Good Morning!!!!70F @ 2:15AM. Sunny. High 88F. Winds light and variable.
I guess it's technically morning, but I've yet to get any sleep. What I'd hoped would be a brief question-and-answer session with the ex-mechanic turned into a cluster f*** attempt at repairing the air conditioning on the van. I was surprised he even offered to make the effort, but after the first try, which involves at least 45 minutes of waiting while a vacuum pump sucks the plumbing dry, the compressor was making a moan that rivaled what I'll be making in the morning. So we got to start all over, except this time I got to dismount the A/C compressor and empty it out of what little oil it contained. Which was far from the recommended amount. And after putting the proper amount back in and enduring another vacuum purge, it made only a slightly less desperate sound. That's when the pity party started, with the mechanic winging he'd made some super human effort to locate a new, made in Japan by Subaru, compressor for just the right year engine, and how it cost $450 to replace if the lack of oil ended up roaching it. You fellas would have been proud of how I refrained saying anything, because what I was thinking if the idiot had put the right amount of oil in it to begin with, and properly sealed it so the R134 refrigerant remained inside instead of leaking out, we wouldn't have had to go through this near death march repair. Just to top it all off, when I went to leave, the headlights refused to come on, and it took me another hour working in the dark to jumper around them, mostly due to not being able to find simple electrical parts in that Aladdin's cave of junk. So apparently now I've traded a working but moaning A/C for another Easter egg hunt looking for why the lights don't. Not sure that's quite an even trade, but we make the best of what we're dealt, right?
In the good news department, the LEDs headlights on low beam are brighter and better focused than almost any other vehicle I have, so the drive home was safe and even a bit relaxing with the A/C blowing deliciously cold air on my tummy.:laughing: Just wish I hadn't have had to fumble around under the dash in the dark making and breaking the Jerry rigged headlight connector when I stopped for gas and groceries...
TGIF gang! :drink:
