Neanderpundit

with all these bot blogs? you know, the ones which pick something out of your blog and link to it or reprint your entire goddamned post? Are these stupid goddamned things just automated crap, or is there some sweatshiop full of pidgin speaking korean kids grabbing and linking all farging day? I bet I’ve deleted thirty of them in the last week.

The first being the one I got from Ride Fast

Mom’s car has been leaking oil in ever increasing puddles, and against my better wishes, she took it to a dealer for an estimate.

The estimate invol;ved a new oil pan (it was totally destroyed, according to the written) and gasket, ($1400, parts and labor) and a new pair of upper and lower ball joints (desperately needed, please do not drive the vehicle under any circumstances)

Now, this is a Taurus.

FOr the uninitiated, the Taurus has McPherson struts. No upper ball joints. And the lowers are in perfect shape, I discover.

So I put it on blocks, and crawl under.

The “smile” shapeed part outlined at the lower end is the oil pan gasket, extruded out of it’s recess under the crankshaft front end. The gasket has just worked it’s way out. So I loosen the pan bolts, let it sag a bit, push the gasket back into place, and re-tighten the bolts.

A little bit better angle, showing the gasket pushed back in, and tightened up nicely.

Total time spent, 15 minutes. Including the oil change,m which I did on general principles. Total cost, $19.

I’m sending a copy of the estimate and the pictures to Ford Corporate to let them know how their shops are treating old women. One way or the nother, I am SO goddamned tickled to have this fixed and out of my garage, and have mom mobile again and not freaking about her car… What a great Christmas present. Damn.

Or do whatever you do to have fun on the holidays.

And you atheists/agnostics too.