My check engine light is on.
It came on Monday. Has been bouncing off and on since then.
But not too fast.
That would constitute an emergency.
It’s not an emergency. As far as I know. But I should still get it fixed. Not the light itself. I assume that’s working properly. The thing causing the light.
I mentioned it to my mom who mentioned it to my dad and he mentioned that last fall a similar thing was happening to him and the guy at the Honda dealership told him he might be able to keep it at bay by using premium gasoline. The guy liked the kind at Shell. Which is convenient because I’m a Shell Fuel Rewards® member so I save five cents a gallon every time I buy gas there. I tried the premium gas on Thursday. Put ten gallons or so in. The tank’s thirteen gallons. I think. Have never been able to tell for sure. I’m going to put another ten gallons or so in today. If it all mixes evenly, that’d mean only about three percent of the gas in my tank will be the old stuff, assuming the tank doesn’t get fully filled every time at the pump. Then I’d guess I’ll be able to tell if it’s keeping the light at bay. The premium gas cost sixty cents more a gallon. I think I go through about forty gallons in a full week. So that’s about twenty-four more dollars a week if it does keep the light at bay. Not insignificant, but would take a while to hit the thousand dollars or so it sounds like it’ll cost me to get it fixed, if the problem is what The Internet™ implies it might be and what the Honda man told my dad his car’s problem was. Of course, if I’m lucky I’ll eventually have to pay the thousand anyway. Lucky because that means the car will still be running.
I’m going to take the car in on Monday morning to the Jeep dealership. I’m due for an oil change. Not overdue. But due. I’m also due for a tire rotation, but I’m not going to get one of those. I get my brakes checked at Firestone because they have good brake warranties and their employees have done the little things beyond expectations in two locations in this metro area once each. When I get my brakes checked they rotate the tires, whether I want them to or not. It’s like a magnet, except instead of being drawn to it when I get too close, my tires just get rotated. They are a natural, unavoidable, tire-rotating force. But they do it for free.
One thing I am overdue for is getting my differential serviced. I have been meaning to do this for nearly two years, ever since I learned from the guy at Jiffy Lube that the differential is a thing, and that it is a thing that needs servicing, and that this particular Jiffy Lube couldn’t service that thing because either their liftmajig was broken or they didn’t have the tools to service my car’s specific differential or both. I asked the guy at the Jeep dealership about it (different dealership—different city—different state) and he said I needed an appointment. I never made the appointment. I keep meaning to get it serviced, but the dealership I used to go to (in this city) didn’t bring it up on the list of things that might need servicing, and then I put it off ‘til I had a little more money saved up, and then I got a little confused because the car’s manual says something about changing the Rear Drive Assembly fluid, right next to where it talks about changing the Power Transfer Unit fluid, and I learned the Power Transfer Unit isn’t something my car has, because my car’s two-wheel drive, but I haven’t confirmed definitively that the Rear Drive Assembly is also something my car doesn’t have, or if it’s something my car has that’s also called the differential sometimes, or if it’s something my car has that’s separate from the differential. I think I asked about it once at the dealership I used to go to (in this city) and the guy—I liked that guy—didn’t know. So, I guess I’m overdue for a differential servicing and also possibly a Rear Drive Assembly fluid change. I’m not overdue for anything else, though. Maybe due. But not overdue. And of all the things to be overdue on, it sounds like the differential isn’t the worst one, and the Rear Drive Assembly would be a sneaker of a worst one because The Internet™ has utterly failed in helping me figure out what it is and if my car actually has it.
I go to a different dealership (in this city) now. They don’t really do appointments. But I’ll get there on Monday around the time they open, which is 7 AM. I’ll ask for an oil change, but not a tire rotation, and I’ll ask them to service the differential, and I might ask them about the Rear Drive Assembly, but I also might leave that be. I’m going to be bringing up the check engine light—if it doesn’t bring up itself—and I don’t want to try to have two possibly confusing conversations because I have trouble understanding the guy at the desk. He mumbles a little bit. Really nice guy. I just get self-conscious saying “I’m sorry, what was that?” too often.
I hope the check engine light is off when I arrive. I feel like that would give me more credibility in talking about it. I wouldn’t be the guy who only came in because his check engine light’s on. I’m not going in because my check engine light’s on. I’m going in because I need an oil change. But my check engine light is on. I hope it’s off on Monday. Because of the credibility thing. I feel like saying, “My check engine light’s been on and off for the last week,” conveys that I’m a guy who’s willing to take proactive steps to take care of his car, as opposed to a guy whose car is provoking him to take it to the car doctor. I’d rather show up to the dentist and tell him my tooth’s been hurting now and then than show up to the dentist with a hurting tooth. Weird thing about me, now that I think about it.
In sum:
Today, I will put ten gallons of Shell’s premium gasoline (93 octane, I believe, and roughly 60 cents more expensive than the cheap, regular unleaded stuff) into my gas tank. I will deliver food for five or six hours, during which time I expect my check engine light to switch off and on a few times. I won’t drive very much on Sunday, but Monday morning I will get up and I will drive to the Jeep dealership I go to now, trying to arrive right after 7 AM. I will ask for an oil change, and for them to service my differential. I will say that I don’t need a tire rotation, but I will ask them to do the multipoint inspection or whatever it is they call it (this is how I’ll phrase it—I’ll say, “the multipoint inspection or whatever it is you guys call it”). I want that inspection paper because I want to know if the brakes are all good, or if I should go to Firestone and get them checked out. I think they’ll do the inspection whether I ask or not, but I think one time I was too specific about only needing an oil change, and I didn’t get the inspection. When I’ve asked for the oil change and the differential being serviced and the multipoint inspection or whatever it is they call it but not the tire rotation, I’ll bring up the check engine light and tell them what’s been going on. It might be on. I hope it’s off.
