We are only two weeks into the new year, and so far it feels like it is doing everything it can to wear away at us. I have the car out of comission again, this time due to a leak under the thing on the top of the engine. Okay! It’s called the Vtech Solenoid! Apparently the one on the front of the engine notoriously leaks oil down onto the alternator and causes it to fail. So, when I saw the car was only producing 11.4V when I got down into Logan today, I soon decided that I did not want to risk getting stuck there and drove it home via the autoparts store to pick up a new gasket set.
There are a few different versions of thei 3.5L v-6 engine, apparently, and the one I have is not the one where you just undo three bolts on the top of the solenoid and pop it off. Mine requires removing the valve cover and everything that is on top of it, too, as well as another part where engines used to have intake manifolds. Anyway, it is a little worrying for me, especially on a first time and on a car I am totally dependant on. So, our mechanic son is coming down tomorrow and he says he will give it a go. I am more confident in that. I hope that fixing this will severely reduce the oil that leaks from the engine and how much I have to replace between oil changes. This is all after replacing the battery and altenator last week or so? It is getting hectic. I can’t keep track. The altenator is new from before! But it was swamped in oil. So when I saw the low voltage reading, I wanted to address the culperit once and for all.
Helping hands will help!
Money is not coming easy. I need to fix that, too. I want to get the photography business going and I want to get the candle sales to where I want them to be, which is selling candles in traditional wood boxes so someone has a complete set of 18th century candles and a place to store them that is decorative. It’s a dream. It is giving me practice working on dovetails, and other joinery, too.
Well, things feel like they are falling apart. I cannot seem to keep this car running reliably. Everything else that is wrong is wrong, too, and I find it all depressing. I have never been good at fitting into the economy. I am less sure of it than ever right now. I don’t know how to keep the ends tied together, so I struggle and keep them met as best I can.