The Old Tin Shed

Well let me start by saying, I am feeling 100% better than I did a couple of days ago.  Things that seemed to be impossible to achieve were always in my grasp even though I could not see it.  Since the Valdoxan I have been able to get back into the swing of things.  The stress about being late with work for school was all over worked in my head.  In fact I had completely gotten the week wrong that the first major assignment was due, its not due till midnight Sunday night.  So I have been able to catch up on the required reading and have most of the answers formulating in my head.  What would Freud say about that :) Anyway to keep my sanity while studying I only sit down for 30 minute sessions, this enables my brain to get a rest and well thats a good thing :).  So I try take about 15 to 20 minutes off between sessions and do things that really don't require to much brain power. I think I mentioned on one of my many blog posts that the car stereo in...

Does happy dance around the desk... The car is fixed everyone.  It went to the Euro specialist yesterday and well, he worked out what was wrong and its all fixed and running like a dream.  He took off the Throttle body and cleaned it then proceeded to pull the leads off every sensor and clean them.  Unplugged the ECU from the loom and then put it all back together.  Problem solved. Basically one of the connectors was dirty and giving bad feedback to the ECU, the ECU didnt know what to do so got all hung up.  After the error codes were cleared and everything back together the problem is solved. More interesting is the fact he said the car must have sat for a while for the connectors to get dirty as normal day to day usage keeps the connectors from corroding.  Now the hard decision do I keep it or buy something else.

Hey all.  Hey EF I know your probably grinning right now, but I have to say my car is still broken :( Bloody Renault.  I picked you out EF because I had no sympathy when you were going through car troubles recently, and well that bloody guy murphy doubled with Karma has bit me in the arse. To the tech heads out there, I have replaced, the alternator, the fuel pump has been tested, crank angle sensor replaced (Huge Job, 6.5 hours eek) We have checked oil pressure and replaced oil and filter, and cleaned the cam shaft dephaser solenoid.  And we are out of things to fix.  Well not quite.  There is a theory amoungst those trying to fix this car that the actual cam dephaser pulley is failing. This is a very expensive thing to get fixed.  Its around $450 for the pulley and then around another $500 for labor. So I am getting the car taken to a Euro specialist in town here let him look at the car and work out whats wrong just in case its somethin...

Hey all this is rather long and talks about what has been going on with me on a mental health note most the week Earlier this week I fell into one of the biggest mental holes I have been in in years. I was travelling along nicely, dealing with the stress of the car off the road, and other relationship and family issues that were going on in my life.  Then suddenly late on Tuesday afternoon I diagnosed the problem with the car. It turned out to be a faulty alternator (more on this later).  I felt great, I had worked hard an consistently to reach that point, I had effectively used my resources at hand, and in the process probably saved myself thousands of dollars getting the car repaired at the dealers. There was a huge release of pressure and underlying stress.  As per usual, it made me feel pretty good about myself.  That I had proved that I could deal with high levels of stress and that I had gotten a lot better with my illness. Well...

Arrived home yesterday, had a reasonable nights sleep, and my body is recovering well.  The car was awesome just spent 3 hours cleaning it inside and out, couple layers of polish, rainx on the glass so its stays clear.  I like it, its quirky and French, but so nice to be in. Went over to see the mechanic today, he shook his head and says, you two must love those cars.  He is right we do.  Going to see how much to sort out a couple of the little issues that I need to do.  Found out today im $800 behind in payment for my now cancelled counselling course.  It was just to hard to commit to, especially deadlines with my brain. So will be paying that one off. This last trip was good for me, that and I think the new anti-depressants have taken hold.  I dealt with all the stress around the last 3 weeks well, no need for extra pills, or bombing out along the way.  I even dealt well on the trip when the sat nav died on me, right when I needed ...

I am happy to tell you all that the car hunt is now over.  I paid a deposit on this car  today, we have exchanged contracts and I have a full vehicle report being done tomorrow.  Would have loved the 2ltr sports version of this car, but well out of my price range. Has a nice 1.6ltr Premium Unleaded engine and all the mod conveniences that one would expect from a euro.  Will fly down Wednesday next week all going well and pick it up and bring it home. Kind of excited about it, I actually wanted one of these nearly 4 year ago now.  Funny thing was the it only became available in my price range this morning, so maybe it was a meant to be thing. Anyway back to some normality for a couple days then I am out of here

Hey all.  Just to let you guys know the car is sold.  He didn't even haggle on price which was nice.  Will get the car ready for him to take early next week.  Get tires remove the personalized plates, and fix two interior trims.  Then get the car to Gregs to get the safety certificate and we should be done.  Will drop the car off to him I hope Tuesday night.  My 18 month struggle with this car has come to an end. So here is hoping that the feelings around the car can now go, and I can move on to finding another car, that I can afford to run, and look after.  I have been looking at an Alfa Romeo 156 JTS, called the guy as soon as I knew my car was sold, only to find out he had another guy looking this afternoon.  Would love to own it But I now feel that I can put dad to rest in my mind, its time I let him move on, I will always wear his ring, and my grandfathers, but they are more personal and something I cherish...

Well my last post was post number 150, a bit of a milestone in the history of this blog and we are well past 10,000 page views.  I wish to thank you all again for reading, the fact anyone reads the blog is enough to put a smile on my face. Car update, the potential buyer called again tonight he is coming over tomorrow at 2.30pm to look at the car again and in his words "Do a Deal".  So I am hoping its all done and dusted by the end of tomorrow.  Then a mad rush to get it finished. Will keep you posted on all of it.

Hey wish me luck, pray to your gods, or send good Karma my way will you.  Have someone coming to look at the car tomorrow.  I hope (a) he shows and (b) he buys the car.  It would be a relief and a load off my shoulders to have it gone.  Its 10 weeks this Friday since I advertised it.

Well all I return with some semblance of my sanity.  Has been a tough couple days, didn't feel like talking eating (I need to not eat more often lol ), or in general communicate in any way form or manner.  However unlike others who don't shower or shave or ... well u get what I mean, I am the opposite I shower and preen myself to the point i am OCD, I wash all my clothes even if they are clean.  God forbid I should Iron though now that's just one step to far lol. Why wont someone buy this car ? Well per usual got stood up 3 times over the weekend when it comes to the car.  Disappointed hurt and very annoyed that people don't even have the common courtesy to call you and say they are not coming.  I suppose one good thing out of it all is that I got the car spotlessly clean, and now I can put the car service off till next week.  I am so emotionally invested in getting rid of this car, I think it was...

Well the cars back in the driveway, the mechanic even sorted out my stuck drivers window as part of the deal, apparently if it happens again will need a new motor.  I don't want to own it by then that's for sure.  Will get organized tomorrow and wash, clean and detail the car, take all the crap out of it.  Fix two plastic trim pieces that have come away.  Long day in the car by the looks of things. Then tomorrow list the car and carsales.com.au and gumtree.com.au.  See how we go, hoping to get around $12K that will get me enough to get the car I want.  On another note if I disappear for a couple days its because I am changing ISP.  Over $240 a month to $111.00 a month is a HUGE drop for the same service.  I will be back online after the 23rd should that happen.  I hope it wont, and that I will just have a change in user name and password on the 23rd.  Under a month now and I am 39, gets scary as you get closer.  I already know...

As mentioned a couple posts back my partner purchased a Renault Scenic.  To be honest a great car, neat tidy and gets up and goes.  One big issue with the car is the audio system in it just sucked.  About 3 weeks after getting the car, I fitted a new head unit for it.  I didn't solder the connections primarily because I knew at some point in the new future that new speakers amplifier etc would be added to the car.  So I used the exisitng wiring and hooked up the 4 exisitng speakers... To say the sound output was pathetic doesn't cut it.  These 5.25 inch splits in the front and 5.25 inch two ways in the back were hopeless. The stereo had way to much power for them.  They were a small magnet paper cone variety that car manufactures thought were a good idea.  Anyway after several months my partner orderd some new 5.25 splits for the front,  Up specked the speaker cables ran them to the front doors, created solder joints for all the power light...

Recently my partner was in the market for a car, after owning two Jap imports (both now not running), he was looking for something that would be economical, that wasn't a Hyundai and he had a total budget of around $4K.  We looked around for a couple of weeks and we ended up at a local Auto action house.  Several cars we were interested in sold or passed in at a far higher value than we could afford. The last car on our list was a Renault Scenic 2004 2 Ltr.  To make a long story short, we bid against one other and once it was on the market got it for a reasonable $3K and a little bit.  We took it for a Road Worthy Certificate it only needed front rubber.  We brought it home had another good going over, found the service books and some of the service history. My partner cleaned it from top to bottom and I set about getting everything I needed to service the car.  Now this is where the trap can be.  We noticed during our checks that one of the pencil...