Saturday – Livingston run day

This morning Leviticus was saying hello to his friends.

I call to see if both my car parts are in. I was very disappointed to hear that only one came in.  They said they would order it again. I started getting ready to go to the indoor garage sale. Before I was ready to leave they called back to let me know they found the other part. Off to the trash dump, indoor garage sale and then Livingston.

Was hoping for snow gear at the garage sale. More books, movies, dishes, clothes and kids stuff. I did score two boxes of Girl Scout cookies. I also got a super soft Winnie the Pooh towel for the cats to sit on. Off to Livingston.

Hit Taco Bell on the way into town. Found a UPS store so I was able to send my Amazon return. Have to get a few more tools so Ace hear I come. Side note even the dogs drive trucks in Montana.

On to O’Reilly Auto Parts. I get my parts. While in the parking lot I check all the fuses and do some more research on the central locking system. Can’t figure out why it doesn’t work so I move on. I go over to Napa to see if they have anything that I can drive the car up on so I can work underneath. After a search by me and the salesperson we find some. Homeward bound to do some car work.

Good view of the mountains on the way back.

The elk are out in force at the house.

So before I use the ramp, which I am not so sure about on uneven ground I try to get under the car to find the O2 sensor. I am able to squeeze under the car without the ramps. Good thing I am not claustrophobic. It is tight under the car. I get the tools and start working on getting the O2 sensor out. It will not budge. I try to use my left hand, I try by right hand and I get a hammer to tap the wrench. Nothing works. Finally I get the tire iron and use the nut open to hook the wrench and I use all my worth to get it to turn loose. It takes forever with little turns to get it out. Once out I come to the great conclusion that I took out the wrong one. Very disappointed that I missed this. While I have it out I clean it some and put it back in. I do some more research and find that it is one under the hood. Turns out the car has four in all. I go from being under the car to being under the hood. This one is hard to get out as well, but not as bad as the one under the car. I get the new one in. I start the car to test it out. Not sure that I can really tell any difference. On to the second part. After much more research I find that I am in over my head for the second part. It would require taking half of the engine out.  I think I need more than a video to do something that complex, so I call it quits for the day.

While eating dinner and listening to a book on tape a storm rolls in. If it had been Georgia I would have been bracing for a tornado, but they don’t really get those here. It was so bad that it knocked down about 8 power lines outside of town. That killed power for all of Gardiner and all of Yellowstone Park for a little over three hours. During this time I was full off-grid. I didn’t even have running water because the well needs power to pump. For awhile I watched a buck elk play with a branch by picking it up and throwing it with his antlers. Got a little chilly in the house. It was about 10:30 when the power came back on. Added bonus for me was that I had clothes in the washer when the power went off so I had to finish doing laundry before I could go to bed. By the time I was laying down the storm had moved from a rainstorm to a snowstorm.

Time to work on the car

The new ignition coils arrived via Amazon. So now to get someone to do the work. I called the shop in Livingston that did the oil change. They said they couldn’t do it due to insurance limits.  I called Jiffy Lube in Bozeman and they said the might be able to do it during the week. They suggested I call back on Monday. I called Firestone and they said that the European car guy only worked M-F. Please take note here that they said the guy as in only one person at the shop. At this point I am very frustrated. It would be a huge pain and cost a lot to do the work during the week.

I start looking at online forums and videos about how to change the ignition coils and spark plugs for my car. I think I can do this, but I will need some tools, so off to Livingston I go. After a stop at the Ace Hardware,O’Reilly Auto Parts and Carquest Auto parts I now have a basic metric socket set, socket extender, spark plug socket and silicone gel. Back home we go after a quick stop at Taco Bell.

Now for the work. This is the before picture.

I have to disconnect the ignition coil cables and remove the bolts (two per ignition coil).

Then I have to take the ignition coils out. Once that is done then I have to take the spark plugs out.

Then I have to put the new spark plugs in.

Then I have to put in the new ignition coils.

Then I have to connect the cables and lock them in.

Lastly I have to put the cover back on and say a prayer.

Thank the Lord the car starts. I take a celebratory drive to Subway for a dinner treat. The car is still not running correctly, but that horrible knocking and thinking it was about to turn off is gone. It is slow changing gears and slow accelerating in low gears. Will need to research this issue, but this is a victory. I can now do some basic car work. Being here really makes you be more reliant on yourself for things.