So, about a week and a half ago my car started giving me trouble. Nothing major I THINK, but it’s hard to tell sometimes with cars. As I was driving home from work, it started to misfire and stumble a bit. Of course, I pulled over right away to make sure that I didn’t have a vacuum leak or something silly.

Intercooler still connected – Check

Vacuum hoses intact – Check

I thought, “Hmm, my fuel pump is grounded in a ghetto fabulous way, I guess I will look at that.” Of course, that wasn’t the problem. I called Ryan I’m moving to CA’ Clemens for some advice but he couldn’t diagnose over the phone… In the end, I limped it home. It was dark, and I don’t have a garage.

The next day, I took the bus/train to work and left the car behind. I admit that I miss the reading time that I get by riding the bus/train so it was actually a nice change of pace. The only problem with this is that I get home after dark on the bus and thus don’t have the time to really diagnose the car well. Hmmm…..

The car sat for a week and although I did look at it, I was unable to figure out the problem. I was thinking that it wasn’t getting fuel as eventually; it would just not start at all. The other day, Andrew Kotejin came over to take a look at it with me. He brought lights and more know how than I have. He couldn’t figure it out either. We DID get the car started by advancing the timing a bit, but as I drove the car to work again yesterday, it’s stumbling and missing again. The problem is not solved.

This weekend, I’ll be around and should have more time to look at it while the sun is overhead. It DOES run at the moment, just not well. So I could limp it to someplace else to work on it. That’s a big plus.

While Andrew was looking at the car, he noticed another new problem – Most of the power steering fluid is on the ground under the car. Why not? Seems like a reasonable place. LOL!

I’m not bitching, but I feel as though I’ve been really slow in updating my car situation. I’m not taking dramatic action for a few reasons…

1. I’m broke
2. I’m not willing to spend a significant time investment on this car until spring when I have more substantial plans for it.
3. I’m still deciding what direction to go with this car at the moment and hesitate to upgrade anything on the engine (because I’d upgrade instead of just repair)
4. It’s been cold.

I promise to update my driving monsters page on this blog as soon as the snow starts to melt. As I stated earlier, during the winter, updates will be VERY slow.

Word.