EGR Valve
So, the van cuts out on Christan down in Jacksonville. She takes it to Advanced Auto and comes up with two codes: P0404 and P0406... both dealing with the EGR valve. Never heard of it before, but the guy at Autozone told Christan that "it would be 30 or 40 bucks and was a a plug n'play piece." At that point I felt good about the whole project. Right in Proto-Mechanic's wheelhouse.
The EGR valve was seventy-seven bucks. That should have been an omen. Should have been. Got an air filter as well. Ninety bucks at the Autozone. Awesome.
Got up late Saturday. This was the day I fell in love with my chainsaw. Nate and I took down a fallen limb, chopped it into bits and were done in fifteen minutes. I love my chainsaw. On to the EGR valve.
Easy to find. Top bolts are 5/16, bottom bolts 10mm. Makes sense to me. First three bolts are EPJ. Then, the fourth bolt.
The fourth bolt on the EGRV is located just above the alternator, and I mean just above. So just above that a ratchet will not fit into the gap. I had an inkling about what to do, but called Master of Sport Mechanic Extraordinaire and All-Round-Great-Guy, My Personal Mechanicing Lifeline Terry who agreed that the alternator would have to be loosened.
The top bolt and mounting bracket both came out with little issue, just time consuming as the ROM for ratchet work is negligible. Unfortunatly, the second bolt is in a wee gap under the belt with even less ROM and in order to get to it with a ratchet you need to go by feel. This took a long time. And once these three bolts were out... the alternator would not budge. At this point I lost control.
According to my tear filled phone call to MOSMEaARGG,MPML Terry, there is a third bolt toward the front. I found it. If you had no air conditioning setup, it would be easy to get to. I have AC, so it was not. No way in Hell or God's Green Earth a ratchet will get in there and, of course, the alternator is held on by 15mm bolts and I only have a smattering of SAE wrenches. Off to Ace Hardware: $23.86 for a set of metric wrenches. I find that I have to buy tools for every job I do.
Alternator moves once third bolt is loosened. Have to impress Nate into service. We finally get it off, get the new one on. Total time: 4 hours. Assumed time: 45 minutes.
Good news: the van starts up.
Air filter takes three minutes to remove and install. Right on schedule.
At this point, the gym has assumed the "no chance in hell" status.
Proto-Mechanic became DJ Yardman on Sunday. Mowed all three yards and swept up small backyard and front yard. Gots to weedeat, rake and trim trees next weekend.
Watched movies:
Firefly
A great TV series that never got a chance. Great acting (except for Adam Bladwin who tries too hard to be doltish), great stories, fantastic CGI, Hot Chicks and Hot guest stars. Nate and I watched the whole single season series this past week. Wish we could have seen more about Shepherd Book and the bounty Hunter Jubal Early. A-
Serenity
As icing on the cake we went with the movie of the series. Enjoyable movie that waffles between looking like good ST movies and bad ST movies. A little bit of a disconnect between the relationsip between Mal and the Tam's but is acceptable. Good self-contained story, solid acting and Chiwitel Ejiofor... my man. Little far fetched in the end, but good fun. Sad to see Book and Wash go. B+
Hot-Tub Time Machine
Back to the Future meets The Wedding Singer. Not as smart as the first, not as funny as the second. The best part was catching the Better off Dead references. Had some funny stuff, but just did not work. Clark Duke, the unknown, was the funniest guy in the movie. Ridiculously perfect ending, not to mention a whole time travel continuity issue. C-
The Book of Eli
Better than I anticipated, but so slow. The Road Warrior meets The Road. The revelation did not make a ton of sense to me, but it was cool... I guess. Gary Oldman chews through his scenes. Denzel was great in a subdued role. Contrast this with Training Day and you see the chops. Actually liked Mila Kunis in this. Still, the thing meanders to a questionable end. Kind of derivitive outside of the main story line. I liked the vaguity about the reason behind the war and the book burning. B-
Mr. Wrong
Ellen Degeneres vehicle from 96. Starts off hilarious and ends up ridiculous. Bill Pullman plays the unbalanced whit wonderfully and Degeneres actually does a very fine comedic job, never over-doing it. Still, a waste of time. D+
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