Yesterday I learned about car maintenance – changing oil, the oil filter, the air filter and the cabin filter. Craig has always done his own car maintenance and wanted to do mine before our road trip as it was time. He said he didn’t trust shops and after the experience yesterday, I understand why. I got down under the car and saw how the oil is drained and the oil filter is changed. It is important to fill the oil filter with fresh oil before replacing it.
While changing the air filter under the hood, he discovered that the hose to the throttle had not been fit correctly the last time the air filter was changed. He also wanted to change the cabin air filter which I didn’t even know existed. He had to be quite the contortionist to get his 6’4″ body in a position where he could get his head down in the passenger foot well. He found another piece that had not been installed properly next to the cabin air filter. I promised I would not share the photo of him in this position. I couldn’t believe it was worth all the effort to change this filter, but when he pulled it out, it was pretty dirty. He was right.
I was fascinated by the entire process. I got the car vacuumed out when I was not otherwise able to be helpful. I can’t wait until it was time to do it again so I can see how much I retained. He was able to acquire a used lift for cars so next time we will not have to roll under the car to do the filter change. A few years ago, this is not what I would have considered as post retirement educational activities but the car maintenance and carpentry and handy person activities suites me perfectly. Carli is a big help as well.
Here Carli and I are sliding under the car.
This is what it looked like underneath.
Carli was a good supervisor. She initially was laying on the floor but then she discovered the padded surface to watch from.
Tamara Unleashed 