Poured through the not very well written manual for the newly installed Pioneer digital media player so I could set the display color to amber (the RGB values for amber in the receiver are R60 G13 B0 for anyone else getting one) and also adjusted the equalizer to get better sound out of it. It has been raining for days and my newly installed serpentine belt is suddenly squealing before it warms up. Coincidence?
Left Fontana this morning for a drive to Asheville. Had brunch... now need to get back to Fontana for nap.
Took the Countryman down for a super sweet oil change deal at the dealer, did a little commentary on some new dash rattles and wind noise on the sun-roof. They took me very serious, kept the CM and are pulling the dash in total and pulling the sun-roof due to some service bulletins waiting for you to complain. Also looks like they will do a software update to the ecu due to a warble and cold starting intermittent issue, nothing obnoxious just a tweek from a picky customer. I did get a really super nice 2014 MCSa Roadster with 20 miles on it, guess I will break it in right. If I have it over the weekend it is Peak to Peak time. I really like these folks, they are going all out for us again. Only time and an under $50 full MINI oil change. Must go play in the Roadster, I posted a nice picture or two on FB. Don
Loading the Mini now preparing for a noon departure. I'll be staying with a friend in Hendersonville tonight, so I won't make it to the Dragon until tomorrow AM.
Heavy rain here today, so I drove Black Top through more water than made me comfortable. That bridge is 4.5' above a normally dry ravine. I also determined for sure that my rear wiper doesn't work. Oh! And I bought some Sound Ordanance 6x9s to replace the stock rear speakers this weekend. The 11 year old OEM speakers are just missing something in the midrange. Or maybe it is that my ears just haven't adjusted to the sound field presented by the MINI interior. I'll be affecting that this weekend when I pull the rear side interior panels and add sound damping along with the speaker installation.
Picked up my MINI from MINI Service this morning. They covered the labor on my new clutch under warranty. After a disastrous new clutch put in last year, I had them convert it to a Valeo single mass flywheel clutch. The conversion kit cost less than a new dual mass flywheel. I'll review my impressions after I wear it in on another thread. It's very quiet and works great so far. Also replaced all the gaskets and seals so the job did cost me some money. I gotta say...I really missed driving my R53 MCS. In the time my car was in the shop, I had a Paceman for a weekend and a Clubman after that. The Paceman was too big. My wife (who is kind of short) could not reach the handles to pull the hatch door down. The Clubman (with auto transmission), though I liked very much, was not anywhere near as enjoyable to drive. I would say I enjoyed driving the F56 Cooper in sport mode much more.
Close to 100,000 miles and I didn't think about checking the wheel bearings. :mad2: After draining my wallet, she's ready to head for the Dragon!! OMG, OMG, OMG!
So I get to my destination, only to find that I've gotta repair a leaking wheel cylinder... Thank God for the local British car folks in SLO.... Awesome, thanks Justin!!
Washed, clay bared & waxed it. Detailed the engine compartment and cleaned the glass inside and out. I'll do it again in the fall. Dave
Just got back from MOTD about half an hour ago...left at 5:30 AM...great trip, no issues...very windy from Lexington on up with rain in the forecast tomorrow. Got an ecu tune by Jan and a K brace for under the front, too. My R53 runs so smooth now!
I took my car in for Aircare (smog check in British Columbia) this morning. Inspector told me my Scangauge II should be illegal because it draws power from the OBD II socket and causes the ECU to malfunction. I say BS on that (but not to him) and said okay and disconnected it (temporarily). I've had my Scanguage on my car for 5 years now. Never a wrong reading. My car passed so I can insure it now. I am so glad this is (supposed to be) the last year for these useless (government mandated) inspections. On another note, awhile ago, I had my Pontiac Fiero smog checked and they put the sensor on the front hood of my car and the inspector told me something was wrong with my car because they couldn't get an engine reading on their sensor. :frown2: I had to tell him the engine's in the back. With all due respect, some of these union guys really should be doing something else for a living.
Yesterday at the Paradise British - North Meets South car show...Great time for everyone in attendance!
Washed all the bugs off of RDNZL from yesterday's ride home.... There were more bugs from the ride home than the whole week at MOTD!
Several days worth of what I did here. I dug into the back hatch to diagnose what was wrong with my rear wiper, only to discover that the wiper motor had attempted to escape from its mount point and bits of the armature and shaft were where they shouldn't be. Anyone got a deal on the whole unit? So I was left with needing (at least temporarily) a rear wiper delete kit immediately. Here's what I worked with: And here it is dipped and about to be pushed into place. It's a custom piece and a perfect fit! Yesterday I headed to my girlfriend's place and while she was busy, I pulled the rear interior panels back enough to add sound damping insulation around the rear 6x9 speaker boxes and to install new Sound Ordinance speakers. While I didn't hear a big difference when I replaced the front speakers, I hear a huge difference now with the new rears! Or maybe it's that they're in damped boxes rather than bare metal.
Heh Heh Heh Two buck Chuck comes to the rescue..... Charles Shaw wine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia