Ug...

Naturally, as soon as everything financially starts improving, something always comes out of the woodwork.

So in a panic, I realized my registration on my car was about to expire, and I start frantically trying to figure out how I'm going to pass the emissions test with my "Check Engine" light on. Yea, I'm not.

So rushing and running ensue, and I'm desperately attempting to fix my car so I can get my now expired registration renewed. My own fault for waiting so long.

We take the car to AutoZone, and I asked for the "Computer Reader Thingy." This got a chuckle out of the guy at the counter, who was so amazingly helpful.

After we checked the computer, we find that the Camshaft Sensor is running "Lean." Needless to say, I learned a lot this day(yesterday).

Lean = Too much air

The sensor also tells the pistons when to fire. If it's running lean, it can tell the wrong piston to fire, causing the car to "skip" basically. If a piston in the upward position is told to fire, the engine does nothing, because the piston is already up, creating what feels like the car tried to stall for a split second. This is behavior we've noticed over the last couple of months.

Anyways, so after spending $44 on the part, yea it was cheaper than I expected, we bolted over to Niceguy's parent's place to see if his Dad could help us out.

After the boys spent 20 minutes looking for blasted thing, I spotted it. Yay me! lol

It took another 20 minutes to get to it, and another hour to find the tool we needed to remove it. His dad has an awesome set of tools. I am very very jealous!

Once removed, we see the problem. Basically, there is a gaping hole above the sensor box. Then we look back, only to discover the camshaft itself has metal shavings in it, that have melted and essentially seized the bearing in the camshaft. Awesome....

So, after a call to ex-hubby and AutoZone, we have a camshaft with sensor on order(Tuesday...), and need to find a mechanic. *sigh*

Replacing the camshaft requires a special tool, or a special skill that none of us have.

So after snagging money from savings to get the registration renewed, we now need a rental car, mechanic, and still have to pay rent....

Very very frustrated.

My thinking though, since it only took us 20 minutes to get to the sensor, 5 minutes to remove it, and 10 minutes to put it all back together, that the labor should be 2-3 hours max to remove the camshaft. So if I supply the part, the labor cost, if I'm lucky, should be under $200.

Logic doesn't always prevail when it comes to auto-repair though.

Love to all!

~~~