Car Maintenance Final Part
I actually finished today. Didn’t do the valve adjustment b/c it wasn’t worth the hassle.
The car started up and purred into idle. Timing belt, check. Coolant hoses were fine. No leaks, check. Hrm, power steering. No bubbles, but wait, what’s this red fluid at my feet. Oops. Apparently I forgot to torque the top banjo bolt on the pump. Tightened it, restarted. No more leaks. Check.
Went for a test drive. Wow, the psychological factor is strong. Even my pop thought the car felt stronger. Must’ve been the new spark plugs. The old ones were clean, but very worn. Some even had cracks on the electrode mount. Throttle pedal felt so smooth, cause I changed it out for a new one. Now I don’t have to use a heavy foot, but it’ll take me a few days to get used to the Japanese feel.
Came back, checked again. Things are fine except for a rattle from the radiator. Turns out it’s the fan shroud knocking against the radiator. Stupid missing clip. I’ll need to get one tomorrow. Final undercar check revealed a small drop of red oil on the hose from the “steering rack return to reservoir” hose. Looks like I’ll need to get that replaced. Everything else looked good. Boy, I can’t wait til tomorrow.