I Said I Would

Today's story starts out with this nugget which is the only way it makes sense.  The Toyota was needed elsewhere.  The reasons for that are private.

I needed a lawnmower.  Someone had a lawnmower to use for the intended purpose. I was going to pick it up Tuesday or Wednesday, but Tuesday and Wednesday had other ideas.  I was going to do it today as I was expecting the departure of said Toyota later in the day.  Thursday had other ideas.  

I'm left with Chevron.  Chevron has a few issues.  Chevron is old, like me.  I didn't want to drive Chevron down to Salt Lake so I went to the DI here in Ogden and found a replacement mower for the one I was to pick up.  It's a nice mower.

It fired up on the second or third pull.  The transmission doesn't work.  They're cheap to replace and I know someone else who would benefit from the fact that this particular mower has three speeds.  So I didn't want to use the mower I bought for the purpose I bought it for.  

I then decided to call the person who was going to give me the mower to ask if it were possible to drive it up and explained why the ask.  Said person used to be married to me (#2) and I'm helping her out in a round about way with the lawnmower.  I explained that if she couldn't that I had a replacement for the mower she wanted to get rid of for the purpose which I needed it.

I am so different than I used to be.  I sometimes forget that not everybody else is, or that they understand I am, for that matter.  Anyway, it didn't go well.  I hung up the phone, kinda scratching my head, but then after a minute or two to think about it, I called back and let her know that I was on my way and would be there in an hour.  I came to the conclusion I that I said I would, and I needed to do what I said.

An hour or so later, there I was.  

Chevron runs a little bit hotter than it used to and something told me that I ought not turn the truck off when I got there, but not being sure how much longer I was going to be there, I turned the truck off.

And that's when the fun started.

After loading up the mower and a couple of other items, I got in the truck and went to start it up.  It cranked over slowly a couple of times and then:  Click.  Click.  Click.

We put a charger on the battery.  It was charged.  It's probably the starter.

Not having changed a starter on Chevron, I wen to look on youtube.  My phone is below 5% and I can't watch videos.  Or use the flashlight.  

Ford starters are pretty simple.  A few bolts, a couple of wires, and they're out.  Except that for some reason that I still don't understand, two of the bolts face backward.  Aircraft are designed that the bolt heads go inboard, up and facing forward (apparently the Ford Motor Company is unaware of these standard installation practices) and I was unaware of their ignorance.

For a short time.

I didn't want to go buy the starter until I got the old one out.  The parts stores have a way to test them.  This was probably a bad idea because I could have quickly figured out how the stupid thing bolted to my truck by looking at the thread holes.  I also wouldn't have spent a half hour looking for a bolt that wasn't there.  I managed to get about three minutes in to a youtube video that wasn't for my truck before the phone died.

Anyway, I now have been to Harbor Freight and have tools.  The first bolt is out, and I notice a hole where the bolt was flush.  I thought that one of the bolts had sheared off.  Starter bolts sometimes do that under the strain of the torque the starter is subject to.  This one didn't.  It was in backward, and after an hour or so, I figured this out.  There was another one just above that one installed the same direction and of course that one was a different size.

I bought tools.  I think I mentioned that.  I have a small set of tools in the truck but nothing like what I needed so I bought a set of assorted sockets and ratchets from Harbor Freight.  Assorted sizes were mentioned on the label, and of course, the assortment didn't have quite what I needed in the sizes I needed them.   Between what I already had, and what I bought I was able to get two bolts out.  But not three.

Three took a trip to Lowe's to find some long extensions.  I bought a 30" extension and a 1/2" to 3/8" adapter.  I had to use those and the assorted extensions I already had to remove the last bolt.  The exhaust pipes and frame made turning a ratchet without that much of an extension impossible.

So after two and a half hours, the starter is out.  I haven't seen Ms. Cooper in a while but she's not driving me anywhere.  She did let me use her car, which was helpful.  But I've got grease all over me and it's off to Pep Boys for a starter.  I'm talking to the guys and they find me a starter and a can of hand cleaner.  This lady sees me and starts laughing at me and asking questions about my rough day.

I told her this at one point:  "It would have killed a lesser man."   I made her laugh.  I'm good at that.

Anyway, I got the starter back to Julie's and it took me about thirty minutes to put it in.  The truck fires right up and I get home about seven, no worse for the wear.  

Sometimes, bad things happen when you do good stuff.  I mentioned to the guys at the parts store that I was broken down in my ex-wife's driveway, which they found hilarious.  I told them that sometimes that old saying "No good deed goes unpunished." is true.

But I promised and Julie got to see some things she never saw before.  I didn't get mad.  I didn't blame her for being stuck in her driveway.  After all, I said I would, not her.  I didn't throw tools, swear, or cuss when things went wrong.  I almost melted down, but I've got a lot of stuff going on in here. 

So there's that.  And the other thing is that I could have broken down someplace where I couldn't have access to a car to go get what I needed and have a place to actually fix the truck.  So in the long run if the truck had to break down it picked a good spot.  

And you got to read a funny story.