Friday, April 27, 2007
Birthdays, Jeep, and solitude
Here is a picture I took of Cara and Joyce with Cara's 15th birthday cake. Great cake! We had our birthday celebration Saturday night since Philip and Kyle had a paintball match on Sunday afternoon and John needed to head back to ACU Sunday evening. 
On Monday night Philip and Kyle pulled the oil pan off the Jeep to see about fixing the oil leak. Kyle and I then spent an hour or so trying to remove the U-joint on the right front axle that was losing its bearings (literally). After quite a bit of futility we gave up under the suspicion that the axle might need to be removed from the vehicle to be able to replace the U-joint. Tuesday after work we went to the Jeep dealer and bought a new (very expensive very nice single piece) gasket for the oil pan, and confirmed that the axles did have to be pulled to replace the U-joints. So, we came back home and Kyle and Philip installed the new gasket and oil pan, and then we drove the Jeep to the dealer (very gingerly [probably leaving U-joint bits along the path] in pouring rain) and dropped it off late at night so it would be there first thing in morning so the mechanic would have enough time to fix the U-joint(s). Well, he had the Jeep all day Wednesday and until 3 PM on Thursday because the parts arrived later than expected on Wednesday AND the poor Texas mechanic wasn't expecting all the Michigan salt impacts (i.e., RUST), so it took him a lot longer to do the job than originally quoted. Well, Joyce and crew wanted to get to MI by 8 PM tonight, so as soon as the mechanic said the Jeep was done they drove to the dealership and left for Michigan from there (brave -- that rebuilt engine had maybe 30 miles on it!). But, I just got word they arrived safely in Michigan, so 1100 miles later the Jeep was apparently still running relatively well (and well broken in). And, now I am home alone. Oh, and I was finally able to watch the last half of the Pirates DVD tonight.
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On Monday night Philip and Kyle pulled the oil pan off the Jeep to see about fixing the oil leak. Kyle and I then spent an hour or so trying to remove the U-joint on the right front axle that was losing its bearings (literally). After quite a bit of futility we gave up under the suspicion that the axle might need to be removed from the vehicle to be able to replace the U-joint. Tuesday after work we went to the Jeep dealer and bought a new (very expensive very nice single piece) gasket for the oil pan, and confirmed that the axles did have to be pulled to replace the U-joints. So, we came back home and Kyle and Philip installed the new gasket and oil pan, and then we drove the Jeep to the dealer (very gingerly [probably leaving U-joint bits along the path] in pouring rain) and dropped it off late at night so it would be there first thing in morning so the mechanic would have enough time to fix the U-joint(s). Well, he had the Jeep all day Wednesday and until 3 PM on Thursday because the parts arrived later than expected on Wednesday AND the poor Texas mechanic wasn't expecting all the Michigan salt impacts (i.e., RUST), so it took him a lot longer to do the job than originally quoted. Well, Joyce and crew wanted to get to MI by 8 PM tonight, so as soon as the mechanic said the Jeep was done they drove to the dealership and left for Michigan from there (brave -- that rebuilt engine had maybe 30 miles on it!). But, I just got word they arrived safely in Michigan, so 1100 miles later the Jeep was apparently still running relatively well (and well broken in). And, now I am home alone. Oh, and I was finally able to watch the last half of the Pirates DVD tonight.
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