Mechanicing

Posted Fri Nov 25, 2005 in

This afternoon I was sitting in my home office working on my journal when Wife came in and told me the kids’ truck wouldn’t start. So, I grabbed my jumper cables and a gas can and drove over to the United Supermarket parking lot.

There I found them. They put fuel in the vehicle yesterday so I didn’t need the gas can. Older Son had a set of jumper cables and they’d tried to jump it (though it shouldn’t need a jump because we put a fresh battery in the truck a few months ago). He said “it just clicked when they tried the starter.”

I had him turn the ignition switch. He was right, only the starter relay clicked. So, it had to be either the starter or the cabling. Yeah, I used to be a pretty fair wrench.

I sent him to buy a tow rope so we could get the vehicle home. We brought the truck home, pushed it into the drive, and I got out a few tools. We disconnected the battery and started the process of extracting the starter from the bell housing.

Well, Older Son did the extraction. I gave instructions and handed tools. I decided I am too old to lay on the ground working on a truck anymore. Removing the bolts that hold the starter in place was a challenge. A cheater bar was necessary because the top bolt was stuck tight.

With a bit of grunting and some significant cursing, the starter was extracted. We dumped it into the back of my truck and drove to the parts house. They put it on the tester and, indeed, it didn’t turn. I was not surprised.

I’m reminded of a winter day a long time ago, probably 1984 or 1985, when the starter went out on my old Jeep Wagoneer. That was a vehicle that was pretty easy to get to things on. The engine compartment was big. A mechanic friend, Mark, came over and we fed him and his family in exchange for his help replacing the starter. At least it wasn’t freezing cold, but it was cool because it was winter in Missouri.

I worked from the top and he worked from the bottom. It didn’t take long to free the starter from the bell housing. As I eased the starter from its place, Mark grabbed it from underneath. It was too big and heavy for me to lift through the engine compartment. Unfortunately, the starter was a little oily. I asked Mark if he had it. He said yes, so I turned loose. More unfortunately, Mark had placed himself directly beneath the starter. It slipped from his hands and hit him in the forehead.

All he said was “Uhh…” My language would have been much more colorful. He wasn’t hurt badly, just a small cut and a bit of a headache. I took the core and drove to the parts house to replace it. I think a rebuilt unit cost me about $40, which was plenty of money at the time, but it could have been much worse.

We replaced the starter, which was dry and easy to handle. Mark didn’t drop this one on his head. His wife, Mary, was a little pissed at me for the incident, but she wasn’t too hard on me.

Anyway, back to my Older Son’s story. We left the parts house, $130 poorer, and returned to the house with a fresh starter. It only took Older Son about 20 minutes to install the part. The truck hit on the first try and with several more attempts, started every time. We probably saved them another 120 bucks by supplying the labor.

It could have been worse. It could have been snowing or 5F outside with the wind blowing, or dark. I’ve turned wrenches on vehicles outside when the weather was b-a-d before. I’m glad we had a pretty day.