Could Have Been Worse

The back-story on Shane's truck is that last spring, he was in an accident in the Ranger he'd been driving for five years. He wasn't hurt, but the truck was totaled. One of the guys he works with told him about some older gentleman he knew who had a truck for sale that seemed like a good deal.

Turned out it was an excellent deal. It was a 2006 Chevy Silverado with just 17k miles on it (this was in April of '06) for less than $9000. Between the insurance settlement and our tax return, we were able to buy the truck outright.

It's been a great truck so far, with no problems until just the past couple of weeks. But when you find a four-year-old vehicle with only 17,000 miles, you know it had to have sat a lot. It's not a good idea to let a vehicle just sit around without driving it once in a while. Hoses, belt and tires can become brittle, and the old gas gets "gunky" in the fuel system.

Shane took it in after work yesterday and had the injectors professionally cleaned. The mechanic said it was the worst case he'd seen, no doubt because of how little it had been driven in the first four years. He didn't guarantee it would solve the trouble with starting in the mornings, but did guarantee the truck would get better mileage and run better overall. I think ended up costing $90. BTW - the alternator and battery tested fine.

And guess what? It started right up this morning on the first try. Hopefully the problem has been fixed.

As an added bonus, the mechanic was friendly, and when Shane asked him if this was something that could only be done in the shop, the guy invited him to watch the procedure. Should the injectors need to be cleaned again, Shane can do it himself. He won't be able to get the exact cleaning product the mechanic used, but there are a couple of good ones he can get at the auto parts store.