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Car check time!
Nov. 7th, 2017 11:58 pmThis time it's not only car check time but also car service time as the MOT was due last week. And this year's service was rather expensive - lots of bits and pieces needed doing and they all add up. Let's see... there was all the usual service and MOT stuff, plus brake fluid change, plus spark plugs (again - the book has them on 2-year intervals), plus replacing the rear shock absorbers, plus replacing a driveshaft seal that Paul discovered was leaking (just as well I factored in an extra day as they needed it to get the part!)... and finally taking the exhaust that Halfords fitted last year and doing it up properly.
I'd have to run the numbers to be sure, but it seems awfully like the annual maintenance cost of my car is fairly constant - either something pricey will break part-way through the year and I'll have a cheap service, or nothing major will happen and I'll have an expensive service. Weird.
Oh, they also solved the mystery of an occasional screech from the starter motor when starting the car. Part of the gearing for it goes through a phosphor bronze bushing which has dried up. The fix is easy enough - all that's needed is to drop the bearing in a bucket of oil and let it soak overnight. The only trouble is it's a dismantle-the-engine job to get at the thing (the bearing is buried behind the gearbox and clutch, and would take the best part of a day to extract). So since the car still starts easily enough that's gone on the low-priority list.
I'd have to run the numbers to be sure, but it seems awfully like the annual maintenance cost of my car is fairly constant - either something pricey will break part-way through the year and I'll have a cheap service, or nothing major will happen and I'll have an expensive service. Weird.
Oh, they also solved the mystery of an occasional screech from the starter motor when starting the car. Part of the gearing for it goes through a phosphor bronze bushing which has dried up. The fix is easy enough - all that's needed is to drop the bearing in a bucket of oil and let it soak overnight. The only trouble is it's a dismantle-the-engine job to get at the thing (the bearing is buried behind the gearbox and clutch, and would take the best part of a day to extract). So since the car still starts easily enough that's gone on the low-priority list.
