When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Happy Sunday Nor Cal.
Most of the driving I do with my vehicles these days is just to keep the batteries charged and the fluids moving throughout the engines. I use the scooter for most everything. If I can get the Dodge to pass its smog check in July, I will most likely put the Ranger up for sale. I don't need the added expense of keeping both vehicles, and the Dodge is in better shape, and gets better gas mileage. However, it smokes too much, and I know I may have to look for a good used engine to replace it. It may not be economical to do that though.
Jim, I know that the Dodge is sentimental. But have you considered selling the Dodge and the Ranger? Then you can use that money to pay off some debt, and buy a better car. If you can get $5K for each, then you would have $10K. Pay down your high interest debt. Then maybe buy a car worth $10K or $15K. You can make car payments at a lower interest rate, with the money you are not paying the credit card company. As credit card interest is usually the highest, and you could probably get a car loan for a lot less.
I checked my maintenance records after I got the pickup truck back. The last time I changed the oil, was back in September of 2020. But I've only logged about 2,000 miles. One of my buddies told me to take a sample and send it in for analysis, to see if I needed to change the oil. I laughed. It would be cheaper to just change the oil. My cousin asked, "did you check the dipstick?" What for? I can't tell by looking at the dipstick if the oil has degraded. There's no puddle of oil under the truck. At each oil change, I always get back about 6 quarts, give or take a few ounces in the filter, and some oil that is spilled from making a mess. For 15 years, the truck has always been within the hashmark range on the dipstick. So I know I'm not burning off or leaking a quart or 2 every oil change. And even if I check the dipstick, all oil looks black compared to honey color, new oil
I crawled under the pickup truck to change the oil. I installed one of those oil change valves to make my life easier. It was a piece of cake to simply turn it on like a faucet. No more drain plug too tight, wrench slipping off, knuckle busting. With a piece of vinyl hose attached, the oil ran right into a gallon milk jug. No mess from removing the drain plug and oil bursting out all over the place. I hate that. In the shops, they have a huge catch which they can adjust right up to the drain plug. As a homeowner, with the car jacked up and the oil pan on the floor, the pan is typically 18" under the drain plug. Because of space, the oil catch pan is maybe 18" diameter, round, and only about 6" deep. When I first remove the drain plug, the initial burst sends oil gushing out. Usually, spurting right past the drain pan's diameter. Then there's the added mess of trying to pour all of that old oil back into those little quart bottles. I prepare for this. Cardboard boxes lining the floor. Cat litter. Rags. Simple Green. All resulting in another 30 or 45 minutes of cleanup after the 15 minute oil change.
The drawback is that it is a very slow flow. Extremely slow. In the time that it took to fill the 1st gallon, I changed the filter and the battery. With extra time left to sit around playing on my phone. As if that weren't bad enough, there was another half gallon to drain. I had to turn off the valve, switch gallon jugs, and wait even longer. A 15 minute oil change took maybe 45 minutes to 1 hour.
The filter was a piece of cake. After decades of buying and trying different filter wrenches and tools, I finally found a tool which bit down on the filter, held on tight without slipping off, and provided enough leverage to remove every oil filter I have worked on. It's made by ChannelLock. It's actually sold as an oil filter wrench. It looks just like a lot of other filter wrenches. But it doesn't slip. It just grabs better. Maybe it's the tongue and groove design, or the specific angle of the jaws in relevance to the grip handle. I don't know. But I've owned a few cheaper ones that look just like it, and they all slipped. I tried those little cups that match the filter flutes, that you turn with a wrench. My brother in law swears by an old Sears CraftsMan device that attaches to a wrench or socket, with 3 fingers that reach up to grab the oil filter and tension down as you turn counter clockwise. But I guess these are the little lessons learned over a lifetime of failure.
I had motor oil in a box. It's packaged like box wine. Cardboard box with a plastic bladder. 6 quarts. Exactly what my engine needs. Now that was smooth and easy. 1 box with a wide spout. I didn't have to open and pour 6 different quart bottles. The real problem is when a car does not use 6 quarts of oil. The van takes 5.7 quarts. How do they engineer that? I've got to measure out 0.7 quarts of oil. 5 quarts is too low. It didn't reach the hash marks on the dipstick. 6 quarts is too much. I had to drain some back out. I've already made both mistakes. Then I'm left with 0.3 quarts of oil. Do I save that over the course of 3 oil changes? With annual oil changes, I'll be holding onto that for 4 years.
It is not worth it to me to change oil here at the apartment. One, I can't crawl under vehicles anymore, and two, like all apartment complexes it seems, this one does not allow working on your vehicle. I can get away with some maintenance on the top side of the engine, but changing oil is a no-no.
I wish I could get 5k for each vehicle. I would be lucky to get $1,500 for the ranger, and $2,000 for the Dodge. However, the Dodge has out of state plates, and will not pass smog. nobody will want that unless they need a parts car. And with no working AC or heater, I doubt the ranger will sell anytime soon. Both vehicles have July as their registration month, however, I smogged the Ranger last year, so it should be good for another year. The Dodge is not registered to me yet as I saw no reason to waste over a year of registration. I wish California would give people a chance to register their cars for 1,2, or 4 years like Oregon. Anyway, I have checked the DMV site, but it is geared for California cars (duh) so I will just have to go down in person. Lucky for me disabled people can go to the head of the line.
I would love to be able to sell the Ranger and keep the Stratus. Everything works in the Stratus, AC, heater, power windows, locks, and cruise control. The only thing working in the Ranger is the stereo that cost me $430 to buy/install. I paid $358 for a stereo and four speakers for the Stratus, but am hesitant to pay to have it installed and then be forced to sell it due to non smog compliant.
Took the Ranger to a local body shop, the same one who I paid to install the Wink mirror. I wanted to get an estimate on fixing the dents and painting it. Nothing fancy, just the same paint job it came with, and the dents taken care of. They quoted me $85 an hour for the dents, but then said the paint job would be $5,000. I told them thank you and have a nice day. I know prices have gone up, but I was totally unprepared for that. I mean if everything worked, I might get $2,500 for it. No way can I afford a $5,000 paint job, and then it only look stock. They suggested I go to Maaco. So maybe sometime soon, I'll make the trek over there. However, they are the ones who wanted Over $900 to repaint and color match the hood on my Toyota Sienna when I had it. So it looks like I will be driving a beater for a while.
Level of meat doneness is beyond a personal choice. I like rare meat. I like raw meat. It's cultural. Across the board, some cultures cook everything thoroughly. Some cultures don't even eat raw vegetables.
Very difficult to balance 1 person's culture, with other people's preference.
Roast beef for dinner. I tried to cook it to pink. But it came out overcooked for some, and undercooked for 1 person. At least the raw veggies worked for all. Avocado, tomato, onion, coriander.
Finished off the last of the avocados we got the other day (4 for $5, which ain't bad). Had them on bagels for a couple of days, and the last two went for avocado toast, which is a nice treat.
If we had the right climate around here , I would suggest investing in an avocado tree. I heard that The Central Valley is warm enough for tropical trees. But only for homeowners. You can get a tree, it will survive the winter, but production will be hampered. Not warm enough, not wet enough, to sustain commercial production. Makes sense, since commercial avocado orchards are all down South.
Jujube seems to do well around here. Although nobody knows what it is. Someone gave me a little cutting in a small pot over the holidays. I already have ripening fruit. But it's nothing like the candy at the movie theater.
At Sprouts, avocado and mango are 75¢. I will pick up a dozen. 2 things I like, and can't grow. I just looked out back, and there's about 2 dozen potato plants growing. So I may have 100 potato growing under the soil line. That's going to be a lot of fries on The 4th.
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalyptic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
