I'm living, yes, but I'm not talking about me. I'm talking about my car.
She lives! She has survived her two and a half month mechanic garage journey....so far.
Let's see. She has a new lower intake manifold, a new radiator, a new AC compressor, a new long AC tube, a new short AC tube, a new tensioner pulley, new head gaskets, a new temp sensor, and probably more that I can't remember. It certainly cost enough. That I know, but I'm lucky to be paying Mexican prices or I'd be walking instead of driving.
Granted. I've only had her for one evening and she's running hot, but she's running. Her engine is quiet. Her AC is cold (I'd sure hope so after the part cost and shipping from the US to MX).
She feels good. She is so easy to drive. She is happy to be back on the road I can feel.
I do need to check the temp over the next couple of days because it's not where it should be imo.
Now that the excessive engine noise is gone I can also hear one of the brakes whining so maybe some WD40 will help that. Not sure.
The mechanic has repaired his last US car, thanks to me. I still believe that if I had a 4 cylinder the job would have been a lot easier. Mexicans simply don't drive v6 engines. They just don't. And when the parts need to correspond to any of GM v6 engines, well, I'm out of luck. Lesson learned.
She doesn't have the spunk of her youth, but she purrs like the lady she is. Can't wait to take her on a long test drive. Well, longish. First to test her for several hours and then a full day. All that after I figure out what is going on with the temperature.
It's very well that I may write another post very shortly revealing my car is back in the shop waiting for another part because the temperature sensor that was replaced isn't working correctly. Who knows.
Until that possibly happens however, I'm enjoying the luxury of being back in my car.
She drives like no other. I love how visible everything is (I have no blind spots in her). I love how easy her braking is (no jerking on the onset of pressure). I love how easy she is to maneuver (her 107" wheelbase turns on a dime and the steering is light as a feather). I love the comfort of her seats (the lumbar is built in like all the pillows you have to buy for new cars and she doesn't push your head or shoulders forward into a hunched position). I love how she practically skates over the potholes (you can feel them but they are slight and not punishing). I love how she still gets fantastic gas mileage (as good or better than new v6 engines on the market). I love how much room she has in her trunk (I can store my 3 bike bike rack with ample room to spare).
If it's not clear....I love my car. It's easy to understand why Oldsmobile went out of business when it built cars that were so long lasting and had features ahead of their time. It's still extremely sad as I so wish I could go buy a new Olds. There is simply no other car on the market that even compares.
To help make it clearer; here are a few pictures to celebrate her release from the hospital :)
