A POOPER UPDATE -- RETURNED FROM THE SHOP
Hi-:Ho!! The Trooper rides again, Hi-Ho!!
The Damage: $2,450, after asking to replace the EGR valve when they had the intake manifold off the car.
The Credit: $1,498 Cash-Backin' Rewards -- leaving less than $1,000 to pay outright on the card.
The Work: Replacements: Fuel-Pressure-Regulator; Throttle Position Sensor; ECT/Temperature sensor; Fuel-injector O-rings; wiring plugs for the MAP sensor and another item; heater-hoses. I replaced the MAP sensor myself at a cost of $70.
Inspection: to find a mysterious tiny oil leak from the crankcase. Used dye in the existing oil to find the leak with "special glasses". None Found!
Results: No more hard starting when engine hot or warm. No more "valve-lifter" noise. No occasional "stumbling" which most people wouldn't have sensed with the car anyway. Engine runs quiet as a -- what? -- church mouse? A kitty?
We filled the tank with gas to measure the city-driving gas mileage over the next week. I'll report back about that later. Prospects are very good!
I had bought the car when it was seven years old. I wouldn't know what it felt like to drive brand-new. But I am highly confident: It runs better now than it did 30 years ago as "brand new".
OK. The Trooper's MSRP in 1995 was $29,250. 22 years after my $8,500 purchase and 30 years after it left the factory, I have just now reached the MSRP nominal dollar expense. SOMEBODY ELSE paid the full purchase price the first time, and if they had kept the vehicle, would've added another $12,000 to $15,000 in repair and upkeep in order to get to 2024.
Is this better or worse than other strategies of car acquisition and ownership? Well, if I'd been trading in a $30,000 vehicle every six years for $10,000 trade-in value, 18 years of ownership would've cost me an extra $60,000. Others can be the judge.
Others wouldn't want to invest the time and inconvenience as have I. They wouldn't have spent $90 on the original factory shop manual. They would not have needed to wait patiently every time the vehicle was taken for repair. They wouldn't have suffered mistakes -- like failing to pay attention to the transmission warning light (in 2004), or the trial and error of finding a new repair shop (and needing to replace bad MOOG ball joints installed by an unscrupulous shop).
Others wouldn't have endured the highway "body language" of zippy little sedans whose maneuvers suggested to me "Get that old Trooper off the road!" [Nor would they have received the flattering attentions of Wranglers and Rubicons.]
In any event, it's going in for tire inflation, tire rotation, AC service and other minor needs and interests around September. Then, after the shop puts it through a brief shakedown cruise, it's going to Reno, Grass Valley and then back home --- probably 1,000 miles. Maybe in another 5,000 to 10,000 miles -- timing belt replacement. I think I could easily wait another 17,000 miles for that, given what I've seen in the way of aging timing belt anecdotes. But I won't press my luck. Reassured: the V-6 engine is a "non-interference" model, so if the timing belt breaks, there's not likely to be any damage.
Hi-:Ho!! The Trooper rides again, Hi-Ho!!
The Damage: $2,450, after asking to replace the EGR valve when they had the intake manifold off the car.
The Credit: $1,498 Cash-Backin' Rewards -- leaving less than $1,000 to pay outright on the card.
The Work: Replacements: Fuel-Pressure-Regulator; Throttle Position Sensor; ECT/Temperature sensor; Fuel-injector O-rings; wiring plugs for the MAP sensor and another item; heater-hoses. I replaced the MAP sensor myself at a cost of $70.
Inspection: to find a mysterious tiny oil leak from the crankcase. Used dye in the existing oil to find the leak with "special glasses". None Found!
Results: No more hard starting when engine hot or warm. No more "valve-lifter" noise. No occasional "stumbling" which most people wouldn't have sensed with the car anyway. Engine runs quiet as a -- what? -- church mouse? A kitty?
We filled the tank with gas to measure the city-driving gas mileage over the next week. I'll report back about that later. Prospects are very good!
I had bought the car when it was seven years old. I wouldn't know what it felt like to drive brand-new. But I am highly confident: It runs better now than it did 30 years ago as "brand new".
OK. The Trooper's MSRP in 1995 was $29,250. 22 years after my $8,500 purchase and 30 years after it left the factory, I have just now reached the MSRP nominal dollar expense. SOMEBODY ELSE paid the full purchase price the first time, and if they had kept the vehicle, would've added another $12,000 to $15,000 in repair and upkeep in order to get to 2024.
Is this better or worse than other strategies of car acquisition and ownership? Well, if I'd been trading in a $30,000 vehicle every six years for $10,000 trade-in value, 18 years of ownership would've cost me an extra $60,000. Others can be the judge.
Others wouldn't want to invest the time and inconvenience as have I. They wouldn't have spent $90 on the original factory shop manual. They would not have needed to wait patiently every time the vehicle was taken for repair. They wouldn't have suffered mistakes -- like failing to pay attention to the transmission warning light (in 2004), or the trial and error of finding a new repair shop (and needing to replace bad MOOG ball joints installed by an unscrupulous shop).
Others wouldn't have endured the highway "body language" of zippy little sedans whose maneuvers suggested to me "Get that old Trooper off the road!" [Nor would they have received the flattering attentions of Wranglers and Rubicons.]
In any event, it's going in for tire inflation, tire rotation, AC service and other minor needs and interests around September. Then, after the shop puts it through a brief shakedown cruise, it's going to Reno, Grass Valley and then back home --- probably 1,000 miles. Maybe in another 5,000 to 10,000 miles -- timing belt replacement. I think I could easily wait another 17,000 miles for that, given what I've seen in the way of aging timing belt anecdotes. But I won't press my luck. Reassured: the V-6 engine is a "non-interference" model, so if the timing belt breaks, there's not likely to be any damage.