My car...

[LaFoto]

... has an appointment at the car hospital tomorrow morning.
It is scheduled for a starter transplant.
Please think of my poor car tomorrow and hope it'll survive the surgery that needs to be done!
They say it's routine, but can you ever be sure?



(And keep your fingers crossed for me that said car will be willing to take me choir practise tonight and most of all back home again afterwards!!! :roll: )

 

[Big Mike]

I've performed 'starter surgery' many, many times....it's usually a minor operation but as with any surgery, complications can arise. Good luck.

 

[MikeBcos]

Starter surgery is usually very quick and simple, there's not too much can go wrong.

 

[Corry]

My last car had starter surgery twice.

It also had transmission surgery twice. Tire surgery 4737282 times. Axle surgery once. Tie Rod End surgery once. Alternator surgery once.

Plus several other things I can't remember.

 

[Chiller]

My thoughts will be with your car during these difficult times. :hug::

 

[ferny]

So hopefully you'll both be singing sweetly tomorrow night...

 

[Joves]

It should be done in under an hour. It is preety much an out patient thing.

 

[LaFoto]

My thoughts will be with your car during these difficult times. :hug::

Awww. Thank you so much. I (and my car) needed these words now :hugs:.

It is preety much an out patient thing.

I heard as much, oh yes, and the full anaesthetics won't be needed, either, they say.

Corry, my poor car has been through worse. Two deer accidents and one skid into the guard rail ... its front right had to undergo esthetic surgery all those three times.

Meanwhile, its age begins to worry me, though. Won't surgery become more dangerous the older the cars are??? :shock: ale:

 

[MikeBcos]

Meanwhile, its age begins to worry me, though. Won't surgery become more dangerous the older the cars are??? :shock: ale:

The problem is, the older they become the fewer people can work on them. But is has the advantage that those few generally are the best.

My cars are 30 and 38 years old, the one person in town who can work on them is the best. Although I do my own work anyway.

 

[mrodgers]

Funny comments on the surgery stuff. Thanks for the laugh.

Starter surgery story from me.

I had a 1989 Toyota 4x4 truck that I was into 4wheeling with. I belonged to a Toyota 4x4 message board full of heavy 4wheeling enthusiasts along with several certified Toyota technicians. I had starter problems, but I had remembered previous questions and fixes on the starter. There was a part number for the starter rebuild kit floating around on the board in the past. Simple stuff, some o-rings and new brushes.

I called the Toyota shop where I have a friend who works in the parts department (major bonus there). My friend was not there at the time so I asked the guy who answered to order me the starter rebuild kit. No such thing I am told, all they can do is a rebuilt starter for $300 or something! Ouch !:gah: (just found this smiley. Cool stuff!)

Ok, thank you but never mind I tell him. I hang up, jump on the message board and ask about the starter rebuild kit part number. With in less than a minute, I get an answer with the number (email message board so there was no search, I'm not a noob, LOL). Within probably 5 or 6 minutes of calling the Toyota shop previous, I call them again. Same guy. I ask him to order me part number xxxxxxxx whateveritwas. "Oh yeah, the starter rebuild kit, sure, I'll order this up and it should be in on Thursday. It's $11.95." I wanted to go down there and layball:.....

So Thursday I run to the shop. My friend is there and he pulls up the order to go get it. "$11.95, nah, that's wrong...." as he types his name in the order form. "$8.xx, that's a little better." Not a big deal on the discounted price for that item, but you have to love having a friend at a dealership parts department, especially when you are buying some bigger ticket items such as a clutch or something.


And as for the starter surgery for the OP, not to worry. If they are replacing with a remanufactured unit, all it will be is reach in, pull 2 bolts, pull the starter, replace with the reman. unit, and 2 bolts back in. Probably could have saved yourself a couple hundred $$ by just getting a rebuild kit and replacing the brushes and o-rings yourself for $10 and 10 minutes of time though.

 

[LaFoto]

...just getting a rebuild kit and replacing the brushes and o-rings yourself for $10 and 10 minutes of time though.

Who? ME? :scratch:
Who I know so much about cars that I know there's that funny looking rumbling thing in front that I need to start (provided the starter does what its there for), and then my car runs??? A-hem... Within all that funny looking rumbling stuff I wouldn't even know where the starter is ... :blushing: ... erm...

Therefore: today is the day.

 

[LaFoto]

It was a difficult case!
Surgery took 2 hours (!) - when it normally would be over and done with in 45 minutes! Oh dear! (Cheers to frozen food in the deep freeze, or else... :roll: )
But now both car and car owner are back home, happy and healthy (!), and car starts again WHENEVER car owner WANTS it to start!

All's well that ends well.

(And thankfully, we had agreed on a fixed price for the whole operation, material and time and VAT all together, so I didn't have to pay for the extra time the mechanic spent on the repair).