Yep, I Can Tune-up A Car!


My brother Phil & me.
When I was living in St. Louis in the mid-90s, I was driving an aging Toyota Tercel that was on its last legs. It was badly in need of a tune-up. I was low on funds. I knew my brother Phil, who is an auto mechanic, would tune-up my car for me in his spare time, but he didn't have a lot of spare time. His services are very popular.

My car wasn't going to go much farther without some help, though. So I drove over to Phil's house to urge him to give my car a look. Turns out Phil had more than a busy schedule, he had a broken arm. His right arm was in a sling and he couldn't tune-up my car even if he wanted to.

Desperation set in. Phil told me not to worry because if I was game, he would walk me through the tune up. It was simple he said. I just had to go to the auto-parts store and get the supplies he told me to pick-up. I had nothing to lose.


It took a little over an hour but I did it! Phil is a good teacher and he made things real simple for me. I changed the spark plugs, and filters and checked the fluids and topped them off. I felt empowered. I felt like I could tune-up everyone's car. Well, I can't but that really felt good. My little hooptie was running well and I didn't have to worry about breaking down somewhere on the road. Yayyy, Phil. That's my brother and I love him.

Comments

  1. Wow! How great was it of Phil to help you out with the tune up? Not only is he a good teacher, but you’re also an awesome student as well. It seems like you picked up on the tune up pretty well. Take note, however, that the engine or the spark plugs aren’t the only ones that need tuning up. When it comes to things like this, it’s better to be safe than sorry. You’re already working under the hood of your car, why not take it a bit further?

    Andrew Ward @ AcesAutomotive

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  2. Hey Andrew, thanks so much for reading my blog. I had a lot of fun bragging about tuning up my car, but I won't be working on any more cars. That time was an act of desperation! I've looked under the hoods of some of today's cars and it looks like you need a computer engineering degree to work under there!

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