Yeah, basically, this is what I need to do to get my car's headlights cleared up. But I will sand them up to 3000 grit before moving to Tamiya's Rubbing Compounds and eventually coat them with some weird UV coating which I have ordered from China.
Replacing my Myvi's external window weather strips
So, yeah, I had to get these done earlier instead of waiting for the next few months as we seem to be experiencing sudden rain in this hot weather. The rubbers for these window weather strip has been deteriorating since last year and most of the shops I asked, did not have stock. This is because my MyVi is technically a 1st Generation and so, some parts a kinda hard to get.
Except for PH Auto. They cost a little more and can be within my reach instead of waiting for a few days just to save some bucks.
For the rest of the afternoon, I was replacing the rubbers. Yeah, the half an hour job went well beyond that because I was struggling to pull these damn pieces off without scratching the car further or breaking the window glass....
The part numbers for these are: FRHS: 68161-B1010 RRHS: 68163-B1010 FLHS: 68162-B1010 RLHS: 68164-B1010 |
The rubber has been deteriorating to the point that you can see some of them coming loose in the blowing wind. Yeah, they are brittle too. |
All four weather strips needs to be changed at once and I cannot skimp on these. |
Some people mentioned that these weather strips were very easy to remove. Yeah, right. I had to use a screwdriver and ended up scratching the car. |
Anyhoo, you need to make sure that you're pulling them in a firm upward direction or something like that. I yanked too much and it broke off. These again, mine were more than 10 years old. |
The problem with Monopolies
So, maybe I was not thinking straight or maybe, I have encountered some form of stupidity which took me a long time to brain this and overcome the situation.
The mission was a very simple one: Purchase two new Touch n Go cards.
Right?
But, no. You see, first you need to buy the card and then top it up with money. You have to follow THEIR Rules.
First problem:
The Tough n Go booth does not sell the Cards.
Second problem:
There are two TnG machines located quite some distance away. You can use the short cut ie a straight line though the Parking Basement which is a little hot.
Third Problem:
There is a long queue and the machine does not give back change.
Fine. So I decided to walk about 100m away to their actual Booth. Oh, guess what? They do not sell the cards.
Fourth Problem:
How to cleanly break a RM50?
Yeah, I had to dig around for a RM10 somewhere in the car to break the cycle, then queue up at the booth to get the card.
Fifth Problem:
They only can top up RM10, RM20 and RM50
Because of the queue, I went back to the booth but he would not accept the RM30 request. So I opted for the RM20 denomination and then he charged me RM0.50 for that.
Sixth Problem:
20 minutes later, a friend wanted a card too. I queued up at the machine again, bought the card. Re-entered the machine again and topped up from there.
It did not charge me RM0.50 for that.
WTF
Although I do not know their background story nor do I want to, this does give me an impression that the whole process is very inefficient. Because they're the only boys in town for the last two decades, you can witness first-hand how monopolies creates more problems instead of solutions.
Flushing the Radiator Part 2
So, after running the car for a few days, it was time to flush the cleaning chemicals out. I had to let the car run for a few minutes first so that well, the sediments would mix with the cleaning chemicals again.
Once the engine is more or less cooled down, I had to untwist the plug located at the bottom of the radiator. Because the engine was still hot, I could not stuff my fat arms inside. |
See that little yellowish butterfly? I has to crawl from under to untwist it to release and drain the hot water from the radiator |
This is the part where I start to worry. The total contents that came out from the radiator was very much less although there were quite a lot of what I suspect would be rust particles. |
After letting the water from the hose run, I started the engine again. This would help the fresh water to circulate a little. |
This kept on until there were no more suds left. |
At this time, I remove the 10mm bolt holding the reservoir bottle as I wanted to clean it too. |
There was sediment in there as well |
I ma using Toyota Long Life Coolant. But after talking to my Techs the other day, they preferred I use Perodua's own brand as this is one kinda a little harsh to the system |
Well, I am quite disappointed as the whole exercise did not reduce the temperature but to a smidgen. Still I'll drive around for a few days to see if there is any effect. |
Conclusion
The temperature did not really go down much but I'll drive the car around for a day or two to see if there is any changes. Still, despite all these, the only thing else I can do would be to change the aging water pump and based on Internet prices, they are not cheap. I suppose I will do this after replacing the head gasket.
Letting go a part of me
No Turning Back
It's not easy for me to come to this decision but it has to be done. More than 17 years ago, I was given two choices and I could make the decision if I wanted.
However, now, that is no longer an option and I need to make the decision today.
The last few years really made me grumpy, have weird odours and sensitive to cold drinks despite using Sensodyne. It was when I wore masks during the Pandemic did I realise that I have a problem |
The problem happened in the early 2020 (during MCO)when I felt part of my filling came off. Since we realised that the Dentist was from Singapore, there was a very high possibility that she was not in KL at that time and also, according to the news report, there was a section nearby her which was cordoned off by the authorities.
And so, after the MCO kinda relaxed a bit this week, I decided to make an appointment to visit the Dentist, thinking it's just a simple job of filling the tooth again and also, asking them to take a look at the side which I felt was a hole.
Oh, Boy.
From the X-ray. my left second molar was being pushed by my Wisdom teeth trying to come out. There is a gap between the two teeth and this is where the food that got lodged in started its destruction despite my cleaning carefully everyday. In the end, I chose to extract the rotting molar instead of the Wisdom teeth since this was the choice with less complications.
The Calculated Nightmare
This was a very difficult choice for me but then again, I more or less know what is coming. It's just that I was not emotionally prepared for such horrors such as a bloodied tooth and injections (that could punch through into the jaw?). Nevertheless, it was kinda fun and surreal that half my face went numb with the local anesthesia and I kinda fell asleep halfway. But after three attempts, it finally came off.
The Dentist used what I learnt later was called an Elevator (But it still looked like a pair of fancy pincers to me). He did ask me to close my eyes if I do not want to see the whole thing. I am still suffering from neck pain because I was instinctively fighting his left and right rocking motion during the extraction.
The Aftermath
Well, after the blood has kinda clot and sealed up, I was OK. There was no pain even though the Dentist told me the anesthetics would wear off in three hours.
It just kinda feel weird to chew food in one side of the mouth and if it felt funny, I know I would need to use my tongue to clear the excess food trying to hide in where the molar once was.
The Tooth
Yeah, I am keeping it and just have to find ways to clean and store it.
Flushing the Radiator Part 1
So, the second phase of my project is to treat the car's cooling system. My plan is to replace the thermostat and also flush out all the rust/debris that accumulated over the 10-year period. Of course it has been flushed before but this time, I am going to use the Prestone AS105 Radiator Flush+ Cleaner.
In my previous car, I would just flush it after letting the engine running for 15 minutes. But this time, as per the instructions, I would drive the car for a few days, then flush it out and replace with Toyota Long Life coolant and leave it in there for maybe, two years?
This was the original thermostat from the car and the brown is actually the 10 year old rust |
And it would be operating when the water temperature reaches 80°C |
Compare this with the one I bought, which is gleaming silver. |
The temperature gauge (on the right) is about 50% and once this is completed, I hope it would drop back to about 25% or thereabouts. If it does not, it means the water pump would be the next suspect. |
I need to work on Monday
Well, so, um the Second Part did not happen. I was meaning to swap the thermostat in the evening when it is much cooler after the brief downpour. Alas, the pair of 10mm bolts were so tight, I was worried that my small Pro's Kit ratchet might break if I keep forcing the turn.
So, if my ratchet broke halfway, I might not be able to put the whole thing back again. So, this means, I might need to enlist
the help of the Mechanics where I work. I was so into making a video
of both thermostats 'moving' when I pour hot and cold water. You know, Science.
The water temperature on the right usually points to about 25%, but now, its about 50%. This means and I hope is the problem with the thermostat. |
This is one of the two bolts. Its a tight squeeze to get in there but the main problem is to apply enough torque to get the bolt moving. |
And yes, Folks. This is the thermistor. |