The other night I looked down at my Fiat’s heater controls and thought, “Hey! Aren’t the temperature dial and the fan speed knob supposed to be lighted?” Some quick Internet browsing told me that either 1. The backlighting is provided by 2 little bulbs, easy to replace; or 2. The backlighting is provided by two LEDs, part of a larger, and expensive, assembly.
Hmmm. With nothing to lose, I pried off the heater faceplate and took a look. Luck was on my side; I had the “two little lightbulbs” configuration. I replaced the left-hand one with a new one I actually had in stock, and voila, everything was peachy! A surprisingly easy and successful repair!
And then our ancient Kenmore clothes dryer started acting up. Another Internet journey told me it was probably the push-to-start switch. So I got access to the switch, disconnected it, and the symptoms went away. Back to the Internet. I found several suppliers of the switch, and picked the one with the fastest shipping. This morning the switch arrived. It took me about five minutes to install the new one (I broke the old one getting it out, but who cares?) and once again everything is peachy.
So right now I’m feeling pretty studly (Rocketeer glances around nervously, and knocks on wood).
A minor suggestion: while you and the dryer are on friendly terms, open up the back and clean out all the lint. Make sure you clear the vent and hose, too! Clothes will dry faster, and you can avoid a future call to the fire department.
~VOW
My gas furnace ( forced air ) was “short-cycling”. That is, during the operational automatic sequence, when the burners lit, they’d go out a second later. A second re-light attempt: They light, and may or may not stay lit. If it came to that, a third and final re-light attempt; If they stayed lit, good. If not, the system locks itself out for 90 minutes, whereby it’ll give it another 3 shots.
The failures got to the point where it failed more often than worked. Attempted the first “easy” thing before throwing parts at it or calling the HVAC guy. Removed flame sensor: It’s at the first burner “bell”. Corroded at the flame impingement area. Wrapped the end in Scotch-Bright, and as it was “L” shaped, twirled it around and around inside the abrasive. End was now clean and shiny. Re-installed.
Furnace works like a champ now. Happy to have reliable heat, happier yet with myself.
The other day, on my way to work, my car (1999 Chrysler 300M with 219,000 miles) died while driving down the road. It had done this before, but it restarted and drove just fine. So, this time, I shifted into neutral and was going to try to start it without stopping. Well, when I shifted into neutral, the engine caught and I made it in without further problems.
On the way home, it did it again, at nearly the same place. This time, I wasn’t so lucky. I got it started, but it would only run at half throttle or better. I got home, but it wasn’t fun as the car would lurch and shake disturbingly. The Check Engine Light came on (I never would have thought to do that…). I got the dash to display the trouble codes, vague reference to a MAP sensor having both too high voltage and too low voltage, and a temp sensor issue.
So, I quizzed Google and found that the MAP sensor was mounted to the throttle body and apparently needed to be cleaned from time to time. So, the next morning, I checked around the throttle body, located right up against the firewall, and felt something there. Well, I couldn’t have gotten a wrench on the nut if I had to. #@%*! So, looking at the engine, I saw a sensor mounted on the intake plenum, not quite as far away from the throttle body as it could get. I touched the wires going to it, and they were loose! I plugged them back in and started the engine. It ran and idled just fine! The Check Engine Light was still on!, but I think it takes driving a bit without a problem for it to go out. I was not only extremely happy, but also in awe of my amazing automotive repair abilities.
It has been running fine ever since, and the Check Engine Light went off the next day.
I successfully replaced the “shifter blind” on my Volvo C30 a few months back. I’m going to count this as a “simple repair,” because it’s just one non-essential part.
I mean, I did wind up having to remove the entire center console, as well as partially remove the cupholder/storage bin/transmission tunnel console to do it. There were enough YouTube videos and online tutorials that I was pretty certain I could do it, but it got iffy in a couple of spots. Not even any parts left over!
Of course, I didn’t tell my wife about the attempted repairs until they were successfully completed and I could show her the photos. She asked me to never tell her about such things again.
A few years back we had a Samsung LED TV that started to have problems with random pixels turning off. Some Googling found a thread where someone claimed the fix was as simple as snipping a jumper on one of the boards in the back. On the one had, it didn’t seem like it could be that easy, on the other, the TV was old enough that having it repaired wouldn’t make much financial sense, so I tried it. Worked like a charm. I spent more time muscling it back up onto the wall by myself than I did on the actual repair. Again, sent my wife a pick after it was done. And when she was a couple of continents away.
When our Miata started showing the Airbag light, I installed a junkyard airbag computer (new parts not being available). I think the airbag computer was the very first part on the assembly line, and the rest of the car was built around it. I had to remove the console and the dash, every bit of it, and there was the computer, tucked above the heater core.
The junkyard part didn’t fix it, so I did the whole thing again with another junkyard part. Which didn’t fix it either.
So what are ya gonna do? That one failed part was like setting a bomb off under the resale value; I couldn’t imagine any sane person buying a car with an illuminated airbag light. We ended up donating it to a local theater, so we ended up on their “Super Donors” list that year.
I briefly considered disabling the airbag light, but that was too dishonest even for me. ;). Plus leaving me open to a lawsuit, if someone got into a crash and the airbags didn’t work.
I currently use a Maytag Performa washer & dryer that were made in the 1990s. U.S.-built. Very rugged and reliable. Over the last 20 years the only repair I’ve made to the washer is replacing the water inlet filter screens. For the dryer I’ve replaced the impeller and a couple thermal fuses. That’s it. I’m going to keep these going as long as I can.
