Sunday, January 21, 2007

Front Tire Leak and Battery Replaced

I don't know what it is lately, but I have really bad luck with tires. This time the flat was caused by a leak in the valve stem of the front driver's side tire.

We took the car into my dad's mechanic and had him look at it. While I was there, I asked them to look at the Fuel Injection Air (FIA) Control Valve because I didn't screw it down all the way into the thermostat case. Apparently the piece that I had re-attached with epoxy had broken off again, so the shop just plugged off both hoses to prevent unfiltered air from going into the engine. I ordered a new valve from HondaPartsDeals.com, but it was a pain finding the Honda part number for it. The final cost for the FIA Control Valve with shipping was $80. None of the Honda dealers carried the part and the cost to get it ranged from $100 to $111.

The folks down at the shop noticed that the battery needed to be replaced and told me it would cost $120 to fix, but in the end the bill turned out to be $150. It's an Interstate Battery (MT-51R) and I don't think I got a great deal, but at least my valve on the tire was replaced. I probably could have got an Optima and installed it for almost the same price.

It was a costly weekend and after having to spend $230, I'm going to have to start looking into new tires. Since I'm doing that, I'm going to have to consider going from 14" rims to 15s or 16s.

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