vehicle issues... or "when it rains, it pours"

[68Charger]

All my vehicles are paid for, high mileage, and thus out of warranty...
So I understand I'll have repairs now and again.

But this is getting tiresome...
2007 Charger has leaking lower radiator hose, then after that was fixed, failed fuel pump.. About $280 total in parts
1999 Suburban has miss, replaced secondary ignition components, now pinging hard...$150 or so, not fixed yet
Then my wife is driving my truck, towing horse trailer to vet... And the clutch blows...
Got it home, need to take transmission & t-case to see what all is busted... Probably looking at $700-1800, depending on damage and what clutch I put in (Cummins Diesel, not stock)
Plus flat tire on my Neon commuter car... bike already had coolant leak I haven't gotten to!
[Bang]
Just need to vent, then get to work...[shithitsfan]

[nynco]

Do you do your own work for most of it? If you can not work on cars, I would never own an older car. It ends up costing more for labor than it does for a car payment. I am dumping over 9K in parts into my car right now. But that is to rebuild it all so I can run another 160K on it. Its paid off, I know it well. I can do nearly all the work on it. I am also doing preventive maint on things I knew will break soon. Sort of the, while I am in there thing.

[zteknik]

I know how you feel Garry.Just dont bang your head against the wall,you might break it and have to re do the wall[Coffee]
Hopefully thigs will get better[Beer],after all you fixed just about everything-so what else is there??

[nynco]

Oh and I can empathize on costs, costs keep on going up for me, because I keep on finding more broken or soon to be broke shit. I am 2 months behind schedule due to cost over runs and the need to wait on parts.

Believe me, my black cloud for vehicles is thick lately.

[Wulf202]

just keep reminding yourself it's better than any payment or paying a tow plus mechanic's bill.

[68Charger]

I know the truck needs the rear axle rebuilt soon, almost 300k on it...
Backlash is excessive, pinon seal leaking after replacing a couple years ago.

I didn't include pm type stuff, just did the brakes on the 'burb... needed rotors, too.

And yes, I do my own work... Rebuilding the rear diff will test my limits...
Rebuilt the engine in the Neon, bought it for $200, with a rod knock

[TAR31]

Do you do your own work for most of it? If you can not work on cars, I would never own an older car. It ends up costing more for labor than it does for a car payment. I am dumping over 9K in parts into my car right now. But that is to rebuild it all so I can run another 160K on it. Its paid off, I know it well. I can do nearly all the work on it. I am also doing preventive maint on things I knew will break soon. Sort of the, while I am in there thing.
9k in parts? WTF? Take your own advice and buy a new car.

[68Charger]

just keep reminding yourself it's better than any payment or paying a tow plus mechanic's bill.

I hear that, I do have options at least...


9k in parts? WTF? Take your own advice and buy a new car.

I started going there, but it depends on the car... I could spend that on my truck just in upgrades... (But then I'd have 700+ hp)
I need to look a the clutch as an opportunity to upgrade- with a better clutch, I can add more fuel :-)

[dwalker460]

Oh and I can empathize on costs, costs keep on going up for me, because I keep on finding more broken or soon to be broke shit. I am 2 months behind schedule due to cost over runs and the need to wait on parts.

Believe me, my black cloud for vehicles is thick lately.

What do you own? (almost said drive, but obviously there is not driving going on)

[68Charger]

Finally got around to doing more tests on the ' 99 burb... Decided to go back to basics... Compression test

#2 plug dark, but acceptable... 152psi
#8 plug dark, but acceptable... 153psi
#4, plug dark, and soaked with fuel... 10psi... Wet test 10psi
#6, plug dark, and soaked with fuel... 5 psi

Stopped there, diagnosis is blown head gasket between #4 & #6...

Previous owner reported he replaced head gasket... Apparently poorly.

[JMBD2112]

put air on those cylinders and do a leak down, you may have washed your rings if you had all that fuel getting into the combustion chamber. if you hear air through the oil fill tube that'll tell you if the rings are washed or if there's cylinder wall / piston ring damage