not firing on all cylinders or something like that…

It was not God’s plan for us to make it to Plano today.  The van started misfiring in Belton on I-35.  We just had the coil in cylinder 5 replaced a month ago and took it in not even a week ago for another misfire, so this is an ongoing problem. It was bad.  Very bad.  The cab started smelling like gasoline and the whole van was shaking.  NOT FUN.  I know some vehicles (army jeeps for one) can run – not firing on all cylinders, but our van can’t.  I mean.  Wow.  That saying has new meaning for me.

I was driving but I also know just who to call, so I dialed my free OnStar (not really) Brother and asked him to see online if there were any Christian Brothers Automotives in Belton, Temple, or Waco.  Nope.  There aren’t.  Just as I was hanging up with him, we passed a Mazda Billboard for a Mazda dealership not far from where we were.

We made it to the Mazda dealership in Temple … and they wouldn’t service our van. You’d think that the place that sells them (or sold them) would work you in.  Some excuse about not having enough mechanics on hand because he gave them the day off.  Whatever.  I always get my hopes up only to be dashed with dealership service centers here in Texas.  Maybe minus the old Saturn of Waco, but more often than not, they’ve left a bad taste in our mouth.  Anyhow, he did call around and give us directions to Olson Auto Clinic in Temple.

Of course this whole time, it’s pouring down rain, freezing cold, AND I decided today of all days to wear a dress.

Mark, the owner of Olson talked extensively with David and even worked on his lunch hour to figure out a plan of attack for the van.  The code thingy pulled up error P0306 which said Cylinder 6 Misfire Detected.  No kidding.  We detected it several times over and over and over again as it kept misfiring on our way there.

I didn’t time our time in the waiting room but it felt like days.  I bought the boys 75¢ worth of candy from the dispensers which didn’t last very long and only served to educate the baby on what M&M’s look like.  Then when they started getting out of hand again, I pulled out David’s work laptop (shhh… don’t tell the school district), fired up photobooth, and got the whole family involved in my shenanigans.  It was enough to almost tide us over until Grandpa K showed up with his pick-em-up-truck to rescue us.

My dad showed up at 12:30 and he and Dave fit all three car seats in the back row of the truck and threw our stuff in the back and we loaded up and headed to McDonalds, then home to their house.

After a phone call with a few different options, David decided a plan of attack.  Our concern was that with 5 misfiring, then another one and now 6… it sounds like all of our cylinders are going to be misfiring over the next several months.  SO… They’re replacing 2 coils (we had one replaced last month) and putting the 3 new coils in the back (where it takes a little more time to get to) and the old coils in the front (V6 engine), all new spark plugs even though they’re not all bad, and new wiring.  If the engine misfires again after this work, it will likely be one of them in the front of the engine and cost less in labor to get to than the ones in the back.  Of course, I’m writing this not knowing a darned tootin’ thing about engines.  If you want to know for certain what they’re doing, call David.  I’m sure you have his cell phone number if you’re one of those reading this thats dying to know.

All I do know for certain is that this is bound to be expensive.  I’m just so thankful that we have a roof over our heads tonight, even though it’s at a different “grandma’s house” than we set out for when we left this morning.

I’ll probably post the pictures and videos we took in the waiting room sometime tomorrow.