Kinda Funny Work Order for my Car

[Nate R]

Bought a car over the weekend. 92 Ford Escort, 95K, good shape, needed $300 worth  of exhaust work, got it for $1200.

Changed the oil, coolant, tranny fluid, plugs, and air filter. Got the exhaust done and got the legal stuff squared away.

 The nice couple I bought it from gave me all the work orders they had records for. So, I was going through them yesterday, and found one that made me chuckle


A man in pajamas? Why was his outerwear significant enough to include there?
Dunno, thoguht it was funny.  :D

[TZDeSioux]

 ;D ;D ;D That's some funny shiznit!

[tigerblade]

Ah, the infamous Man in Pajamas surfaces yet again!

[Nate R]

 :D

Yeah.

They had some WEIRD mixing-bowl like hubcaps on there, too.  ??? :P

I'll take a pic of those when I get my digi cam back on Wednesday. I've already replaced them with a set of plastic ones from Wal-Mart for $13  ;D

[MZGirl]

Oh geez...the '92 Ford Escort a.k.a "The Smurf."  Mine had 104K miles on it when I traded it in.  It had blown the head gasket twice (tweaked a valve the 2nd time), and you couldn't turn the AC off, 'cause that's what kept the radiator fan going.  Poor sad little car.  I had always wondered what happened to it.  The dealer took it and gave us $1500 for it.  Then one day, we saw it parked outside a store.  Exact same license plate # too.  Paint was shot, it had been in several fender benders, and the interior was toast.  We saw it drive away, and it still wasn't running good.  The thing must've had 150K+ miles on it by then.  For a car that wasn't made to last past 50K miles, that's pretty good.

Oh yeah.  Cut the airbox.  That gives it 5 hp, and a wicked intake sound.   ;)

[Nate R]

Whattya mean cut it? like, on the bottom?


Yeah, this car's had most of the usual stuff for that motor and chassis replaced.

Water Pump, head gasket, oil pan gasket, timing belt, exhaust has been replaced twice now, CV joints, and a few other things.

[KBOlsen]

Congrats, Nate!  Escorts rock.   ;D

My first one was a '85-1/2... it was my first "brand-new" car.  Came with a 5-speed (my friend had to drive it home from the dealership for me... I learned to drive stick that night).  Ran over/into an 8" concrete median and ripped out the oil pan and right front suspension in '90.  Fixed her up and drove it for two more years.  Sold her at 95,000 miles for $800.  She was replaced by a '92 LX-E (has the 16-valve Mazda motor and was built in Mexico), which I still have.  Just 85,000 miles on the clockand was recently brought out of semi-retirement (new brakes/rotors all around and a wheel bearing).  She's not so pretty any more (kinda rusty and a bit crunchy in places) but gets great gas mileage and is a hoot to drive.

[GregR6]

Guess it hasn't been driven much since Aug of 01, eh?  :o

[Nate R]

Thanx Kim!

Seems like it should be a decent car. Probably only looking to get 2 years out of it, then sell it.

Kim, is that the 1.8L Motor? Wish I had that. My mom has a 95 Mercury Tracer (Same as escort) We both have the 1.9 L motor that eats head gaskets. I've got auto, she's got a 5 speed.

I don't like the clutch in her car. Can't take any abuse at ALL.

But, yeah, fun to drive, gas mileage should be OK, and I've done some work so it should be good to go.  :D

[Zac]

Nate - on MZGirl's escort, the entire bottom of the air box was cut out, and the snorkle/resonator was tossed.  Made the car sound pretty mean.

Fond memories of the Escort.  I think after the first blown head gasket it bent a rod a little when it hyrdo locked.  It never ran very smooth after.  The blown head gasket was due to overheating, but the root cause was the ECU.  The ECU would not turn the fans on so it would overheat when sitting.  Also, the ECU drives the temp gauge, which would read "normal" while the car was overheating.  It took a while to figure that one out, until I noticed that the fan never kicked on while the car was sitting in the driveway.  Both temp sensors checked good for resistance using the boiling water test, but I replaced them anyway.  No good, hence the ECU.  I disconnected one of the sensors which put the computer into limp mode, which runs the fan all the time, and Elaine drove it a few months with the check engine light on.  Once it came time for the annual emissions testing, I figured the car wouldn't pass in limp mode, as it also provides starting enrichment, so I pluged the sensor back in and had it tested with the A/C turned on (which runs the fans) but the A/C compressor clutch disconnected.  After that, the second head gasket went (the head was a little warped from the first one).  Time to trade it in, I couldn't sell it to a private party with a clear concense, but the dealer should know more about cars than me, so I don't feel bad.  When we traded it in the fans would only run with the A/C on and it consumed about 2 qts of water per day.

-z.

[Nate R]

Thanx for the info! I wish I had the 1.8, though. 40 more horsies at the front wheels!  :o 8)

I'll have to live with my 88.  ;)

[Decreasing_Dave]

ROTFLMFAO
 :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

I'm crying......I didn't need this after the Ebay thing.

Of course...It is 0430 and I've been up all night.

 ;D