08-29-2022, 09:33 AM
Okay. My check engine light went on. The mechanics decided this valve needed to be replaced. Carbon from the ignition gets underneath this flap in the valve and holds it open causing the check engine light to come on. It wasn't a big deal. They said I could drive with the valve in this condition without a problem. Since it was an expensive repair I opted to let it go. This year I had to do a smog check to renew my license and you can't pass a smog check if your check engine light is on. It was time to change the valve.
I did and on the way out the door from the mechanics on my way to get my car smog checked, the man at the counter said I needed for my monitors to reset before I could do the smog check. If your monitors don't reset, you will immediately fail your smog check as well. What now? What dark magic is this. Turns out, you might already know this, there are monitors in the car to check to see if you've repaired something, especially in the exhaust system. The powers that be in the government don't want you getting repairs done on the car that are only temporary fixes. They want the car driven for awhile to make sure the repair has held. It used to be you could unplug the battery to turn off the sensors in the car and they would reset. The monitors make sure you aren't playing games with sensors.
The counter man checked my monitors and they had not reset. He told me I needed to go for a big long drive to reset the monitors which would mean the sensors were checking the engine. I figured a couple drives up and back from Raymond to Oakhurst should do it. For the last two weeks I've been popping into the mechanics to see if the monitors had reset. They come out with a little device they plug in under the dash to check. After at least two hundred miles of driving the car still had not reset. My deadline for getting the car smog-checked was long over due as was getting the car registered.
I finally realized the the monitors had reset when my check engine light had come back on. The valve replacement had not fixed the check engine light problem. Back to where we started. Now the mechanics were saying I should not have driven the car as long as I did with the Check Engine light on. That was the note I received on Friday. They wanted me to drop the car off then, but I didn't have a way to get back to Raymond from Oakhurst without the Queen having to make a long trip. I opted to drop it off on Monday. This Auto Repair place like most of the Auto Repair place in Oakhurst are very busy due to the fact that three places closed because of the pandemic. When I thought about just getting an appointment they said the earliest available time was Sept 7th.
The car is now with the Mechanic and I wait for them to call me and tell what is what. Hopefully they will have an opening sooner rather than later.
I did and on the way out the door from the mechanics on my way to get my car smog checked, the man at the counter said I needed for my monitors to reset before I could do the smog check. If your monitors don't reset, you will immediately fail your smog check as well. What now? What dark magic is this. Turns out, you might already know this, there are monitors in the car to check to see if you've repaired something, especially in the exhaust system. The powers that be in the government don't want you getting repairs done on the car that are only temporary fixes. They want the car driven for awhile to make sure the repair has held. It used to be you could unplug the battery to turn off the sensors in the car and they would reset. The monitors make sure you aren't playing games with sensors.
The counter man checked my monitors and they had not reset. He told me I needed to go for a big long drive to reset the monitors which would mean the sensors were checking the engine. I figured a couple drives up and back from Raymond to Oakhurst should do it. For the last two weeks I've been popping into the mechanics to see if the monitors had reset. They come out with a little device they plug in under the dash to check. After at least two hundred miles of driving the car still had not reset. My deadline for getting the car smog-checked was long over due as was getting the car registered.
I finally realized the the monitors had reset when my check engine light had come back on. The valve replacement had not fixed the check engine light problem. Back to where we started. Now the mechanics were saying I should not have driven the car as long as I did with the Check Engine light on. That was the note I received on Friday. They wanted me to drop the car off then, but I didn't have a way to get back to Raymond from Oakhurst without the Queen having to make a long trip. I opted to drop it off on Monday. This Auto Repair place like most of the Auto Repair place in Oakhurst are very busy due to the fact that three places closed because of the pandemic. When I thought about just getting an appointment they said the earliest available time was Sept 7th.
The car is now with the Mechanic and I wait for them to call me and tell what is what. Hopefully they will have an opening sooner rather than later.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm