Anthony’s Ramblings

Woot!

I had been stringing the loan along since I purchased the extended warranty back in ‘06. But, now that the warranty has expired, it’d extremely suck to have a car payment AND repair bills (although, this car has been pretty solid). It was sort-of on a whim (one of those “turn your head the other way and click” sort of things), but I had the money sitting in my savings account. Granted, it was being saved for when we buy a house…but that’s on hold for the moment. I’ll make a good chunk of it back by the time we’re ready to continue the home hunting trek via saving my car payment plus other extra cash. So, in my eyes, it’s a win win! Improves my credit report (less debt), and I’m throwing away less money (not paying interest).

So…meh.

Tires
On Friday, I bought new tires for my car. I settled on getting a set of Yokohama YK520’s from America’s Tire as they seemed to be the best tire for the cost. So far, I like them and am happy with my purchase.

Car Maintenance
I spent most of my Saturday sitting at Los Gatos Acura waiting for my car to be serviced. All I needed was a routine oil change along with a 4 wheel alignment (since I bought new tires). What was supposed to be a simple $140 combined job turned into $450. The technician working on my car discovered that a suspension component related to my right rear wheel was bent which would prevent them from being able to give the car a proper alignment. So, I opted for them to replace the component. The part itself wasn’t expensive (only being $75) it was the labor and second alignment that brought up the cost of the repair. I’ve had a relatively good experience with Los Gatos Acura, so since I was there I figured why not.

Rooster T Feathers
Brianna’s parents bought tickets for the four of us to go to a comedy show Saturday night at Rooster T Feathers in Sunnyvale. It was a lot of fun! The night’s acts were Mike Gardner, Robert Mac, and Brent Weinbach. Our table was right up against the stage, so naturally we were the inspiration for some of the comedians’ jokes. Mike Gardner happened to notice Brianna’s dad was wearing a fanny pack and did a bit about that. It was pretty funny. At one point while he was doing his thing, he stopped, looked at Brianna’s dad, and said “Are you with me Fanny Pack?!” I don’t know why, but that hit the funny spot and had me laughing for a few minutes. It was fun.

I have finally (hopefully) reached the end of my T-Bird service spree for the time being. Whoo hoo!

Transmission Work

I decided to tackle the job of flushing the transmission fluid, replacing the transmission filter, and installing an auxiliary transmission cooler. The job went very well. I got a nice Mercon V ATF fluid bath. When they said that the transmission is electronically controlled…boy they were right. There are wires going every way behind the transmission pan.

To empty the transmission, all you do is disconnect the upper transmission cooling line, connect a rubber hose on the radiator end, start the car and stick the hose in a bucket. Once the flow of oil slows or burps, shut the car off and remove the transmission oil pan. The oil pan will be pretty close to empty, which is very handy. You don’t have to worry about balancing the pan while laying under the car.

Once you remove the oil pan, be prepared for the transmission to drip everywhere. The filter will be right there. It’s a pressed fit, so you just gently pull it off. Whip out your new filter and push it in keeping the same orientation as the old filter. Clean the oil pan with brake cleaner to remove any stray particles. The gasket is re-usable, so unless it has a break or is cracking anywhere, clean it off and re-install it along with the pan. Fill ‘er up with tranny oil and you’re good to go! Don’t forget to cycle through the gear selector and check the fluid a few times. Also, after driving around for a while you should check the fluid, just in case.

The auxiliary transmission cooler install went very smoothly, as well. All it took was some ruber hose, an oil cooler, the right fittings to tap between the upper radiator connector and upper transmission line, and hose clamps. You can mount it however you like, but I was lazy and used the zip tie mounting straps that came with my cooler kit. With these, you pretty much “zip tie” the tranny cooler to the A/C condenser. If you’re really picky you’d remove the front nose and give it a “proper” mounting. I didn’t feel like removing the nose. lol This way works just fine, anyway. You’ll just need new straps if you ever have to do a radiator replacement.

I did notice improvement in shifting, and the torque converter doesn’t “shudder” at lockup, either. I’ve also noticed that the car cools down a little faster than it used to…but that could be in my head.

Front Wheel Bearings

After my tranny work, something posessed me to spin my drivers front tire. As I did this, I heard this slight knocking sound. Hmm…the bearings must be dry. The wheel bearings on this car are sealed, so when the bearings go out be prepared to replace the whole hub and spindle nut. They’re about $85+ a piece. So I did both. If you have a torque wrench that goes up to 250 ft-lbs and a 36mm socket, changing the front wheel hub assembly is easy. If you don’t have those, stop by your nearest Autozone…they’ll rent them to you for free.

This is an interesting list I’ve developed based from the huge thread on TCCoA. I found it quite interesting. Then again, I’m a big MN12 Thunderbird fan, if you couldn’t tell .

• There is an AWD MN12 concept car (and the SCCoA owns it).
• The team that worked on the SC got a severe reprimand for winning the car of the year award.
• There are some unconfirmed rumors of some 1996 SC’s in Mexico.
• The MN12 suspension in ‘89 was more advanced than any of the BMW’s at that time.
• The results of 700 hours in the wind-tunnel means that the MN12 has a really low drag coefficient, meaning that you can drive fast while still getting decent MPGs
• The SC was severely de-tuned using a resonator and would lose 15-20 HP so it wouldn’t be faster than the Mustang GT.
• The ‘94-’95 Thunderbird (and possibly Cougar) had an insanely expensive cellular phone option that was voice activated, which was rarely purchased.
• According to one of the Today’s Technician textbooks, the Thunderbird SC was the first domestic production vehicle to receive a supercharger.
• Despite the MN12 looking trimmer and lighter in weight when it came out in ‘89, it was actually several hundred pounds heavier then the old Fox style Thunderbirds and Cougars.
• Rumor is the MN12s were always de-tuned below their potential power and performance levels to stay inferior to the Mustang.
• The motor that controls the sunroof is a BMW part.
• The last MN12 Thunderbird was produced on September 4th, 1997. It has the 3.8L V6, chrome wheels, and a red paint job. It was sold to a collector down in Southern California.

A few months ago I went on a quest to replace all the O2 sensors in my T-Bird.  The car has 4 O2 sensors.  Each side of the engine has it’s own pre-cat, and there is a sensor before and after both pre-cats.  To my dispair, there were only 3 O2 sensors in stock for my car within the entire Merced county…one in Atwater, and two, each at a different store, in Merced.  One of the O2 sensors looked like it had been replaced recently, so I decided 3 was okay and replaced the 3 stock sensors.  Everything was fine.

Then recently, as seen below, I began having trouble.  Rough idle and lag, plus the odd smelling exhaust.  I had no idea what was causing it and was going to go insane.  Some people I had talked to said that I may have a pre-cat or main-cat on it’s way out.  Boy I hope not!  They’re not cheap.  Lucky for me, the car finally threw a check engine light yesterday.

I run to Autozone and use their OBD-II code reader to grab the trouble codes.  I got two codes: P1131 (Oxygen Sensor Lean Bank 1) and P0131 (Oxygen Sensor Low Voltage Bank 1).  Sone of a bitch, that’s the O2 sensor I didn’t replace!  So I ran down to the local Kregans, bought an O2 sensor and replaced the one that I skipped.

I started the car and instantly it ran like crap.  I gave it 5-10 minutes, and it still ran like crap.  At this point I was starting to get a bit frustrated.  Maybe I have a vacuum leak somewhere…maybe I have a misfire due to a bad spark plug wire or fuel pressure system not operating properly…I don’t know!  I decide to go for a test drive anyway, and wash my hands.  All of a sudden, the car revves, all on its own, to what sounded to be about 1,500 RPM, comes back down to idle, and is as smooth as glass.  Hmm…let’s not get our hopes up.

So, I took that test drive. Drove around with a mixture of freeway and residential driving.  Every stop I made I sat there for a few seconds to feel the car.  Smooth as glass.  By George I think I solved the problem!  But wait…let’s not get our hopes up.

 So far, today, it’s been smooth as glass.  I can’t even feel the car running at idle.  It’s smoother than the day I bought it.  I’m quite happy.  April 10th I’ll be driving down to Fresno State to tour their server rooms and IT dept. facilities, so that’ll be the true test.

I got home Wednesday night around 4:45 PM. An hour and a half later, I walk out to the garage to get something, and there is anti-freeze all over the floor. Not good. I have my dad check it out with me, and we determined that it was a rear freeze plug. This meant that the engine would have to be pulled for it to be fixed since there is no room to work. However, we weren’t completely sure, but didn’t see anything that told us otherwise. So, we let it sit.

I re-examine the car Thursday afternoon. I found anti-freeze puddling under the intake manifold (since the car has overhead cams, there is a big empty space in the middle of the engine), and anti-freeze around the outer left side of the intake manifold. I show my dad the findings, and we rule that it’s the intake manifold gasket. We don’t want to deal with the mess of hoses that cross over the intake manifold, so this means it’s shop time.

• Replace intake manifold gasket
• Replace radiator (because it will need one eventually due to a very very small leak coming from the bottom passenger side of it, might as well do it now)
• Replace heater core hoses (might as well replace ‘em while you have access to them).
• Refill system with water/coolant

Update: $800, 2 days at the shop, and it doesn’t leak coolant any more!  However, the shop refused to hook up their OBD-II code reader to my car because the interface port was a little corroded (which I cleaned with no problem…not sure why they didn’t want to clean it).  It idles rough and the exhaust has an odd smell, which it didn’t have before I took it to the shop.  I’ll have Autozone grab the codes from the computer and see what’s up.  Kinda frustrating but eh well.  I do like the car, so I’m going to stick through it.

The view of the city of Albuquerque, from Interstate 40 (heading east) right before you enter the city, is amazing. As you’re coming down into the valley, the horizon is flooded with city lights as far as you can see. I’m going to attempt to take pictures of the view. The population of Albuquerque is only around half a million people, but the city is so spread out that it feels as if the city’s population is much greater.

I arrived at Jorge’s house yesterday morning around 4 AM MST. We’re going to go pay a visit to the Hinkle Family Fun Center later today (dumb name…crappy website…but it’s actually quite fun). It’s about the only thing we have planned to do…but playing things by ear/spur of the moment can be more fun. Speaking of playing things by ear…I haven’t quite decided when I’m leaving. I’ll probably end up leaving Wednesday or Thursday of next week. Maybe later or maybe sooner…you just won’t know until I leave. hehe.

This is the first long road trip I’ve done with the T-Bird. It gets 3-5 mile per gallon more than the Cougar does on the trek to Albuquerque, and it’s got 60 more horsepower. This, my friend, makes me happy.

I was able to pick the T-Bird up at lunch. $231.81 later…car seems to run exactly the same (it ran great to being with), but we’ll see if the rough idle comes back. Hopefully it is gone for good.

Update [31 Aug 05]: So far so good! Car’s been guuud.

I took my car into the shop yesterday to have them check a few things out. Preventative maintenance, you know.

1) The car was idling rough randomly.
2) Pep Boys wouldn’t do a front-end alignment because they said my drivers side upper control arm had “too much play.”

We (my dad and I) really didn’t think anything was wrong with the upper control arm, but we knew something wasn’t right with the random rough idle. So I took it to Taylors in Winton (he’s been around for like 30 years, we’ve been going to him for 9…he’s a good guy). They were really swamped yesterday, so they didn’t get to my car until the afternoon.

He said that the rough idle was due to the engine being “over-revved.” The computer has a rev limiter, and apparently when you hit the limit, it throws the computer into a “run crappy randomly” loop. I’m guessing the previous owners must’ve hit the limiter…because I know I haven’t. So they reset that. Taylors also recomended for me to have my injectors cleaned…so they’re doing that today.

Anyways…to the me going crazy part. It’s day 2 with out my T-Bird…and I actually miss it. I can’t believe I miss a car. I always swore I wouldn’t give my cars names, or become attached to them.

*sigh* I do really like this car. I want it back. Hopefully I can go pick it up at lunch today.

As a spur of the moment decision…I bought a 1996 Thunderbird LX (4.6L SOHC V8). My dad was the one who spotted it and told me about it. So we checked it out, and I bought it. It’s pefect perfect perfect perfect.

http://www.hhsn.net/t-bird/ …because I’m too lazy to re-upload them anywhere else.

I spent the week in Albuquerque, New Mexico visitng my friend Jorge. The visit was fun for the most part. We had our down times where we weren’t doing much, but just “hanging out” was better than nothing. We spent a day at a local amusement park…that was fun. We played a couple rounds of mini-golf, and then spent the rest of the day on the go-karts. We also played tennis on a few days…that was fun too (even though I suck a lot). Today, before I left, Jorge’s mom was talking about planning a trip to Mexico….me, Jorge, and her. I think it would be fun. She wants to take us to Guadalajara…and somewhere else I can’t remember. She says I’d love it there, and that it’d be lots of fun. Oh yes, I can’t forget about the unfortunate fender bender in which the drivers side front end and door was murdered…all the New Mexican’s fault (guy who hit me). He thought he had enough space to make his turn, but greatly underestimated how far away I really was. Smack. He’ll be paying for the repairs, though. The car is still drivable…it’s all cosmetic damage…and I am thankful for that.

Today I start my +/-3 day stay at my friend Joe’s in Avondale, Arizona. The drive was fun. It seemed shorter than it really was…but the wrong directions that I had made up for it. I managed to go from Albuquerque to Avondale without any problems. Once I was in Avondale was when problems started. The directions I had got me in the general direction of where I was supposed to be, but they didn’t do much more. I called Joe and asked for some help, but his mom misunderstood where I was, and had me go in the opposite way that I was supposed to. I was close, but didnt’ know it…and when she gave me her directions (thinking I was traveling towards Phoenix when I was actually traveling towards Avondale)…it threw me off more….but we figured it out! (I’m here, obviously). All is well. Tomorrow (or later today?) we’re gonna venture out and check out the nearest Fry’s Electronics store…cuz we’ve got nothing else to do…except maybe go to the driving range down the street.

I’ll keep you posted.

Today was pretty much boring. I got my car smogged, and of course, it passed.

I bought new tires for my car this weekend. One had a nail in it, and all of them had a pretty bad flat spot due to a stupid driver last Friday. He didn’t stop at a yield, but stopped in the middle of the intersection. It made me wish I had anti-lock brakes. The tread on my tires was pretty low, anyways…so it was time for tires. Exciting, huh? I got cheap-o Pepboys brand tires. P215/70R14