Greasy Hands

Despite getting home late from work, I still had time today to crawl under Charlene and get my hands dirty. The work was fairly straightforward, but I spent a solid 2 hours "gettin' to it" before I ran out of daylight.

First, I cleaned out the gas tank that I dropped earlier in the week to ensure it was prepped for reinstallation tomorrow. I originally planned to discard it, but after a great deal of research, I learned that no one actually makes my gas tank anymore. Needless to say, the 25 year-old tank became a keeper, and I resigned myself to working with what I had. It cleaned up quite nicely - all it took was soap and water - but it was a pain flushing it with distilled water to get everything, water additives included, out of the tank.

Once I set the gas tank aside to dry, I cracked open the most recent shipment of Jeep parts: a fuel sending unit and a tune up kit. The sending unit was quickly set aside as tomorrow's primary task; the tune up kit came with me to visit Charlene. The kit included the following items:

• Fuel Filter
• Oil Filter
• Spark Plugs
• Spark Plug Wires
• Distributor Cap
• Distributor Cap Rotor
• Air Filter

The fuel filter was the easiest thing to install. It bridges two pieces of fuel line, similar to those Chinese finger traps toys you had when you were a kid. All I had to do was loosen the clamps, remove the old unit, insert the new unit, and retighten the clamps. Fifteen minutes in total.

Next, I removed the old spark plug wires, distributor cap, and rotor. I inspected all pieces for abnormal signs or wear and tear that might suggest other problems. Fortunately, all were in great shape given their age. Again, the process was simply loosening a couple of bolts, removing the old pieces, and installing the new ones.

Lastly, I installed new spark plugs. The old ones showed a great deal of carbon buildup, but, again, I wasn't terribly concerned - Charlene is an old gal. As a heads up, spark plugs can be tricky because you have to tighten them down to a specific torque measurement. If you screw it up, you run the risk of damaging the plug, thus sacrificing vehicle performance.

Finally, I drained the old engine oil. Black as Brutus' soul and flowing like molasses it was. I left the oil pan plug out so it can drain all night, and hopefully get as much of that worthless oil out of there. Tomorrow I will change the oil, reinstall the gas tank, and change all the fluids. We just might hear her roar to life this weekend after all...