Misadventures With Ethan, Cheryl, and Silver Bullet Subie.

Silver Bullet Lets us Know things...

 Sometimes it is difficult to get up in the morning.  I can relate.   I understand when things just want a little more time to rest up.   And so it went with Subie today.   I turned the key to start him up.....  The lights were on and the starter clicked.   But no cranking. 

Like when he wants a Break.

We have been experiencing this at an increasing rate lately.   Sometimes he pauses a half second.  Sometimes he pauses for several seconds before cranking over.  Each time we have been able to get him started and he runs fine for several days or even weeks.   But the intervals between "episodes" have been shrinking and we both came to the same conclusion today.  Time to look a little closer.

By not starting...

Our first diagnosis was that the key we were given for him was worn and not making a connection somehow.   Our reasoning was based on that same key's inability to open the trunk!   Andy ( Cheryl's Brother) mailed us a new key from the Subaru Dealership and the starting issue went away.   We thought we had fixed it.

Time to get a new one. 

After a little digging and trouble shooting,  we figured there was a high probability that the Starter, after 267,000 miles,  was telling us that he was about to expire.   Subies always give you warnings before something "bad" happens.   It is really up to the driver to listen to the car.   And with the Silver Bullet getting up there,  I listen intently for any sniggle....

Starter under here... somewhere. 

Starters are easy to replace! Even I can do this!   I have replaced one in my Jeep...in the snow... in the dark!   And we replaced a Starter in Cheryl's old Grand Am.  ( with a little Help from Andy.) How difficult can it be for a Subaru?    Couple of plugs,  couple of bolts.    Easy Peasy!

Hot to Safely jack up and work under a car.

Pretty much.    I looked over the manual and the last step required me to prop the car up on Jacks and crawl under it for the last remaining bolt.   It should have been easy,   even with the rather challenging angle to loosen the bolt.    But crawling under a car in the heat and gravel was rather uncomfortable.  Add in the scare I got when the car rolled forward!    WAKE UP!

And how NOT to do it...

Old starter out!

I stepped back,  Set the Parking Brake, Chocked the wheels,  set it up on the stands,   added a cinder blog under the tire.    And STILL it was scary climbing under the car at that time.   And that last bolt was not very easy.   But I managed with a little help from Cheryl.  (Basically,  I called her out so she could hear my screams if the car fell on me!)

New Starter ready! 

I got a little dirty in the process. 

Putting it back in took even less time.   And Subie started right up.... So despite my best efforts,  I managed to fix it.  I hope.

Frying up Mushrooms! 

New starter installed! 

Afterwards,   Cheryl and I cooked up several of our Mushrooms we found yesterday.   I will have to post that one later.  We found quite a variety of edibles.   And a few that were not, but still fun to identify.

Showing off my basket of goodies. 

Several Angel Oyster Locations. 

Deadly Galerina. 

  I was very excited to find another location for Angel Oyster ( white oyster) Mushrooms.  Along with the Deadly Galerina!   An extremely toxic little brown mushrooms.  (Not going to eat this one to find out if it is true....  no matter how much  Cheryl dares me.)

Final Day for RAGBRAI.  And The BIX in Davenport. 

One last note:   With Subie throwing a small hiccup in our plans, we arrived late in Iowa City and most, if not ALL of the RAGBRAI people were gone.   A few stragglers... or perhaps locals on the trails,  were the only cyclists we noted. ( aside from ourselves.) Today is the scheduled end of the Iowa Crossing.   They were to finish at Davenport; where the BIX was run today.

Riders gone,  Trails are OURS alone!  

 Cheryl was torn on how much she wanted to go, but ultimately there is no medal, no beer, and the snacks and after party are limited to runners only ( no spectators allowed!)   so, without me to join her,  she would obviously not have a good time.   Better to save our money form a real race later in the Fall. 

Enjoy the weather!  And thanks for stopping in.