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Post by hooky on Jul 30, 2012 21:53:44 GMT -6
Hi gang,
Within a few weeks, it's been quite a turn of events. We started out two weeks ago with my wife saying that it might be the time to replace my girl ('92, 3.5). She's got 171k on the clock at this point, and a few hinkey things that I've been putting off (motor mounts, ISS, fuel gauge). She still looks great, and runs great, but with the year end stuff floating around, I did think about it.
In the back of our minds, we had a trip to florida on the books for this summer, and didn't really want to take our jeep down, as it might be a bit thirsty over the 3,400 miles (plus the miles around town when we got there).
Well, after a bit of thinking, looking, and evaluation, I've come to the conclusion that the only horse for the job is the one that's already in the stable (and takes me to work every day, 100 miles round trip). We're heading to Panama City Beach on Wednesday, and the Aurora is going to be the vehicle of choice for myself, my wife, and my two teenage sons.
Part of the reason is that I figure that she's going to be much easier on gas than the Jeep (I'm figuring around $350 total for the whole trip), and that the Aurora is just plain comfortable as heck for that kind of driving.
In preparation for the trip, I'm flushing the coolant, replacing the upper and lower hoses, and the thermostat. Even at 171K, I have no doubt that she's going to perform, and perform well. I'll check in when I can and let you folks know how it goes (will post some pix too if I can) ;D
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justmax
Aurora Groupie
Aliment? par une ?toile du Nord.
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Post by justmax on Jul 31, 2012 19:18:26 GMT -6
...the time to replace my girl ('92, 3.5)... You mean '02, right? With 171k miles, I'm not sure, but I think that you have the highest milleage for a 3.5 on the board (or near of it).. I wish you a wonderful trip with your family, try to keep us updated  ! |
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Post by wireless on Jul 31, 2012 19:24:16 GMT -6
Might want to consider doing an oil change if you have high miles on yours - doubt it'd be an issue, but you never know!
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Post by hooky on Jul 31, 2012 21:58:52 GMT -6
Well, it's over before it started... Took the car in for the afore mentioned coolant/hose/tstat change and got a little more than I bargained for. When I went to pick the car up, I noticed a pool of liquid beneath the front end. Yeah, that's never a good sign is it? Well, I asked for the keys and for the guy at the counter to come out for a looksee. Turns out, it wasn't leaking from any of the new hoses or the radiator drain....it appeared to be leaking from the frame above the passenger side wheel well.  It didn't take much sleuthing to figure out what happened. There's a bypass off the tstat housing which feeds the heater core. This line is a combination of heater hose and metal line. The metal line is used where the bypass runs along the frame (appropriately to reduce wear). Well, after 10 years or so, the line and the frame apparently became one in the same thanks to a bit of corrosion, and when they loosened the bypass line to access the housing, they inadvertently broke the rust which had bonded these two things together (and apparently was holding the coolant in). It seemed innocent enough at first glance, but I'm an Aurora vet at this point, and I pretty much knew this wasn't going to be an easy part to get. I was right, it's a dealer-only thing, and the damned thing costs $220. On top of that, it's not going to be here until Thursday....that would be the day after I'm supposed to leave. The shop agreed to go halves on the price of the thing which was kinda cool. Although they probably didn't have to displace it, it happened, and I understand how things like this can occur under the hood. I guess I should be thankful that this component decided to fail in the parking lot of the shop rather than somewhere in the Smoky mountains. Both the upper and lower hoses were starting to get a bit spongy at the bends, and needed to be replaced, so there's no guarantee that they wouldn't have failed (especially the upper) at some point and I would have been facing this scenario on the road somewhere. As it stans, she's at the shop and will be fixed at some point during my vacation, and my in-laws have graciously offered to vehicle swap their Freestar SEL for our Jeep. It certainly won't be as much fun to roll in that, but I can't say that I'm not thankful...we used to have a Windstar, and those things are like land yachts on long drives. I am going to miss the photo session at the Gulf of Mexico though.... One final thought...unfortunately, the drums of vehicle change have gotten a bit louder in the house tonight. Maybe my wife may feel a bit different when she realizes that this one repair, even with the unexpected addition of the bypass line (and the oil change...yeah, I thought about that too, and had it done even though I had it changed about 1,500 miles ago)....the total is still just a smidge above what one payment would be on a new car. I don't know....I just don't know.  |
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Post by kbpickle on Aug 1, 2012 16:51:18 GMT -6
How would this play out with your wife? "This is exactly why it's always good to have a spare Aurora around, Honey." .......  ken |
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tigger
Administrator 
Posts: 2,844 
Staff Member
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Post by tigger on Aug 1, 2012 21:54:20 GMT -6
....the total is still just a smidge above what one payment would be on a new car. Exactly. Enjoy your vacation, safe motoring. Honk the horn when you come through SCarolina. |
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Post by roara on Aug 2, 2012 20:24:54 GMT -6
Have a safe trip, even though you're in a minivan...been there, done that!
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Post by hooky on Aug 11, 2012 21:54:00 GMT -6
All's well that ends well, and it ended well today. Although we had more than a fair bit of rain up in the panhandle this past week (they started out with drought conditions down there when we got there...it's no longer the case in Bay county...'nuff said).
On the last leg of the drive today, we passed through where my car was (luckily they have saturday hours), and I picked it up. After 10 days with the van, I have to say that sitting in her was a wonderful change. That's not to say that the van wasn't/isn't a great choice for a haul like that, but getting the 'rora out on the highway for the last hour home was a treat. The difference in feel and cabin noise is remarkable. In fairness, my motor mounts need replacing, so there's a little bit of shimmy every now and then, but it was great to stretch out in that front seat, listen to that great stereo, and hear next to nothing on the highway. I think that's the one thing that continues to amaze me about this car....even at 170+k, she's incredibly quiet.
When I parked it in my garage tonight, I patted the hood and quietly wished it was her that made the trip. In the end, we made it to & from without incident, and had to travel through some pretty heavy weather. All that really matters is that we made it, and had a great time.
Looking forward to the commute on Monday. ;D
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