Car Troubles!

[Edwin]

We have been blessed in that we usually get where we need to go once we get in one of our cars. Our kids had a luxery Chrysler Van, and they didn't think it would hold up on that bad roads, as well as they were thinking they should have 4 wheel drive because of the deep and drifting snow. They let me just take over their payments, and I paid the load off, and I got a car that is just as good as a Cadillac for as cheap as a junker car! We have been blessed to have the car run with very few things going wrong with it! In June 2011 I needed to see the doctor very badly, and this wonderful reliable car let us down. We drove about 8 miles from here, and the fuel pump failed leaving us stranded on the road. So instead of seeing the doctor I bought towing, and had the car hauled to town for a fuel pump replacement. If that happened now I would probably fix it myself, as I am starting to do some of my own mechanic work. My Dad was a motor mechanic, and worked at it for 10 years as well as farming and ranching. The people at the parts store are good to explain things to me, and I have enough mechanical ability, that with their help I can fix many car problems. I replaced calipers and rotors on the front brake assembly on two cars, but after the first I had the mechanic's garage do the job, because I was not sure what the problem was, and I didn't know the extent of the damage, but when the brakes wore thin again, I did the work myself, put better parts in it, and it will last longer, and then if it happens again it will be relatively easy to repair, and a lot cheaper because I may only need to replace the brake pads. My pickup has been stressing me out for about the last year or so. My brakes on that vehicle have been less and less effective until they would not work at all. A couple of weeks ago the State Police stopped me because my brake lights were not working. It is a very old vehicle, and I could just imagine the nightmare I might have fixing the brake lights, but it turned out only to be a fuse problem, and I used some tin foil to fix it, which my school teachers told me never to do, so I probably should replace that with new fuses! As the brakes were failing I was puzzled, and after they failed completely I tried adjusting them, but that didn't help. I saw signs of brake fluid leaking on the firewall, so I asked the parts people if they thought my master cylindar was failing, and one of them told me it was, so I replaced it, and now I have brakes. On our Chrylser Van we are almost needing new tires, and the tire place told me that I shoujld replace the struts before getting new tires as they are showing signs of leaking. The tire place told me that I needed the front brakes redone, and for them to do it was going to cost me close to $500.00, and I got the parts and did it myself for less than $200.00. The struts are about as expensive, and so I am looking forward to saving some money doing that myself as well. I had the front end blocked up, and the wheels all torn apart, and my son-in-law said that he would not even attempt to do that job himself, but he has a retirement and a job, so he has more money than time, and I only have retirement plus a little rent income, so I have more time than money, so I decided that I have a second vehicle for an emergency run if needed, and so it didn't matter how long it would take me to do that job, I would come out ahead. I guess when I had the car torn apart it looked complicated, because our daughter sent me a message on Facebook, and told me she was praying for me, so that made me feel really good!