Glad my car started this morning!

Yesterday we went up to the new Bass Pro shop in Rossford, Ohio near Toledo, but before we took off I had my dad take a listen to a new noise my car was making. We decided to check out the spark plugs after we got back from stocking up on fishing supplies.

We had a fun day at Bass Pro and then enjoyed lunch at the Granite Counter at Fallen Timbers which had excellent food as well as a a wonderful summer ale. We also took in a showing of Hancock which was way different than what I expected but, very enjoyable.

Anyway, we got back and after checking my sparkplugs found one to be very loose! Unfortunately tightening it didn’t solve the problem as the threads were worn out. We quickly located a thread repair kit at Autozone and proceeded to spend several hours re-threading the spark plug socket and after some cursing and some innovation on our part had the car re-assembled where it sat until this morning so that the sealant could cure.

Thankfully the engine turned over and after a rough start ran pretty smoothly during my limited test run. Lets hope that it stays that way, otherwise I’ll need to find a new ride, something like a Jeep Wrangler.

Save Money, Service Your Car

Tracy Coenen at Walletpop had a wonderful roundup of service items to have performed on your vehicle which will save you money in the long run.  The list of servicing items includes some obvious ones such as changing your oil regularly as well as some maintenance items which are less obvious including checking your brakes.

One more thing to check regularly is your air filter.  This is something your mechanic can do in conjunction with your oil change.  On most vehicles this is something you can easily do yourself depending on the location of the filter.
Performing these often low cost services to your car or truck will help the long term value of the and reduce the frequency of breakdowns.

One great place to go to get advice and great priced parts is Autozone.  My local store is staffed by extremely knowledgeable staff who are always willing to help me poke around under the hood and offer suggestions to simple fixes.  I was quite impressed when I had a check engine light diagnosed by them and despite the ease with which they could have sold a potential solution they simply reset the light and advised I have a mechanic dig in further or return next time the light came on to purchase the needed parts.  This situation and the knowledge the staff holds makes Autozone my favorite stop for auto needs.