Junkyard Dog

I love going to the junkyard. Often there's some really sweet deals to be had. Like the set of alloy wheels with tires I bought for $250 that were in perfect shape or the spare fob I got for free. There's also something really cool about looking at all the smashed cars. What motor head doesn't like a good car crash. But sometimes going to the junkyard can be unpleasant, usually when having to deal with the people that work at the junkyard. For some reason customer relations is not a high a priority at junkyards so you always have to expect a little attitude in your service while there.

Case in point: Today I ventured out to the yard to find a replacement for the broken windshield wiper control arm in the Infiniti. It's a cheap little plastic and aluminum part that takes two minutes to swap out. When I informed the guy behind the counter that I was going into the yard to remove the part he rudely informed that I wasn't and that he doesn't sell just the arm you have to buy the whole wiper assembly for $75. First, $75 is a crazy price for a second hand wiper assembly. Second, removing the whole assembly would take a long time and in the process require first removing the one piece that I need. Third, no one will ever need the whole assembly because it's always just one piece that will fail. I tried to explain this to him but he had a fit and yelled at me that it's his junkyard and I don't tell him how to run it. I called the Infiniti dealer from the junkyard parking lot expecting an egregious price and a two month waiting time while they get the part from Japan but the part was only $20 and it would be there on Wednesday. I went back in and told the guy how much it was at Infiniti and he told me to f@*& off and buy it there. I will. If individual pieces of the assembly are that cheap new at the dealer, that guy will never sell that whole assembly. What a maroon. Lesson learnt: Always check the dealer first.

Another thing I've realized recently is that things like fuel, air, and oil filters should be bought at the dealer as well. The ones I've bought at Napa or Lordco have been of really low quality and these are important items that prevent future serious problems from occurring. Sure the ones at the dealer are a little bit more but they're specifically designed for your particular car and for performance cars like the G20 and the Miata that really matters and can make a big difference. If you drive a Sunfire you can keep buying your filters at Wal-Mart, they're pretty much the same as the ones from GM.

It's Getting Absurd...

This was the view from my car today. Today! It's days away from April and it snowed? And it was weird hail/snow­. Notice also how the windshield isn't clear; that's because the weight of the hail/snow broke the windshield wipers on the Infiniti. Yippee! I know I know it's record snow falls in Ontario and stuff but I don't care. I don't live in Ontario I live in Vancouver and this is just plain annoying. I want to be out there in the Miata driving around with the top down. Instead I'm going to be digging around the junk yard looking for parts to fix the windshield wipers on a car I'm trying to sell. (It's a great car by the way you should buy it.) Anyway I still don't believe people are causing global warming. Peace.

In other news; I recently noticed the Miata's battery is starting to loose it's charge. I sometimes sit in the car and pretend I'm driving it (don't judge) and when I would open the door the dome lights were kind of dim. I've had this old trickle charger lying around forever and I've never used it so I thought this would be a good time. I attached it and left it over night and when I came back in the morning the charger was super-duper hot and the Miata's battery was super-duper completely dead. Lesson learned: don't use old trickle chargers that you find lying around. So I attached jumper cables from the Infiniti to the Miata and idled the Infiniti for about 30 minutes. It seems to have put some charge back in the Miata's battery but there's a good chance I'$$ need a new one.

It's Getting Warmer...

That's right the earth is spinning and tilting this hemisphere toward the sun which can only mean one thing; Spring! It's been a long and cold winter but it's time to bring the Miata out of hibernation and out into the sunshine where it belongs. Maybe plop the girlfriend down in the passenger seat and enjoy some well deserved top down driving. I can't wait. There is of course the small matter of selling the Infiniti first, changing the oil, charging the battery etc. etc. I hope I find the time.

Hey anyone wanna buy a 93.5 Infiniti G20 with new tires and a new clutch?

Miata Valentine's

It's still cold and rainy in Vancouver and just a little while ago it snowed. But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel as we reach mid point of February. This means it's Valentine's day, what do you give the car that has everything; a blow of course, a blow of air that is; into the tires. Air escapes even as the car is sitting still so I had to pump up the tires. I pumped them up to almost the maximum recommended pressure (40psi) as this will ensure a flat spot doesn't develop where the tire meets the road. I also undid the handbrake because I read that it can be bad for the callipers to be engaged for such a long time, my garage floor is flat so the car won't roll away anywhere (I hope).

Air Filter

Todays post is about air filters. Important things: filter the air going into the engine. When a filter gets dirty and clogged a car ends up getting worse fuel economy, reduced power, and can get all stumbly, so it's a good idea to check the air filter often, like when you do an oil change. Now last time I did an oil change on the Infiniti I neglected to do this simple task and as a result I've recently noticed some real poor fuel economy. Usually the Infiniti averages about 12l/100km but lately it's been burning 15 to 20l /100km. That's getting up to SUV territory. So yesterday I took out the filter and sure enough it was covered in road gunk. Now the Infiniti doesn't have a normal paper filter, it's got a fancy FRAM Airhog, it's the type of filter you don't throw away but clean then re oil and it's supposed to be better than a paper one because it lets more air through. However cleaning it and oiling it is a messy chore and it has to be out of the car for at least overnight because it has to dry and then how do you know you've totally cleaned it, I think over time it will get worse and worse. I don't think I would recommend getting one of these, they look fancy but I think it's better to just stick to the cheap throw away paper ones because you know you're getting a clean one out of the box.

I was looking at some old photos from November and I came across this one. It's the Miata shortly before it went off the road watching the sun set. Don't worry, you'll be back soon enough baby.

Cozy

Happy new year and Merry Christmas and all that. The Miata got a present from Santa this year, it's this car cover. As is often with gifts the size is wrong and it's way to big but it does keep the dust off and the Miata is nice and cozy. Just a few more months till all this cold weather nonsense is over and I can go back to creating more greenhouse gases so as to have less of this cold weather and more top down fun.

A Month Off

It's been exactly one month since I parked the Miata for winter. That's one month of not driving the Miata. I'm really missing it. I was feeling antsy so today I started it up to charge up the battery. It started right away but clearly all the oil had drained to the bottom of the engine because for a few seconds it ran all clicketty clacketty. I should probably start it more often. Or make sure to pull the fuel injector fuse and crank the engine a few times to allow oil pressure to build before actually starting it. It felt so good to sit in it and rev the engine. I drove around a little in my parking garage and even managed a short power slide. I almost considered going and getting a day's worth of insurance to go and rip around in it but instead I just washed the one month's worth of dust off. Only two and bit more months of winter left.