mondays are usually joyous occasions for me…
not in that hippy dippy “it’s the start of a new week loaded with new potential and possibilities” bullshit, but rather because i’m off tuesday and wednesday so monday is my “friday”.
this was a “friday” more in the ice cube sense of the word where everything gets fucked up.
before i started fucking with it i had a minor coolant leak in my car. after the part i thought was the problem (and a few others along for the ride) got replaced when i had my alternator issue i thought all would be well – and yet, somehow, it got worse. and monday as it continued to hemorrhage anti-freeze i tried to check the bobber in my expansion tank (how you check anti-freeze levels in a BMW) only to have it break off on me. now i had to way to check the level, and for all i knew it could get out into the engine and really break shit (my parts guy has since assured me that’s impossible). the short version was work was cut short and i drove home determined to NOT drive my car until this coolant leak was resolved.
my car is fifteen years old and fairly high in miles, but tends to be pretty reliable. that being said, when shit starts to go it goes in system chunks. so, for example, in the summer of 2014 it shook a bit at highway speed, so i ended up having to replace all the tie rods and control arms. after that? all good. my used tires started lasting two years vs four months. i’ve had a slow coolant leak for quite some time, and the coolant system is higher pressure. so it makes sense that doing just a hose wouldn’t do it – it’d have to include the water pump and the expansion tank…and now whatever the hell is at the bottom of the expansion tank that’s broken.
that was today’s surprise…
…there’s a little thermostat down there to help cool transmission fluid or something. the part’s $30 off pelican or amazon (ordered from the latter due to prime shipping). it’s almost a bill at autozone. so, i’m car-less for tomorrow but i’ll take the ufc’s ride (which means driving her to work at 5:20am) then back to lockhart to get os to school then back to austin to do all my shop runs and pick up the ufc, then back to lockhart to get os from school. hectic early-ass day – but it ends with dinner with shane, booze, and being off for five days straight after, which mentally i really need.
let the games begin…