Saturday, December 08, 2007
What I did on Saturday
The back foot fell off the pool vacuum some time ago and we failed to notice. Oops! The poor little device dragged its tail off, so to speak. So, I spent a few hours this morning taking it apart, finding the part numbers on the Internet, and then looking for the best prices for the parts. Ebay to the rescue!
The after-run coolant pump on my van hasn't been working for several years, I guess, so because I had to have the coolant system drained to repair a leak I went ahead and replaced the pump. The most painful part was parting with the $100 for the pump!
The 1993 Eurovan uses plastic fittings on the engine that connect to the radiator hoses. Unfortunately, after about 14 years or so the plastic warps and starts leaking, so it was time to replace. These parts were relatively inexpensive and also simple to replace. The hardest part of this task was removing the upper bolt of the plastic flange.
My van started making a new noise that got louder when turning the steering wheel, and so I decided maybe the steering pump needed some help. I checked the fluid and it didn't seem real low, but when the engine was warm the fluid was all foamy and foul-smelling. So, I bought a couple of liters of the special VW steering fluid and drained the oil out and refilled it. The system holds 1.05 liters of fluid, and I managed to put most of a liter back in, so I guess I got the majority of the fluid out just by loosening the banjo bolts on the steering pump. So far the pump sounds better -- I hope it lasts. You can see where the coolant was leaking down the front of the engine in this picture.
When all the parts were back together and all the fluids back in, I started up the van to warm it up, check for leaks, and hopefully work any trapped air out of the power steering and cooling systems. I had read about opening the air-bleed valve in the top heater hose near the coolant reservoir. I didn't realize that it only needed to be open when putting liquid into the system, not when running. As soon as I started the engine coolant came shooting out the little hole and, well, made a pretty big mess! Don't do that!
I also spent a couple of hours sorting out Christmas lights. Amazing the number of bad bulbs and problems that accumulated since the last time we used the lights.
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Sunday, December 02, 2007
Siemens Open House at Sam's Club
So, I had never heard of an open house at Sam's before, but it sounded semi-interesting so Joyce and I went over this evening to see what it was about. The only difference from regular Sam's shopping was it took place after Sam's closed so there were less people and there were snacks for Siemens employees and door prizes. As we walked around the store shopping (I bought Sylvania light bulbs, which is part of Osram, which is part of Siemens!) Joyce and I happened on a wide variety of gift baskets for sale. The most intriguing gift basket was a Starbucks gift basket with two mugs, three small bags of coffee, tazo tea, and a few other things. I looked at it longingly but really couldn't justify buying it. As Joyce and I were about ready to leave the store they called my name as a door-prize winner, and you guessed it, my door prize was the Starbucks gift basket!
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Saturday, December 01, 2007
Oops, it's been over a month
Today Philip turned 18. He left this morning a few minutes after 7 AM and got home about 6 PM. He spent the day playing Ultimate in a tournament in Denton. He goes back tomorrow for a second day of fun (torture?). After Philip got home we ate dinner at Chili's for his birthday dinner. While he was out Joyce, Cara, and I (to varying degrees)
- cleaned the pool, including taking the solar cover off and gluing the various pieces together.
- trimmed the bushes in the front yard and raked up the leaves.
- put the cover on the retractable awning for the winter.
I also fiddled with the air-activated switch that turns the blower on for the hot tub. The relay tended to stick in one position, and I thought it was a mechanical problem and took the relay apart and filed down the edges to remove a couple sticking points. I thought I had solved the problem but when we were using it tonight the switch quit responding again. This time I decided the problem is the air in the tube is sealed in so well that when the hot tub gets warm and the air expands it has no place to go, so the air pressure in the tube activates the relay. I ended up drilling a hole in air tube so that the air pressure is only increased when you hold your thumb over hole and depress the switch. We will see if that has solved the problem long term or not. It seemed to work this evening. I also started the process of getting the old Honda gas tank replaced.
PS. Just looking at the post before this one I feel obliged to give an update. I probably spent 20 additional hours trying to get Windows loaded on that laptop. I finally gave up right before Thanksgiving so I could get all that junk out of our family room before the guests arrived.
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- cleaned the pool, including taking the solar cover off and gluing the various pieces together.
- trimmed the bushes in the front yard and raked up the leaves.
- put the cover on the retractable awning for the winter.
I also fiddled with the air-activated switch that turns the blower on for the hot tub. The relay tended to stick in one position, and I thought it was a mechanical problem and took the relay apart and filed down the edges to remove a couple sticking points. I thought I had solved the problem but when we were using it tonight the switch quit responding again. This time I decided the problem is the air in the tube is sealed in so well that when the hot tub gets warm and the air expands it has no place to go, so the air pressure in the tube activates the relay. I ended up drilling a hole in air tube so that the air pressure is only increased when you hold your thumb over hole and depress the switch. We will see if that has solved the problem long term or not. It seemed to work this evening. I also started the process of getting the old Honda gas tank replaced.
PS. Just looking at the post before this one I feel obliged to give an update. I probably spent 20 additional hours trying to get Windows loaded on that laptop. I finally gave up right before Thanksgiving so I could get all that junk out of our family room before the guests arrived.
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