Car Woes

Intermittently for the past year or so, my car would make a gurgling-type noise while decelerating or idling. It was ignored initially, because it happened rarely. But, as things tend to do, it gradually got worse until I realized it was doing it more often than not. This became more obvious as I did a lot of idling while dropping Cadence off at school. Finally, it grew from irritation to concern and after the guys at the Jiffy Lube (oil change and state inspection appointment) were clueless over it, I went to google. It was several days of trying various combinations and combing through forum posts and maintenance articles.

I finally found a youtube video that sounded similar to my engine and blamed the IAC valve. I had already been considering this, even though most complaints about the valve involved a different noise complaint (a whining/humming sound). We opted for the cheap fix first: take the piece out, clean it out and see if it made a difference.

Oh, it made a difference all right. The sound got worse. Instead of happening most of the time, it happened every single time. I spent 2 days hating my car before I returned to google and confirmed cleaning the valve was an option, but most of the time didn't work. So, saying a prayer and going on a hunch, we put the money into the replacement part.

Once we compared the new part and the old part, we realized the valve was most definitely the problem. The rod is most likely not missing, it's probably just so gummed up, it's stuck out of sight. Either way, once the new part was in, my engine was so quiet at idle during this morning's drop-off at school, I kept having to roll down my window to listen for my normal V8 rumble.

Of course, now I can hear all the other squeaks and sounds the engine is making and I can't remember what's "normal", because all I'm used to anymore is the loud gurgle (made from air vibrations in the air intake system, specifically resulting is loud vibrations throughout, most strongly felt/heard at the air filter housing).

I am bummed I didn't get a picture of Connor. While James and I tinkered with the car, he came out and started touching the engine cover and got adorable smudges of car gunk all over his hands and face. I tried handing him a wrench to grab a picture, but he wouldn't sit still.

The dog also got my on my crap-list while we were fiddling with the car. The first time, he got in the front yard with Connor and then saw a cat. I basically threw Connor to James and sprinted after him. He hadn't gotten far before he found people, forgot the cat and cornered them in their truck. When I called for him, he ran straight to me and I dragged him home.

I obviously didn't learn my lesson, because two days later, when I was tinkering again, Connor opened the kitchen door to let both of them out into the garage (I'd left the garage door open so I could hear the kids while I was in the driveway). Same cat, same problem. I sprinted down the block once again. This time when I called for him, Beau realized I was mad and ran to another truck to beg them for their protection from my wrath. They betrayed him in the end, holding him so I could drag him back once again.

The car tinkering is not quite done. I want to clean out the throttle, just for good measure, and James has plans to change my brakes this weekend.

Also trying to decide whether or not to swing by the Jiffy Lube and tell them what the problem was so if they encounter the problem again, they can offer a suggestion to future customers.