20231030\Mon
With the driver's window stuck halway up, I needed some kind of heavy plastic to cover the gap. This morning I was at the gas store and there was a man in front of the store, unloading a pallet of firewood, drinks and other crud. I asked him if I could have a large piece of the wrap, and he gave me two! I told him I was in the Crown Vic with the window stuck and he said, "It's gonna be OK, boss! It'll get fixed!"
20231029\Sun
Well, it has been rainier than a corn toad, so this evening, when I climbed into the lovely Crown Vic to drive home from the store, I pressed the UP button to make sure the window was securely closed and discovered that it moved DOWN a bit. Huh? Thinking I had pressed the wrong end of the thing, I tried again, and it dropped even further. Pressing DOWN lowered it even more. More pressing caused a disconcerting sound in the door panel — the sound of a broken cable thwapping around and around. Crap on a stick will make ya sick! Now, the window is stuck a bit more than halfway up. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't raise the glass by pushing and pulling at it with both hands. To be clear: the switch works (and the motor tries to), but, well, the window doesn't move. Sigh. The Lovely Crown Vic is soon to be 17 years old, so these things aren't unexpected. Still though …
Check Engine Light Updoot (OBD II)
20231025\Wed
I picked up the OBD II Reader. I thumbed through the little manual and it seems simple enough . . .
20231023\Mon
I phoned the Ford store to ask Chris if I could swing by and have them pull the code causing the check engine light to shine solid yellow to the right of the instrument cluster. (Only a week ago some random Service Advisor had told me that, yes, I could swing by without an appointment and wait in the bucket until they could read the code. BUT they would ONLY read the code. No diagnostics, no promises, no repairs, no ham sandwiches, no discussions — JUST THE CODE. ANYTHING more than that, I'd need to leave it and they'd try to get to it in 2-3 days.) "Chris no longer works here," said the person who had answered the phone, who, based upon timbre and inflection, I assumed probably contained a uterus.
I felt a little sad that Chris was gone, but I asked the receptionist to hand me off to the next available Service Advisor.
"Hello. This is J." Based upon timbre and inflection, I assumed that J, instead of a uterus, probably contained within their larynx a wad of cartilage the size of a small plum.
"Hey, J," I said. "Could I come by this morning and have y'all read a code for me?"
"Waddaya mean 'read a code'?"
"Ummmm"
"Do you already have it?
"No. That's what I'm calling about."
"Look, I'd suggest you just visit an AutoZone 
or any of those places. They'll give you a scanner and you read the code. Because we have to do all kinds of diagnostics and downloads and … we're running three days out to get to yours — and that's if you have driveability issues.
"OK. So after I go get the code myself, I can schedule an appointment to have y'all do whatever is needed based upon the code and skip the $160 Diagnostic fee that y'all waive anyway as long as the work is done at your shop?"
"Look, I'm just telling you how it is."
"Thank you for your time!"
And so, against my leanings, I ordered an OBD II code scanner-reader-doohickey from Jeff's Webpage. It was $20. Jeff is going to deliver it the next day, too. He ain't even gonna charge me gas money because I'm on his prime to watch movies and stuff!
Check Engine Light Updoot (gas cap)
Miles since new gas cap:
- 67102 (11-18-23)
- 67085 (11-14-23)
- 67079 (11-11-23)
- 67064 (11-07-23)
- 67061 (11-05-23)
- 67044 (10-31-23)
- 67038 (10-29-23)
- 67035 (10-28-23)
- 67028 (10-26-23)
- 67024 (10-25-23)
- 67017 (10-24-23)
- 67015 (10-23-23)
- 67013 (10-22-23)
- 67010 (10-21-23)
- 67009 (10-21-23)
- 67005 (10-20-23)
- 67001 (10-19-23)
- 66997 (10-19-23)
20231018\Wed
Today after work, I stopped by the O'Reilly Auto Parts and bought a new gas cap for the lovely Crown Vic. It cost $19.47. The gas cap I had been using was very loose, rattly even, and I'm hoping that that was the cause of the Check Engine Light. I will say that the new one is very tight and even has some kind of spring in it that I could feel compressing when I seated it. Maybe the light will go dark? 🤞🏼
20231030\Mon
The CEL is still lit, and I haven't gotten the code yet.
20231017\Tue
About twenty-five miles ago the dash in The Lovely Crown Victoria popped a (solid!) yellow check engine light right in my stupid face!
Hmmmmmm …
I had noticed that the gas cap always seems loose. That had surprised me because I replaced it less than 2,000 miles ago when it failed the attentive inspections of The State. Yet when The State flagged the "bad" gascap there was no light lit …
Still, though …
Get a new gas cap✔Get an OBD II Reader- Check/change O2 Sensor
- Change the spark plugs
- Check/change the coils
- Get it checked by Ford 😟
Other than the (solid!) yellow check engine light, the car starts and runs like new. 🤷🏼♂️
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