Do it yourself!

I knew when I bought it I would be having to sacrifice a little sanity and money. I bought it anyway.

The most recent vehicular event has been minor, and I learned a few more tidbits about my little car. One of the things I learned is that many "car" people who work on their own, while they want to be their usual very helpful selves, don't "do diesel". I know ahead of time that the used car I was getting was not the perfect car that would never have an issue at all. James has that vehicle, it's a Toyota. His runs on gas though and maxes out at 18 MPG.

When I bought the car, I also bought the manual. It is full of writing. Yup, I think it's English too.

About a week ago we were leaving to go somewhere and the cute little "check engine" light came on. The lights are actually cute in a beetle as they are shaped like the car itself, which further enamored me when I bought it. So here is this little harmless looking light, so easily ignored... I did a u-turn and went back up the driveway.

We have this nifty little Scanner that we can hook up to the computer so that it will tell us the "codes" and give us a hint as to what she (Sprout is a girl) needs. Besides just the codes it has great information about efficiency (see previous posts).

The code was PO380. Looking up the code on the handy dandy internet led me to believe that my Glow Plug Relay needed to be replaced. Sounds simple right? It is if you have the right tools... luckily, James has the right tools and the correct skills to read that manual, and more importantly, find things in it.

My parents were able to pick up the part that is apparently made with diamonds and I was forced to pay them back...

I sat (if you can call it that) upside down in the car. Literally, with my head at the gas pedal, and my feet in the air. Don't laugh, it's like yoga. So here I am, blood rushing to my head, contorted so that I can see what I am doing, yet not have things fall in my face, trying to decide if I would do this all day for $50 an hour.... Considering the hospital bill for "contortion strain", maybe not.

I got all this done, put the plastic covers back where they belong and the car started just as well as it ever had. Then the little light came on. This is usually the point where (were I working) I would take it to the dealer and pay them to use their diamond encrusted tools to fix it. I didn't.

After consulting the internet once again I decided to check the electric conductivity of the glow plugs themselves. With James' help we got out the handy dandy multimeter and got some fantastically odd readings! The kind of readings that make a person think that maybe the world is flat after all and Einstein was just this crazy dude who liked to stick his fingers in light sockets. Then we changed the battery in the multimeter.

As it turned out, the #2 glowplug was bad according to the ohms reading. After purchasing a new one and it took about 30 minutes of work changing them out. (I'm sure a mechanic could have done this in less than 5 minutes, but I bet s/he couldn't bead a cellini spiral one drop peyote stitch bracelet).

Sprout is very happy, and none of her cute little lights are on (unless I open the trunk).
I bet I saved $300, which will go toward Biodiesel and piece of mind that I can change a glow plug and relay!

Maintaining a vehicle in the current market...

I take pride in the things I have worked hard for. I also take pride in supporting and not supporting things that are important to me. Most of you know if you have read my blog that I encourage sustainable growth and respect for how nature is supposed to work.

A big part of this is why, a few years ago, I bought a vehicle that I could run on Biodiesel. As people change to this "alternative" fuel it is becoming more and more profitable for investers to produce biodiesel from whatever means they want. (Actually, Rudolph Diesel originally intended for his engine to be powered by vegetable sources. It's a sad story how the powers that existed at the time profited on his invention.)

As with any valuable resource, many investors are doing what they need to in order to profit off of it. I have read about the clearing of land for crops that will be made into alternative fuels. In a way it is sad that many who intend on using locally (same country) made fuel are inadvertently destroying some of which they care to maintain.

I am glad that my biodiesel station (Dr. Dans Fuelwerks) gives me the power of knowledge that the fuel they use is created from what would otherwise be waste from existing soybean crops used to feed livestock.

Because of the efficiency of my car, I have determined that it costs (under worst mileage conditions) $0.25 per mile with the current price of Biodiesel (which I buy as credit in bulk doses of 100 gallons) at $4.90 per gallon.

Learn your MPG's! Calculate your mileage when you fill up and it's easy. Have a pen and pad of paper in the car (which you should have anyway for emergencies) and make a note of the miles you have gone since your last fill up, and note the amount of gas you filled up with. If you keep doing this on a regular basis, you will be able to get a good estimate of your mileage. Then divide the # of miles per gallon by the cost of your fuel and you will know how much (on average) it costs for you to drive a mile.

This is handy for me since I work part time and drive 36 miles per day. My worst case average is $9.00 daily for gas.

Since I am an excessive planner, I plan it out per year. I drive 3 days a week, which is 156 days per year. $9 daily times 156 days is $1404. per year for fuel at the current price. That is roughly 13% of my income. If I were to make any changes, it would be based upon these calculations.

It is important to know this number! I do not drive nearly as much as many people do, so it is a matter of possibly transferring job locations, you could save thousands! At my last job I would have been spending triple the time driving and quadruple the money on fuel. That is to say nothing of insurance, time wasted while driving, the danger of driving, the pollution it creates, the oil industry profits....It was not worth it for many reasons.

It also helps to "drive for mileage". James has this handy dandy electronic device that plugs into his truck computer (or any vehicle computer) and can monitor just about everything you could ever want to know! He is able to save on gas by knowing how to operate his particular vehicle to get the best mileage. Considering the prices of gas, this device has paid us back dearly. I would recommend looking into what it can do for you. I will have to look into where it was purchased, let me know if you are interested.

The "grand" plan is to ultimately not to make more money, but to be able to live less expensively. Essentially, to be able to sustain ourselves and make our own power. Solar power is something we hope to do in the future.