csammisrun

Dethkar seems to be slowly winding down to its end of life. I fixed the electrical problem on Monday, turns out that the wiring splice jobs that the previous owner put in were faulty (who’d have guessed) and pulling them out solved the problem. Later this afternoon I’ll be diagnosing the squealing coming from the belt area, though at this point I’m thinking that it could be the water pump itself. There is one good thing about old cars: if I’m mindful to fix the squealing, whatever it is, it’s pretty cheap to do so myself. A new belt is only $15, a new water pump is $35. It’d take a while to get to the pump, but it’s not impossible. The biggest pain in the ass would be draining the coolant first.

Being fully aware that Dethkar has paid its dues and it may not actually be worth fixing, I went looking around Kansas City Mazda dealerships (there aren’t many) for the car I’d want: a dark blue Mazda3 5-door with a manual transmission. It seems I’ve picked a relatively rare beast. There are very few Mazda3 hatchbacks in Kansas City, only one of them is a manual, and it’s bright red and has many miles on it already. I went to a Mazda dealer in Olathe and ended up test driving a Mazda3 sedan with a manual, being told that the hatchback was basically the same thing but about 200lbs heavier. It is a very very nice car, and I asked the salesman if there was a chance of locating the vehicle I wanted in the nearby areas. He said he’d look, and today he called to say that one had been located in Omaha and another in St. Louis. I’m not quite ready to buy, but it’s good to know that there are options.