Posted on 07/03/2014 11:39:53 AM PDT by skeptoid
Nome is used to rowdy residents, but some relatively new transplants are making a real nuisance of themselves -- although unlike the colorful characters of the early 20th century gold rush days, these visitors have four legs, not two.
Musk oxen are wandering into the city on the Seward Peninsula, and despite loud noises, water hoses and even a blow-up bear coated in ursine urine, they don't want to leave.
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
I could take the battery out, but regulations here require that no auto parts be stored. It would have to be in the patio, and that means, unless I hid it, they could tell me to move it. In the meantime, the heat is still going to kill it unless it is charged by driving. Impossible, at this point.
But thanks for the suggestion.
If Tom was here, he would think of other ideas.
I’m sure he would. There are several people here who would fix it, but rules say no auto repairs can be done on the premises, and there are at least three people who dislike me enough to make trouble with management if I tried. And since the “mechanics” live here, they would have no place to fix it.
Are there any neigbours nearby that would let you use their driveway?
Must go, late.
I have no clue. I’m fairly well insulated, here, for various reasons. But thanks for the suggestion.
Is there an auto parts store nearby that would let someone work on your car, in exchange for a small purchase? Or perhaps a business that’s closed on Sunday? What about Busdaddy taking it to his place?
Busdaddy would have the room in the garage but for the racecar, and the driveway is at a slant and in the sun. He would do it, I’m sure if there were an easy way, but he would have to pull the car hauler out of the side yard, park it in front of the house on a (barely) two lane street and then move the race car into the car hauler to put Mr. Bill in the garage and then reverse the process when the repair was done and that is not cool.
The trouble is not worth what I would pay him and I won’t ask. I KNOW the trouble it takes to load up the car for a race. It is, at best a two-hour job.
So tomorrow I will do one or two things. I will call the few people I know who “know someone” and/or I will tell my daughter that I cannot take the dogs, if for no other reason than their protection and my liability. I will not ask that her husband fix my truck. He obviously doesn’t want to. But I didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday, so I don’t need to bring grief into my own life by doing something I would be held liable for.
My sentiments, exactly. I mean, I understand it’s located in the fuel tank, but I also understand there are only about three gallons of gas in the tank. I don’t know all that’s involved (drain the tank, disconnect the tank, lower the tank, remove the faulty pump, replace the pump, raise the tank, connect the tank, refill it) and that it could take a couple of hours, but how much more complicated could it be?
But WHOM, (pray, tell) wants to help an old lady who can’t pay them more than $150 on a good day? I can take it to the garage down the street, but they will be miffed because they can’t charge me for the fuel pump, and will threaten me with “we can’t guarantee how this will work,” and only get the cost of labor, which is $170+ for two hours, as opposed to twice that for the fuel pump AND the labor.
I could have Mr. Bill towed there tomorrow (or the next day,) and let them work their magic, but after paying for the pump, I don’t have quite enough for the two hours’ labor. And I don’t want to ask anyone for any money because I am at the extent of my Humilityapp.
Not being familiar with your vehicle, let me share some trivial knowledge.
1) In the GM van that I drove, it was necessary to drop the fuel tank to access the fuel pump (which died at around 9pm on a Friday evening when I was 25 miles from home.) Both I and the company's mechanic had warned the boss that the pump was on its last legs but as usual sound advise was ignored, so instead of being fixed where the company had an account and could be scheduled and costs controlled, it cost a tow to a Chevy dealer and resultant increased costs due to dealer pricing. Maybe that's an example of the business acumen that resulted in his chapter 11 filing... ;-) If that is your situation, it's a real pain in the.
2) In our Volkswagen products the pump is indeed in the fuel tank, but if you lift the mat in the trunk you discover an access plate which when removed allows you to remove/replace the fuel pump using hand tools and without jacking up the vehicle.
So lift up the mat over the area where the fuel tank is and hope that you see an access hatch... ;-)
If it is actually that accessible you might find more people willing to assist. Just be sure to disconnect the battery before playing with the electric fuel pump!!!
I have been trying to find a repair manual for the truck (’92 Chevy Geo tracker, 4x) but they are scarce. The few that I have found are expensive and beyond my ability to purchase comfortably.
There could, indeed, be an access plate, and if so, the job would be markedly easier. However, my son-in-law is not willing to check it. And as a widow, I am at the mercy of everyone I come into contact with. I’m an old woman, (hahahah) therefore I am fair game, and can be gouged for whatever amount they tell me it will cost.
I don’t LOOK 70, I don’t ACT 60, and I don’t feel 55. But I’m still a woman, and that opens lots of possibilities for those who want to make a little money. This is not a new situation for me as I was a military wife and mother for 30 years, so naturally, I spent a lot of time alone...with my two kids. And I was always on the alert.
And it's already been established that you can't work on it where it is.
Unfortunately, I don't know the shops in your area, but there are about a dozen within five to ten miles of you. I'd stay away from the name brands. They tend to be less experienced and over-priced.
The best bet is to find someone who has had work done by a private shop, and who recommends one. Then you could have the vehicle towed and repaired. Hopefully the cost will not be too great, and a way can be found to get it paid.
But you need to know the right person, who knows the right mechanic.
You can all advise me about getting rear lights working on the RX-7, next. At least I have my classic-car friend at church to tell me who can fix it and make sure it’s done right.
First step is to figure out how to gain access to the light bulbs. Once you’ve done that, have each one checked to see if it’s burned out.
There are three ways to do that; a visual inspection, (if it’s very dark inside the bulb, it’s either blown or about to be), second, if you have good eyes, or very myopic ones, you may be able to verify that the filament is still intact, (the tiny little wire inside that gets really, really hot!),
and third, you can use an electrical meter to check for continuity. Of course you have to have one, and know how to use it.
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Next, if your bulbs are okay, test the various functions, turn signals, parking lights, and brake lights. One way to do this, even alone, is to use a reflective surface. A strip-mall store window works great for this. Just back up in front of the window, and look in the glass for your reflection. Test all the lights and verify their function.
In the absence of reflective glass, you can use a more ordinary surface, such as a garage door. Close enough to it, and dark enough, you should easily see each light and its proper operation.
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That’s about it, except if something doesn’t work, like brake lights. Then you have to fix whatever’s wrong.
Bingo. On the left.
If one works, and the other doesn’t, it’s the bulb. (Or the socket, but let’s not go there yet).
By the way, on some cars, the brake lights and the turn signal lights are the same filament. This wouldn’t affect anything in repairing them, except ...
... the turn-signal lights operate on both the front of the vehicle and the rear of the vehicle. Normally the brake lights only operate on the rear.
Just make sure ALL the lights work.
On the left rear, the brake light doesn’t work. We replaced the bulb, but it didn’t fix it. The turn signal works if you don’t have the brake on at the same time. The taillight is “dim,” according to my teen help.
On the repair manual front, cheapest I found with a not-really-exhaustive-search is on EBay used @ $23 w/free shipping.
1992 Chevrolet Geo Tracker GM Dealer Service Repair Manual, Free USA Shipping
Unlike our VW products which seem to be well covered in that respect, I couldn't find any videos/how-to's that specifically target your vehicle. One posting said to check the pump relay, another said to check the fuse - I'm assuming that if you had someone look at it, they already eliminated those critters. Two postings said you had to drop the tank, one said that if you remove the rear seat the access plate is under there "I think".. which is not all that helpful. And one showed how to replace it once you had the entire assembly out of the tank, which also was really helpful because if you had it out of the tank already you have figured out how to do that... There were no videos I found that detailed the entire process for your specific vehicle. There was a video for a Geo Metro that showed dropping the fuel tank. Don't know how similar the two vehicles are.
So on that not-so-encouraging note, I need to run out to the store.
The symptoms are not entirely conclusive, but you could have a damaged socket (for the bulb), or a pinched wire.
You may need a patient technician, unless you can arrange to get lucky.
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