Camry cop out, SSR Salvation in Plant City, Sticky situation, Getting real

Last Friday we made arrangements to drop the Camry off at the dealer for a 100,000 mile look over.  It is amazing to me the Camry already has 100k on the odometer considering it was purchased in November of 2006.  The car has served us quite well.

Anyway, ever since about the 65k mile mark I have been doing the oil changes and other routine maintenance on the car to save a few bucks.  However since Ali is going to be on her own we both thought it good to have the car officially serviced at this milestone mileage mark.  Looking at the factory maintenance schedule I saw the car was due for an oil change, coolant flush and a solid overall inspection.  I also told them to swap the spark plugs awhile even though they are not actually due to be replaced until 120,000 miles.

We actually dropped the car off the night before so they would have access to it first thing.  We however made a dumb mistake, telling the service advisor that we didn’t really need the car back until the next afternoon, automatically shifting the Camry down on their priority list.  He told us the car should be done by 3pm.

So as 3pm the next day approached I asked Ali if she heard anything yet, she had not.   Then about 20 minutes after 3, neither of us had heard a peep yet, but Ali was on her way to the dealer to pick up the car. I decided to call just to confirm the car was done, assuming it would be since it was there all day and the work that was being done was minor.

Well I talk to Mark, the guy that promised the car would be done by 3pm.  He tells me they just pulled the car in a little while ago.  I reminded Mark that they said the car would be done by 3.  He acknowledged that and apologized for them getting backed up.  Of course I knew that we gave this loophole by not telling them to do the work asap.  I told Mark that my wife was about 20 minutes away from picking up the car.  He told me that she might have to wait “a little bit”. I asked what a little bit was.  Mark said no more than 15 minutes.  I asked Mark if he could make sure to expedite things as much as possible.

So I called Ali back and told her the car wasn’t done and also told her about the “little bit” wait that was indicated.  Ali was familiar with what a little bit means in dealer talk, it means a long ass wait. I told her she should just go to the grocery store and go home, I would go to the dealer after work to pay for it and we could pick up the car later.

So on the way there about 5:15, I get a call from Mark, telling me the car was done.  WTF, if Ali was actually waiting there she would have been twiddling her thumbs for 90 minutes.   Mark informed he did not do the coolant flush as requested because they found the water pump is starting to leak.  Part of the pump replacement procedure is to drain the coolant so he said it was pointless to do it now.

I was not thrilled to hear about the leaky pump but I was annoyed because if they worked on the car in a timely fashion they would have been able to do this right away, now it was too late in the day, meaning a return trip would be necessary.  Hearing the estimate of $430 to replace the pump did nothing to brighten my spirits either.  I guess the good news was at this point the leak is very minor and not in need of immediate attention.

I was surprised when I went online and searched “Camry Hybrid water pump” and hit upon a ton of people that have had their water pumps start leaking as well, some in as little as 40,000 miles.

So over the weekend I took a look at where the water pump is located in the Camry and initially wrote off the idea of replacing it myself due to what appeared to be very tight quarters.  Well last night the idea of spending that much money, especially considering our short term money outlook, did not sit well with me.

I hopped on Autozone.com and checked out what a water pump (non-oem) would cost me, wow, only $50.  Add in the couple gallons of anti-freeze and some RTV sealant I would need to complete the job I am still under $100, potentially saving myself $350 in dealer labor.   I then found a post on Toyotanation that outlined the steps to replace the pump in a pretty clear manner.

Part of the process is to remove the alternator, the passenger side front wheel and a small cover to get better access to the pump, something I didn’t realize when I eyeballed the job.  At this point I haven’t decided if I want to tackle the job myself or not.  The most invasive procedure I have done on the Camry so far is replacing the front and rear brake pads.  I am pretty sure I could pull this one off though.

So with the SSR potential flywheel problem the most agreed upon advice is to have the stock set up ripped out and replaced with the clutch and flywheel from a Z07 Corvette.  The factory clutch set up in the SSR will be nothing but problematic, one owner has had the factory set up replaced 5 times so far.

There just happens to be a fellow SSRFanatic that specializes in this swap, he has done 15-20 already and has had great success with it.  His shop is located in Plant City, about 3 hours away, close to where the Tough Mudder was held.

I called and talked to the guy yesterday, he was real nice and extremely knowledgeable about all things SSR.  His personal SSR is tricked out beyond belief.

With him being that far away the question becomes how would I get my truck there?  I asked him his opinion on the chances of me making the trip successfully based on the noises the truck is making now.  I told him that the truck still appears to drive/shift normally at this point, I only notice the noise when I am stopped with the clutch in or the SSR in neutral.  Lonnie said it’s hard to say but there is a good shot I will be fine.  If not he said as long as I have AAA (I do) I could always get towed the rest of the way in.

I thanked Lonnie for the info and told him I would be contacting him to set something definitive up.  He said the swap takes about a full day, 8 hours of work.

So my mind is made up that is the best long term solution to the problem, the issues are two fold, money and getting the vehicle there/what to do once it is.

As far as the money goes, I am going to wait and see where my money levels are once Ali is safely moved into her new place.  Once that happens I can make a more sound decision on the money.

As far as getting up there, I initially asked Ali about possibly following me up to Plant City on some weekday.  I’d just burn a personal day.  Ali said she was fine to do it.  I am not sure if I will take her up on that offer or not.

I feel kind of bad asking her to drive all the way up there.  If I did it solo I could just drop off the truck with Lonnie and watch the process take place, possibly picking up a tip or two along the way.  I could also rent a cheap motel room and stay a night if need be.  It could be a fun little adventure.

So we will see what shakes out in a couple weeks.

My neighbor has put me in a precarious situation.  As I mentioned last week, he was having his house painted by Rhinoshield, the same company that did our place that we were/are very happy with.

Well in addition to painting his house, he also contracted with them to paint his entire concrete driveway, the concrete border that surrounds the house, the pool deck AND the aluminum pool cage frame.  It is a TON of work and he is paying a ton for it, double what we laid out almost.

Well the job was supposed to be wrapped up on Saturday.  It wasn’t close to done.  My neighbor had been squabbling with the company over what they exactly agreed to do.  They wanted to do one coat where the neighbor agreed to two coats, the paint used on the pool cage was in question and several other small items.

Well my neighbor had to fly back to Michigan on Sunday and the job was still not complete.  He was holding final payment for the job, you paid a portion up front and then the balance upon completion.

Well he called and asked me for a favor.  He wanted me to hold the checks for him and only present them to the contractors after I CONFIRM that all the work was done and done adequately.  I told him I wasn’t real comfortable with that responsibility since it his money and I didn’t like the idea of saying the work looked ok and then having my neighbor come back down and see things he wasn’t happy with.

He said he trusted my judgement so I reluctantly agreed to be the check holder, quality control inspector.  Originally the job was supposed to be completed Monday but when I checked last night they still had not done anything with painting the pool cage.

To be honest, painting that cage looks to be a job that would be incredibly tedious.  They are supposed to paint the entire cage, both the inside and outside of the frame.  Doing so requires them to tape and mask off each and every screen panel before spraying.  A decent wind will rip the taped paper right off.

Then there is the issue of how exactly they plan to paint the high areas of the cage that are over the pool directly?  Short of bringing in a temporary scaffolding I don’t see how it can be done. It just looks like an awful, awful job.  I am sure the painters hate the sales guy that said this could be part of the job.

I am not really looking forward to playing mediator in the soap opera.

Last night after giving the dogs much needed baths and eating dinner Ali embarked on her first serious session of packing.  I had a few things to take care of on my pc but afterward I figured I should be helping her pack, there is a lot to do.

Her and I tried to be somewhat systematic in the packing process although it is a bit tough to do, especially at first.  It becomes overwhelming when you start to grasp just how much stuff needs to be packed up only to be unboxed again 15 miles away.

For the first time in several days I felt emotional several times during the process.  Undoing things that we have set up together over the years hurts. There was no way I could get my mind to ignore the pain I felt as I took Ali’s medals off the wall or boxed up other personal items that have been part of our shared environment for as long as I can remember.

The dogs were also confused by the process.  Sadie would sit right in front of me, just staring.  Nicki was under Ali’s desk, looking sad.  It almost seemed like she knew something bad was coming.

I did my best to bring my mind back to center and not dwell on the symbolism of the packing process.

We got the office and the dining room stuff she will be taking boxed up for the most part.  We will be going room to room, doing our best to be as ready for Saturday as possible.

I already took next Monday off from work to have extra time to help Ali get settled as well as do the various rearranging that will happen at the house once her items are removed.  It’s going to be hard to keep dry eyes this weekend.

I talked to Todd last night, he called about a new Iphone problem.  I found it odd that he did not mention my separation with Ali even though I did not tell him first hand.  I only told my parents directly, figuring the word would filter down from there.  Well although my dad, mom and sister know, none of them relayed the info to Todd during any of their recent interactions.

He was surprised to hear of the upcoming split but had no real advice to offer based on the 4-5 year plus quagmire of divorce proceedings he is mired in.