Wondering if I will beat the lockdown

azure

azure

Final Approach
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azure
Yesterday I had to have my car towed to a local garage after it failed to start outside a Montpelier laundromat. Though it looked like a failed starter, the likelier cause is seizure of the A/C compressor clutch bearing. The symptom for the last month has been a loud chatter under the hood for a time after engine start. The dealership finally found the problem last Monday after an "expert" shop could not, and two previous visits to the dealership failed to identify the issue. The incompetence simply amazes me, but that's water under the bridge now. The part has been on order since Monday, but delivery is likely to be delayed by virus-related shutdowns.

Worse, the number of identified cases here jumped from 29 to 49 literally overnight this weekend. Smart money says the governor will order all "nonessential" businesses closed either tomorrow or Tuesday, like several other states have already done. Which businesses are considered "essential"? Certainly grocery stores and pharmacies, but auto dealerships and garages? My guess is they will all be closed indefinitely.

It's going to be expensive no matter what: the dealership and the other garage both quoted me $1300 +, but that's the least of my worries. Wondering now if I'm going to be stuck without private transportation until this all ends.
 
In all the 'lockdowns' so far, auto repair has been exempted as essential. Im getting tires put on my pickup tomorrow here in IL.
 
Thus far car repair shops and dealerships (for the purposes of car repairs, not sales) have been considered essential services and have been allowed to remain open in all the shelter-in-place states (afaik).
 
I have this, it caused my engine to stall. I turn climate control to “ECON” mode so the air conditioner will remain off, no problems in 2 years.
Of course in South Florida this is less than ideal.
 
If push comes to shove:
-Ask them to leave your car up front so you can come get it before they lock up for any extended period.
-Find and order the right shorter sized belt to just bypass the AC compressor.
-Fix it yourself out front if they’re closed.
 
Jim K said:
In all the 'lockdowns' so far, auto repair has been exempted as essential. Im getting tires put on my pickup tomorrow here in IL.
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That is good to know, thanks. Takes a load off of my mind.
 
Everything I’m seeing indicates that auto repair is essential. I wouldn’t be worried about getting it fixed. And leaving your house to get your car back from the shop is considered a valid reason for leaving the home.

When I looked over the list yesterday and this morning of what’s considered essential services/stores, basically everything we need for day to day living is allowed. It’s office jobs and large congregations of people that are being banned.
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
I have this, it caused my engine to stall. I turn climate control to “ECON” mode so the air conditioner will remain off, no problems in 2 years.
Of course in South Florida this is less than ideal.
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I'm not sure what type of car you have, but in a Chevy Sonic that's not an option. I don't even use my A/C at all (this is Vermont, after all), but the same belt that drives the A/C compressor also drives lots of other things. Because the seizure happened on engine start, it would take a lot more oomph than the starter can deliver to get it over (it turned over a total of one time, the first time I tried it). It has to be replaced, or possibly bypassed, no other way to deal with it.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
If push comes to shove:
-Ask them to leave your car up front so you can come get it before they lock up for any extended period.
-Find and order the right shorter sized belt to just bypass the AC compressor.
-Fix it yourself out front if they’re closed.
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The garage it's at now MIGHT be able to jury-rig or order a belt to bypass the compressor. I discussed that with the tow truck driver (a mechanic) and he agreed that could be possible. Not sure how stable that would be long term of course. But I certainly don't have the mechanical skill to do it myself.
 
My driver's license expires April 1st. It's commercial, so not only do I have to figure out how to get a new one during the time of closures and social distancing, I have to go to the doctor for a fresh DOT physical.

I just googled. The license office is closed until after my CDL expires, so I guess I needn't worry about it.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Everything I’m seeing indicates that auto repair is essential. I wouldn’t be worried about getting it fixed. And leaving your house to get your car back from the shop is considered a valid reason for leaving the home.

When I looked over the list yesterday and this morning of what’s considered essential services/stores, basically everything we need for day to day living is allowed. It’s office jobs and large congregations of people that are being banned.
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Here in VT, it looks like everywhere where you can't assure a ski-length of distance between people is going to be ordered closed. It already includes hair and nail salons and barber shops. I wouldn't bet that laundromats will even stay open, though the pushback against that would be mammoth.
 
Fiveslide said:
My driver's license expires April 1st. It's commercial, so not only do I have to figure out how to get a new one during the time of closures and social distancing, I have to go to the doctor for a fresh DOT physical.
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Agreed, that might be difficult unless you are eligible for renewal by mail. I'm pretty sure the DMV office here is going to be closed to the public. But they are likely to extend expiration dates for driver's licenses - at least ordinary operator licenses, not sure about commercial.
 
In California, auto repair shops are considered essential, as are laundromats. Barber and beauty shops, not so much.
 
azure said:
Agreed, that might be difficult unless you are eligible for renewal by mail. I'm pretty sure the DMV office here is going to be closed to the public. But they are likely to extend expiration dates for driver's licenses - at least ordinary operator licenses, not sure about commercial.
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Not just a renewal, moving from one state to another. Kicking myself for putting this off now. I won't be operating a commercial truck, just want to keep the endorsements. Ah well, it'll work out somehow.
 
Fiveslide said:
Not just a renewal, moving from one state to another. Kicking myself for putting this off now. I won't be operating a commercial truck, just want to keep the endorsements. Ah well, it'll work out somehow.
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Ohhh... agreed, that is different. Best of luck to you.
 
Everskyward said:
In California, auto repair shops are considered essential, as are laundromats. Barber and beauty shops, not so much.
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Yes. My only point was that the criteria for what is essential aren't as simple as "what is needed for day-to-day living". People do eventually need haircuts, they're part of daily life. But they are banned because they involve non-ESSENTIAL person-to-person contact.

I would expect anywhere that people work in close contact to be ordered closed, regardless of whether it's really essential. That's why I wasn't sure about garages and auto dealership service departments. I'm glad that, so far, no state has closed them, and I hope that doesn't change.
 
Everskyward said:
In California, auto repair shops are considered essential, as are laundromats. Barber and beauty shops, not so much.
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In Colorado, dog daycare and boarding is still open, so my dog can get a haircut but I can’t.
 
murphey said:
In Colorado, dog daycare and boarding is still open, so my dog can get a haircut but I can’t.
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Yeah, they're only worried about people being in close contact with each other, not with pets, even other people's pets...
 
Liz, hair cuts are not essential. We can live without them or we can cut our own with scissors, but we won’t die.

We die without food, riots will occur without alcohol, and cars are needed for getting food and getting supplies where they need to be.

I do think some of the lists are a bit generous but overall relatively reasonable.
 
azure said:
The garage it's at now MIGHT be able to jury-rig or order a belt to bypass the compressor. I discussed that with the tow truck driver (a mechanic) and he agreed that could be possible. Not sure how stable that would be long term of course. But I certainly don't have the mechanical skill to do it myself.
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Should be long term stable, as long as the new belt fits and doesn’t rub on anything.
 
I'm so thankful. Back when we were teenagers, Dad insisted that us kids, boys, and girls, learn to work on our vehicles, otherwise, we wouldn't be driving them.

I have never relied on someone else for my transportation.

By the way...... if it's only a compressor clutch, with parts in hand, on my vehicles, that's a 30 minute repair, maybe. Just replaced the a/c clutch on my old p/u last summer. Bought the parts on Ebay.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Everything I’m seeing indicates that auto repair is essential. I wouldn’t be worried about getting it fixed. And leaving your house to get your car back from the shop is considered a valid reason for leaving the home.

When I looked over the list yesterday and this morning of what’s considered essential services/stores, basically everything we need for day to day living is allowed. It’s office jobs and large congregations of people that are being banned.
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I get large congregations, but it seems pointless to ban office jobs, given what is allowed.
 
Art Rose said:
I'm so thankful. Back when we were teenagers, Dad insisted that us kids, boys, and girls, learn to work on our vehicles, otherwise, we wouldn't be driving them.
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Good for you, I like your Dad. Mine was super protective of his little girl.

I have never relied on someone else for my transportation.
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Taking that literally, neither have I. But I don't do my own repairs.

By the way...... if it's only a compressor clutch, with parts in hand, on my vehicles, that's a 30 minute repair, maybe. Just replaced the a/c clutch on my old p/u last summer. Bought the parts on Ebay.
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According to the dealership, in the Sonic the compressor is a single unit. The only permanent fix is to replace it. Since I never use it (and in fact, the coolant has been exhausted for years), I'd be happy with a bypass as long as it's long-term stable.
 
If A/C was an option on your vehicle, there should be a non-A/C belt listed if you go to someplace like autozone. That's worked for me on some of my old beaters.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Liz, hair cuts are not essential. We can live without them or we can cut our own with scissors, but we won’t die...
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Sez the guy with a ponytail. :D

I told my wife last night I was looking forward to growing one of my own now.
 
GRG55 said:
Sez the guy with a ponytail. :D

I told my wife last night I was looking forward to growing one of my own now.
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Post apocalyptic people all hairy is going to be a thing as a costume this coming October...
 
I had planned to get a haircut two Thursday’s ago, the day everything blew up. This guy is going to be pretty shaggy by Christmas.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
We die without food, riots will occur without alcohol, and cars are needed for getting food and getting supplies where they need to be.
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If lack of alcohol will cause riots, then we are doomed as a species. ;)

The only point I would argue with you on is whether cars are needed for getting food. There are a lot of people around here that do not drive and rely on bus service to get to the grocery store. That fact is exactly why I wondered whether they would allow garages to stay open.

I think preventing riots has more to do with considering auto maintenance a necessity.
 
When you do go back, your hair cutting person is likely to be a self employed "independent contractor" who isn't getting paid, but still has to pay the rent for the chair (or building) and is not likely eligible for unemployment benefits.

Back to auto repair...
 
azure said:
If lack of alcohol will cause riots, then we are doomed as a species. ;)
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It’s not direct, it’s indirect.

A lot of people are very stressed right now. A drink at night (or during the day) helps many with that, right wrong or indifferent.

The last thing you want people to do is snap, so having a means of blowing off steam is important. Alcohol does that for many.

Me, I just fixed my pipe organ (been broken for some time) and have gotten back to playing it. Spent time on the bulldozer, too. When I was getting supplies to keep us stocked I picked up clay pigeons and have been making sure I have enough parts to work on the Cobra.

Oh yeah, and wine.
 
azure said:
According to the dealership, in the Sonic the compressor is a single unit. The only permanent fix is to replace it. Since I never use it (and in fact, the coolant has been exhausted for years), I'd be happy with a bypass as long as it's long-term stable.
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Dealers will almost always say that a certain part is a single unit, even though it is made up of several parts. It is just that the dealers just don't sell the parts separate. I had a radiator hose leaking from an o-ring in hose for my Silverado. Dealer told me the o-ring is all part of the hose assembly, and the assembly is $345. I went to an o-ring supplier and bought the o-ring for $2. If you look up sonic ac compressor on ebay, you will see that clutch and bearing parts are sold for your compressor. But back to your original problem. I don't know exactly what year your Sonic is, but go to autozone or any of the big suppliers online websites. sonic.png
When you look up your Sonic's year and engine, you will see that they have belts for with AC, or without AC. The image I posted is for a Sonic 1.4 L engine. The AC compressor is on the right side. On this diagram, you would not even have to remove the AC compressor. All you have to do is install the "without AC" belt. It is a 5 minute job.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
When you do go back, your hair cutting person is likely to be a self employed "independent contractor" who isn't getting paid, but still has to pay the rent for the chair (or building) and is not likely eligible for unemployment benefits.

Back to auto repair...
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I’m hoping they are open next week, but I doubt it. Our 4 county area is going to “shut down” Tuesday for 30
days. There are a lot of exemptions, though. It’s interesting to me that the 4 counties have different exemptions. Most are the same but there are differences.
 
Everskyward said:
Barber
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I learned this Friday.. got a call from a sad sounding owner Friday morning about my appointment for that afternoon "governor Newsom has ordered me legally closed, sorry man" - he sounded bummed.. I get it. This dude's whole paycheck just got jammed up
 
Tantalum said:
I learned this Friday.. got a call from a sad sounding owner Friday morning about my appointment for that afternoon "governor Newsom has ordered me legally closed, sorry man" - he sounded bummed.. I get it. This dude's whole paycheck just got jammed up
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I get how barbers would be sad, but haircuts are not even close to being essential. I don't go any more frequently than once every three months, and I could actually go forever. I have scissors if I want my hair shorter.
 
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Matthew said:
I had planned to get a haircut two Thursday’s ago, the day everything blew up. This guy is going to be pretty shaggy by Christmas.
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Same here. I guess I'm going back to being a long-hair, but at least I'll have plenty of company in that.
 
asicer said:
So if your area gets a shelter-in-place order, we'll see the Cobra finished in 3 weeks?
#cobravid19
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I’m currently on work from home orders and our area is on a mandatory quarantine other than for “essential services.”

This past week was spring break so I was planning on taking time off anyway, and funny enough we’d planned on doing a lot of property work. So far I’ve made progress on bulldozing the runway, fixing my pipe organ, lots of little house projects. But I will have to actually do some work and my son’s school is now closed for the year with the expectation of home schooling. My wife is considered an essential worker since she flies 135, so we’re not sure how that will play out but I will probably have to work from home while also taking care of 3 small kids and home schooling at least the one.

To be honest, as weird as it sounds, I haven’t really wanted to work on the Cobra so far with all of this. Not sure why, but I’m sure I will at some point. I’ll probably make an order from Summit Racing for a couple details, but once one of the parts a friend made for me shows up (supposedly Tuesday) I will have everything I need to physically make the engine run and therefore the car drive.

The disappointing part for me was I had hoped to get the car driving in time to pick up my son from his last day of school this year, which now doesn’t exist. But that’s minor - it will be driving and I will be able to give him a ride.
 
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