I am more likely to say, "So much for that plan," than I am to say, "
I love it when a plan comes together." Every once in a while, I have a
convergence pattern, when things happen at the same time to my benefit.
I have known for a while that
my Chevy Cavalier would require a replacement of the timing chain at or around 85,000 miles. Within 250 miles now I am less anxious about needing this repair than I was at 75,000 miles, when the extended warranty I purchased through the dealer expired. With the extended warranty, I was only required to pay a deductible of $100. I only required two repairs under that warranty: a water pump and the tensioner for the serpentine belt.
Of course, the anxiety I felt was over the possibility of an emergency repair I could not afford. Reports are mixed about the Cavalier; for some, it is reliable, and for others unreliable. The main problem about which I read was the failure of the fuel pump, worse was the failure of the fuel pump at highway speed, which was the failure I experienced this year at 11:38 p.m. on Friday, January 8.
Only a few factors mitigated this failure from being a catastrophic failure. I was driving in the far right lane (considering K-32 highway has only two lanes going in each direction, how far right the lane is, remains debatable), traffic was light, and I was able to retain control while coasting to a stop.
This type of catastrophic failure was the basis for an investigation the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (
N.H.T.S.A.) began
June 28, 2007, expanded November 1, 2007, and closed October 28, 2008. The N.H.T.S.A. concluded that the probably of failure was not high enough to dedicate further resources on a recall.
With my mother's financial help, my father brought a new fuel pump assembly fro $263, as the fuel pump was only sold as part of a fuel pump assembly. My father and I replaced the fuel pump on Sunday, January 10. The process took six to seven hours, saving us at least $500 in labor costs.
So why I am less anxious about the timing chain? Well, right now I actually have the money to pay for parts and labor, approximately $1200, since I just received my tax refund with the help of H&R Block. I also know about problems with the timing chain, both first-hand and anecdotal.
In 2000, I was driving a brown and beige, 1984 Buick Skyhawk sedan. Driving home one evening passing Oak Park Mall on Quivira Road, the engine started running rough. I stopped into one of the parking lots, and looked and listened. My father later concluded that the timing chain needed replacement; then he was not quite 50, and took off two days to do the work himself.
A coworker had a bright red 1992 Chevy Lumina sedan with the 3.4-liter V6 with the dual overhead camshafts (DOHC) . The car had been idling rough for a while, and the timing belt finally broke at 91,000 miles. The car was scrap, which I can say with confidence, as my father and I actually hauled the car to the scrapyard.
Presently my car is running smoothly and after more than $12,000 spent on repairs and payments on an auto loan, I am not going to let that happen to my car. I cannot afford $4000 to replace an engine. I am so glad that for once I have the money for this repair right when the repair is required, like your girlfriend
.
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