Happy Belated Father's Day

I noted in an earlier post that I was interested in a Mercedes-Benz hat. I have one with the BMW logo on it, but I felt like I couldn't cruise in a convertible Benz with that. So, a few well-placed hints to my wife, and we're good to go. The logo on the hat matches the hood ornament too. A very nice touch. Thanks!

I accomplished two more tasks yesterday. The carpet that covered up the rear partition between the shelf and the trunk had come undone some time ago. It wasn't a huge deal, but it made the car, shall we say, less visually pleasant. I have a plastic chisel used to stuff carpet into crevices and a rubber mallet. Took about twenty minutes, but it looks much better now! The interior of this auto is in fine shape, so having the carpet reinstalled really adds to the pleasure of top-down driving.

The last thing I did was to go under the hood and check the condition of the spark plugs. An interesting aside, this car (and my BMW for that matter) come with a pretty neat set of tools. Oddly, in the manual, it basically says that no mere mortal should ever change spark plugs, but it should be done instead by an 'Authorized Mercedes-Benz Service Center.' At the same time, the tool kit contains a spark plug socket and wrench, with a flexible head designed for getting into tight spaces. If they didn't want us messing around under the hood, why give us the tools?

Oh well. I took out one plug and was happy to see it is really clean. No corrosion, discoloration, and the electrode was nice and square. One less thing to take care of.

Time to take a look at the list again:

DONE:
Timing Chain Replaced
Oil Change
All Accessory belts changed
Rotor/Distributor Replaced
Sway Bar brackets tightened and replaced
New Coolant
Differential Fluid Changed
Wheel Nuts retorqued
Rear shelf carpet reinstalled
Wiper blades replaced
Transmission fluid/filter changed
Spark Plugs checked and verified good
Throttle cable and linkages and convertible top mechanism lubricated

TO DO:
Brake Fluid change (High Priority):
It's supposed to be done once a year. It requires a purchase of a brake bleeder, and it's something I've never done before. Scary, but not impossible. It supposedly takes 1/2 hour if you know what you are doing, and everyone has done something for the first time, right? Once complete, I will have officially finished the car's 60K service. Probably need to check the pads and rotors as well, but I'm not getting the usual symptoms of brake wear.

New Tires w/Balance (Med.)
I'm starting to think they are next to be replaced. There is always some sort of vibration, and good tires are always a safe, smart thing to have. Anything I can do to get better mileage and peace of mind is a plus.

Dashboard light (Low)
I can still see the speedo at night. Not to worry.

Radio upgrade/fix (Low)
Can't hear it anyway with the top down.

Play in steering wheel (Med.)
Probably just a worn out steering coupler. Save it for winter.

Check leak at fuel distributor (Low)
Aside from the fuel smell, of which this may or may not be the cause, it's not as bad as it sounds. Plus, if it were really leaking badly, the engine would be giving me fits, which it's not. In fact, I would say the car is running very nicely, thank you very much.

Further evidence of a happy engine - I filled up for the first time over the weekend to get an idea of fuel economy - 307.7 miles with 16.9 gallons of gas, giving us (drum roll, please) 18.2 MPG. Mostly around town, with one 100-mile highway trip to Whidbey. Overall, pretty good for a quarter-century old V8 and a two-ton car. I believe the car was rated at around 16 City/24 Highway, so we're right inline with what I would expect.