If you want something done right, do it yourself

That was a saying that my dad used often, and he lived that mantra, and passed it along to me.  My pickup was having some cooling issues.  I noted that the radiator was cold, even though the engine was warm.  I replaced the thermostat, knowing that was the easiest thing to replace and inexpensive.  Still, on a recent drive back from the Puget Sound area, I had to stop every 50 miles to add coolant.
 I had put in some Bar's Leak when I notice a few weeks ago that I was loosing coolant. The radiator was still cold and the leak leak was becoming worse. I now assumed that the radiator was plugged because of the Bar's Leak.  I was also seeing a puddle of coolant under the vehicle, right below the water pump.  I replaced the radiator and water pump.  The vehicle continued to lose coolant.  After even a 2 mile drive, big clouds of steam were coming off the top of the engine. I utilized Google to find leads to the issue.  It seems that my vehicle is prone to a cracked intake manifold and failure of the gasket, allowing coolant to get on top of the engine.  Unfortunately, I was unable to locate a new intake manifold, and was informed that they were not repairable.  (yes, I considered using silicone seal to patch it!) It was loosing enough coolant that I now needed to add water every 10 miles.  It was time to call in the professionals.  Today I brought it in to a shop. They located a manifold through a dealer and had me leave the vehicle with them.  Finally, the bike part of the story, I rode my bike back home from the shop.  I got a call this afternoon that they were running into some issues with sensors not sealing and I wouldn't be getting the vehicle back until tomorrow.

So, today it was 5 miles. 2 back from the shop, plus 3 round trip for lunch.

It was a nice day, not a cloud in the sky.  Right at freezing this morning on my way back from the shop, eventually reached 57 F.  Too bad I'm not a cyclist, it would have been a great day for a ride. As it was, I got my taxes filed today.


........Road Bike........Rollers.......MTB..........Lifecycle......Total
Today ......5.................0.................0....................0..............5
Jan.........26................ 0................0.....................0..............26
Feb.........7..................0................0.....................0...............7
March.......5.................0................0.....................0...............5
YTD.........38...............0................0.....................0.............38