Long long day...

Mon 151208

Yup, it was one of those days...Sun 141208, yesterday, that was! A long long day... for me & my ole junk.

Well, it started simply enough. My plan for that day was to have the rubber boots/bellows of the LHS drive shaft of my ole junk. You see, a couple of days ago, I noticed that there was grease splattered around the inner boot of that drive shaft. So the rubber boot/cover there was suspect...probably damaged.

Alas, because that was not to be. Not that simple, anyway. Upon examining the area & checking the drive shaft proper, the mechanic told me that it would be a waste of time & $$ to just replace the rubber covers. Simply because the drive shaft is worn & loose now! The RHS shaft was subsequently checked & found to be in a similar state. Phew!

Now what would you do in my position? Insist that you wanna just change the rubber covers? No? Yup, that's what me also concluded. Better to be safe than sorry! Not save now & be sorry later, right?

Now that was a hefty price to pay though. RM320 in all, including labour charges! In the course of the work being done, a torn rubber cover/bellows of the steering arm was also detected & changed @ minimal cost. Only RM16.

That was only "phase 1 " of the day.

Since the steering linkage had to be disconnected to replace the rubber bellows, a front wheels alignment had to be carried out as that configuration was affected. So it was that me took me ole junk to a nearby tyre shop with wheel alignment facilities.

Returning from a test drive, the alignment staff found he could not get a good result from his efforts. And on further investigations with help from his other colleagues, it was found that the steering collar bushes were worn & the looseness affected the alignment even after adjustments were made.

That was the start of "phase 2". The ole junk was back again to the mech's workshop & the collar bushes were replaced albeit with minor hiccups. RM30 was added to the day's expenses.

Now back again to the tyre shop to redo the alignment. Hooray! Finally the results were good! Another RM34 dug out from me pocket lo...for toe-in & camber adjustments. Good point is the second round of adjustments were on the house! TQ, Mr N...great service there!

Phase 3? Yup, me forgot to mention that at the mech's, one other mech noticed that the fuses for my upgrades headlamp system were BURNT! Melted! Kaputt! Me didn't even noticed that...our last trip back from Penang had no problems with the lights that night.

So, when me mentioned that in conversation with the Mr N of the tyre shop, he recommended a nearby auto-wiring shop just a block down from his. Me was gonna take the ole junk to a car accessories shop to have it done if not for his suggestion.

A few mins later, the burnt fuses were replaced with better ones...covered ones! Only RM8 was added in this final leg. A pic of the burnt fuses below to share...after dismemberment from my ole junk!Total expenses? A whopping RM392! Practically almost my pocket money for the month from "Kay Pa" gone. Thank God, too, that "Kay Pa"' was early this month or else me would have to dig into my reserves! Not good then, right?

The time? Almost 4.30pm!! That was certainly a long long day....

As the Chinese believed...Bad things come in threes. So me looking forward to good things now...a good 2009!