Thursday, April 25, 2013

Tank 348 - 24 April 2K13 (The Gas Station Was Rockin' - Literally!)

I refilled the Mighty Corolla last night at the Fas Mart near the library. Gas was $3.249/gallon, which is pretty cheap around here. The car had been driven 383.7 miles at that point, and received 10.920 gallons, making for a fuel economy number of 35.14 mpg.

Last week I got the car inspected. The inspection had expired at the end of March, so my secret evil plan is to take it in after it's expired so I get an extra month from the inspection process. When I picked it up, the guy reported that a bearing needed replaced ("needed replaced" is poor language, I know, but it's a Southern convention that explains the thought in fewer words. It's much easier to say "the bearing needed replaced" instead of "the bearing needs to be replaced." It's like two less words!). So shortly I'll get that done. It currently makes a very noticeable hum as I drive around, but when I curve to the right and the weight of the car shifts more over the left wheels, the noise disappears. That's kind of fun.

I wonder if the poor bearing is helping to keep my fuel economy so subpar over the last year...

Oh, but more fun is that it was quite windy last night as I put gas in the car. The weatherman reported steady 20 mph winds with higher gusts. As I stood there squeezing the gas pump, the wind was coming right across the front of the car and it was hitting the gas pump straight on the wide side. And that pump was leaning back and forth. The top part where the cigarette ad was on its little flexible stand was leaning about an inch in each direction. The whole pump! So that was cool...

1 comment:

  1. My Tercel had the same problem. I took out the bearing, repacked it in grease, reinstalled it properly. The bearing lasted another 7 years! $5 of grease? Or $100s in repair bills from some shyster repair shop?

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