Starting starter, beam it, fly me to Mars
So when I got home last night I put my battery back into the Tacoma and turned the key. It didn’t start. However after several more turns of the key the truck fired up normally. Well I have seen this before, the starter is f’d up, great.
I checked my records, I recalled having the starter on the Tacoma replaced once before. In fact it was one of the first things that went bad after my 5 year extended warranty on the truck I bought expired. It was replaced in 2007 for about $360. Well my money situation was a lot different in 2007, throwing another $300-$400 for another starter isn’t something I take lightly anymore.
So I turned to my personal mechanic, the internet, to research how painful the repair process is. One thing that jumped out at me immediately is replacing the entire starter is actually not necessary in the vast majority of the cases. The problem is almost always the copper contacts inside the starter get corroded and/or worn. Fixing a problem starter can be as simple as opening up the starter and replacing a $10 pair of contacts. However most garages will never do that. For them it is easier and faster to throw a rebuilt starter in there. It’s faster and gives them more opportunity to mark up the price of the part.
So now I started looking at info on how the actual starter is removed on my truck. I found several forum posts that talked about my model truck specifically and a few videos that covered similar models. It seems like as in many automotive repair jobs, having the right tools makes a huge difference in the difficulty you will encounter. The problem is I am not sure I have the right tools.
Some guys mentioned a 2 foot socket extension and swivel sockets. Well I have an 18 inch extension and wobble sockets, hopefully they fit the bill. I have no doubt there will be a point in the process I will curse myself for not just paying a garage to do it but I also know when I do finally get it, pride will follow for doing it myself and saving a couple hundred bucks in the process. Of course my plan is to video the repair process.
Now I could probably still drive the Tacoma in it’s current state and be ok for a little while, just requiring a few extra turns of the key to get it started. There are some risks though. I may just not be able to get it started at all or worse, the starter gets stuck in the on position. If that happens the starter can quickly overheat and even start a fire unless you can quickly pop the hood and pull the negative battery lead. The last thing I need right now is to send my Tacoma up in flames. I have already had one vehicle burn up in my lifetime, it isn’t a fun experience.
So for the past couple days I have been enlisting the 15 mpg party van as my daily driver. Since I won’t have time to address the starter before the weekend I will more than likely wind up taking the SSR up to Siesta Keys.
There are good and bad things about taking my baby to the vball tournament. Obviously any long road trip in the R is fun, especially if I drop the top. On the downside, long trips up 75 means the truck will get a bug facial. I also am not thrilled with parking the truck in the parking lot by the beach which will have every spot occupied by the time I leave, which raises the “asshole slamming a door into the truck” probability. Then there is throwing my sweaty, dirty, sandy body inside for the trip back although I do have waterproof seat covers to ease that pain.
The truck needs a bath anyway so I will probably just take it on the road trip.
Yesterday I discovered an awesome site, justbeamit.com. Everyone knows it can be a pain in the ass sometimes to send files to other people, especially larger ones that don’t play nicely with email. Well this site makes it incredibly easy. It requires no account at all, no money and no hassle. You simply select the file you want to send to the other person, copy the URL that is provided to you to the other person, and you are done. Try it out, it’s very handy.
Yesterday I was reading about a planned mission to Mars by an organization called Mars One. In a nutshell, their goal is to have human beings living on the surface of Mars by 2023. Reading through the site was fascinating to me. They seem to have a very clear plan laid out of how they are going to get there.
One of the big things that this plan has that most other proposed Mars missions do not is this would be a one way trip. The people that would embark on this journey would be committing to living the rest of their lives on Mars. This game plan makes the reality curve of this project much more doable.
Take some time and read about how it is all supposed to go down, it’s amazing stuff. I would seriously throw my name in there, I can’t imagine a better way to play out the twilight days of my life, realizing a dream I had since my earliest days.
Unfortunately since a 10 year training program is part of the deal that would put me squarely into my mid 50’s before I would even leave terra firma. Even so, when they start taking volunteers in 2013 (if the world doesn’t end first) my name is going on the list, seriously.
Just think of the perks. You only have to deal with a few people, there is always something to do and just imagine how many pull ups I could do in low Mars gravity.