I took my car in for a routine service yesterday, and when Sarah took me back to pick it up at five o'clock, I was surprised to see my car still hoisted up in the garage. I was greeted at the desk with a friendly "You've got a big problem, mate. Come with me..."
As it turns out, years ago at some point, someone used a steel bolt to seal the aluminium oil sump, and with repeated oil changes the steel bolt has stripped away the thread on the sump. I had two options: either drill out the existing thread and glue in a replacement hole with new thread, or replace the entire sump.
Drilling out the existing thread was a less than attractive proposition, because there's no saying how long the glued-in thread would last and it would introduce metal shavings into the inside of the sump - this is the thing that holds oil for lubricating the engine; hardly someplace you want metal shavings.
So I'm replacing the sump. The guy initially quoted me around $300 or more for the sump, but after grimacing a bit I decided to go with it. Fortunately he managed to secure me a second-hand sump for $170 - much more managable.
Sarah's been driving me around while I wait for the part to come, which I'm very grateful for. She even helped me put my new computer chair together, this morning - because I realised after I got home that my tools are in the car at the garage :)
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thursday, 2 december, 2004 12 noon MAT
tools left in the car... digital camera left in the car... cds, blanket, all sorts of stuff left in the car. *i think nick left his brain in the car too!*
nick is a rather trusting person to leave all that stuff in the car when it's being serviced. who knows what kind of service people there are that have access to all that stuff. i wouldda taken it all out. maybe i'm just cautious.
i'm glad it was all still there when you got it back. yeah for honest kmart car service people.
,` ) melanie
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