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An Exhausting Problem
I have a part time job delivering pizza at
night. It is a fun job, and a good way to earn a few extra bucks.
On Friday, June 1st I was out on a delivery. I was headed to the
North Highlands, making the turn from Rt. 301 East to Rt. 9. North.
As I finished the turn, and started pressing the gas to accelerate on
Rt. 9, the car suddenly got very loud. I let off the gas, and got
back on it a couple of times before I convinced myself that the noise
was indeed coming from my car. When I got to the house I was
delivering at, after dropping off the food, I took a quick look under
the car. Everything seemed to be in place, nothing was hanging
down, so I went on my way. It was pretty loud, and the car's power
was down, especially at low RPM, but it was useable. I finished
the night's work, and drove the car home.
The next morning, I had a more thorough look, and
discovered that the "Y" pipe had broken completely off at teh flange
where it attaches to the catalytic converter. Since a good bit of
the "Y" pipe had significant rust, I decided that a replacement would be
in order. Since Saturday was already booked pretty much solid for
me, I went to the auto parts store Sunday, and picked up the new pipe.
Unfortunately, I forgot to buy the necessary gaskets.
On Monday, the 4th of June, it rained pretty much all
day, and I had a doctor's appointment that I had forgotten about, but
Tuesday morning it was clear, and the parking lot was dry, so I got to
work. Basically, I needed to remove six bolts that attach the pipe
to the manifolds, one bolt that clamps the pipe in place, and the O2
sensor. I started with the manifold bolts figuring they would be
the most difficult, and the clamp would hold the pipe in place while I
removed them. The first bolt on the front manifold came right out,
and I figured I was in trouble then. The second bolt turned about
one full turn, then froze up tight. I sprayed it down good with
Liquid Wrench, but it wasn't moving. After some searching, I
couldn't find a long enough 1/2 inch drive extension to reach it, and
the only 17mm 3/8 inch socket I had was 16 point, which I was afraid
would round off the bolt, so I left that one alone. |