the people she was going to visit) & they rented a U Haul tow dolly,
& delivered the car to our house.He paid to rent the tow dolly,& wouldn't
tell me how much he paid to do so when I offered to pay him back.
I need to find a nice way to repay him.

008.JPG
 
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