The Wifely Unit had to take a road trip today that we knew about well in advance.
Almost a month agao I made an appointment to have all of the coolant hoses replaced on her 2004 Ford Focus because I instinctively knew I wanted nothing to do with that.
We took it up there last Monday, they called Tuesday and said because it’s so old, some of the hoses are now obsolete and they couldn’t find them locally.
The lady was nice enough to do some homework and found a complete kit, made out of Silicone, on Ebay.
Chinesium of course but the whole kit was only $225 with free shipping on a slow, leaking boat from China.
That was cheaper that just the ones she could find locally.
They will be here either late this month or sometime around Mid November. The lady said that the ones on there were still in remarkably decent shape and that the Wife shouldn’t have any problems until they get here.
That amazed me. 21 year old heater hoses?!
I have NEVER seen such a thing!
The second I saw this kit on Ebay, I knew I had made the right call on not doing these fuckers myself.
Take a gander at this shit,
ELEVEN FUCKING HOSES!!
Every single one of them is a molded hose too.
There is also some plastic tube in there somewhere she says that likes to break when they take everything apart but no word on that yet.
Some of those hoses are absolutely BURIED down in that engine bay and pretty much have to be replaced from the bottom.
I am expecting at least 8 hours of labor.
In the mean time, the lady also said the thing needs a battery, I know it’s at least 3 years old but I told her I would take care of that plus the wiper blades.
Um, yeah, about that.
Because I have been using the same little auto parts store for years that is just down the road from this repair shop, I get a pretty hefty discount, normally.
Except tis time.
That dinky assed little battery cost me almost exactly $200 with a trade in.
Because chattering wiper blades are a huge personal pet peeve of mine and the cheap ones always wind up chatterng, I have been getting the Silicone wiper blades for her car the last several years.
Of course they are two different lengths, because fucking Ford.
One is 19 inches long and the other is 22.
Those were $32.99 EACH.
So the total between one battery and two fucking wiper blades was $266!
My achin’ ASS!
Then I spent almost 45 minutes cleaning out the battery tray and battery cable ends.
Once I got that and the wipers done I started in cleaning the windshield and other windows. They have been filthy for months but the old lady says it doesn’t bother her.
She doesn’t drive at night.
The last time I had to drive that thing at night, the windshield would turn into one giant halo every time someone would come at me with those damn modern headlights, I couldn’t see a damn thing.
So i cleaned all those, vacuumed the little pig out and then started cleaning all the plastic interior parts. That’s when I remembered the dinky little light for the gear shifter indicator had been out for a long time so I got some tools out, got on Youtube and watched a quick video on changing that little light bulb.
Oh yeah, Ford strikes again, I had to take the arm rest off and remove the entire damned center console from the car to get to it. Then it was literally a dinky little bulb.
Since I am a pack rat and I worked for Ford back in the 90’s, yer damn right I still actually had some of those little bulbs and I also actually knew right where they were at. I had to use a pair of pliers to twist the socket out and put it back in and while I had that filthy console out I did a DEEP clean on that sumbitch.
After I got halfway done with the console, she came running out saying she had to go somewhere NOW, so I picked up the loose stuff and let her go. She comes back about 45 minutes later and the first thing she says is that the drivers window is grinding. She opens it and when she closes it, I can hear a grinding noise.
GREAT!
All I did was clean the fucking thing!
But I has a secret weapon for sticky windows and I go dig out a spray can of clear Silicone and spray the shit out of the guides.
It keeps doing it until I did the one right on top of the inner door panel and it finally shut up.
After that, I finished putting it back together and finished cleaning the inside up.
All in all, I spent damn near six hours on that stupid Hoopty but she was really tickled when I got done so it was worth it.
The moral of this story is for any of you that does some of their own repairs is to find a small local auto parts store.
Start using them exclusively and be really nice to those people. It took about a year for them to start giving me a discount but since then I have literally saved hundreds of dollars because of it.
Some things I don’t get a discount on but the ones I do add up fast!
Boy you got that right. I go to the local parts place for years, it’s like norm on cheers, when I come in everybody yells my name. Look up changing the battery on a 2015 ford escape. It was about $240.
I still have the original heater hoses and radiator hoses on my almost 26 year old old Chevy. My radiator guy has said to me several times I should replace my hoses because he sees a tiny bit of rust in the inner surfaces. The hoses are still in shape, pliable and no bulges. I have only fives hoses, two radiator, two heater and the little bent bypass hose. When it hits thirty years old I may replace them…
My hose is still pliable. And definitely no bulges.
Sounds like a personal problem, hope you get it fixed…
Maybe Carol can help.
Better living thru chemistry
I finally got rid of my Focus – a bit over a year ago. I don’t know what the latest thing to go wrong with it was. I sure as shit wasn’t goign to try and dig into that engine bay. Fun fact: there’s a short elbow hose – crankcase vent, $8 part – that Ford stuck behind the intake manifold, and mine developed a crack. Shop repair? $700. And that was just one of things that needed fixed. It was a fun car to drive, with that close-ratio 5 speed, but once things started breaking, it was too expensive to keep.
Phil, that’s a shitty deal all around, man. I have to thank you, though. I’ve never wanted a Focus, but even if I see a great price on one, now I know that I’ll pass. I think I’ll keep my 2004 F-150 chugging along. 244k and still running well (I’m a mechanic’s kid, so I stay on top of maintenance & watch for upcoming failures.)
I have been throwing wrenches since for money since I was 15, now I’m scratching 60 so that makes….. f- it. A long time.
The business is getting more complicated every hour of every day. In a few years, we WILL see lamps and sensors running on Bluetooth with remote inductive charging, and worse. All of this so the manufacturer is able to control you and your vehicle whether you like it or not – and this is touted as progress.
Please, everyone, and I beg you with everything in my soul, go out and buy pretty much anything from 1985 or older. Spend a few bucks restoring it – and don’t worry, the overall cost will still be less than buying any new piece of shit that costs more than a supplying Hunter Biden and Kamala Harris with cocaine.
You will actually have something that can be fixed relatively easy, and doesn’t have the look and feel of a jalapeno-coated suppository.
I feel for you Phil, but hold my beer. In the last eight months we have replaced batteries in both trucks (two in his diesel), the Forester, the motorcycle, the boat, the generator, and just today, the zero turn. Is it just me or do batteries not last as long as they used to? Dropped $1100 on tires and mounting for my Tacoma last week. His truck and the Forester will need tires in the next 6-9 months. BOHICA! At this rate, I’m gonna have to start selling my wares in the street to cover costs; /s.
I can remember when batteries would last 5 years, and if one died early they’d prorate the time left and discount the next battery, provided you still had the receipt. And I always did. Now it seems 3 years is the high water mark. Damn.
And those hoses? Holy shit! What in the living hell where they thinking?
Now people have to deal with the AGM, automotive glass matt, batteries. According the info I find and am told you do not want to put one into a vehicle that wasn’t designed for an AGM battery because of the charging characteristics.
Last time I bought wipers I thought they were 2 in the pack and was like they have doubled in price. It was for 1. Almost $30. I was getting a little low on money so I replaced the driver’s side and went back the next week to get the other one
I always go AGM. Just replaced in my 2002 F150 an AGM that lasted 8.5 years and was still cranking, but just weaker. Have a small car 25 ish years old, wants basically a lawn mower battery. Nope, full size AGM. Same with an old sedan. Much better life and starting characteristics in my opinion and experience. Napa had the best price this time with coupon, about 240 all in.
I see you sell agm agm
I have a 2000 Chevy (gas engine) C3500, it had two battery trays, I bought matching Group 27 dual post lead acid heavy duty batteries and using 1/0 gauge wire I connected the batteries in parallel. I have a 135 Amp alternator. The first set lasted almost 13 years in South Dakota winters without any charging device outside and only a freeze plug heater. I now have another set of group 27 Duracell heavy duty dual post batteries and are going strong as the day they were installed. I did run a 6/0 gauge cable down to the starter so I have plenty of current capacity. I live for now in Oregon and I expect those batteries to last me at least 20 years (they have 12 years on them now) because of the mild winters here. I do clean my terminals every six months, top off water and apply battery sealant.