Oil Change Glitch

On the way out of Chetumal we found a Taller Mechanico shop and stopped for an oil change. I had the oil and filter with me so all the guy had to do was crawl underneath, drain the old oil, change the filter and refill. Easy – I have done it myself dozens of times.

It was really hot and humid. 94 outside and the best the air conditioning was about 83 inside so we stayed inside while they worked. Eventually I went out to see how they were doing and they had two buckets of liquid beside the truck. One was obviously the old oil and the other was unknown. I stuck my finger in it and it was RED!!! Automatic transmission fluid! I looked at the guy and he smiled and said, “Si, transmission”.

I asked him why he drained the transmission and he said, “No problema”, the Mexican answer to almost everything. I crawled underneath and could see where he made his mistake. The transmission drain plug was out in the open while the engine oil drain plug was kind of hidden. To be fair, he had only drained about a litre of it before he noticed his error. I asked if he could get more fluid and he said, “Si, no problema”.

They finished the oil change and another mechanic arrived and took the transmission oil into the shop. He poured it out of the bucket and through a filter he made of a rag (hopefully clean) and showed me. It looked clean, at least all the leaves were gone, and he poured it back into the transmission through the dip stick tube. He had me start the truck and put it in drive, pulled the dipstick and showed me that it was reading full. “No problema”, they all said…

I paid the bill, a fairly reasonable $150 pesos and we were on our way with me making a mental note to have the transmission serviced as soon as we get back to the USA.

Hmmm… What Happened Here?

When the trip started, both dolly fenders looked the same. A few days ago as I was unloading the car something had changed…

Right Fender:

Left Fender:

Tope damage? Unlikely. There were no gravel roads that day… Who knows? Anyway there was a nice quarter inch deep groove cut down the centre of the tire where it looks like a bolt has dragged on it. It is one of life’s mysteries… The licence plate was attached to the tail light and that is gone as well. I will have to call Master Tow to arrange for a new fender as we pass through the USA. The license plate will have to wait until we get home.

Honda Maintenance Day

The small problem I had with the Honda battery the other day reminded me to do some maintenance. This 89 Accord was my dad's car and he would be turning in his grave if he knew how badly I neglect it. He used to wash it twice a week and I wash it three or four times a year. He would never let a scratch or rock chip go unrepaired and now it has many of those. It has over 250,000 KM on it and is perfect for Mexico as another ding would never be noticed and we can park and drive it without fear of being mistaken for rich gringos.

I put new tires on it before we left Canada and since we tow it on the dolly, the rear tires get many more KMs on them than the front. I found a tire place (Llantara) today and had them rotated. Cost was $50 pesos or $4.50 CAN. Labour is badly undervalued in Mexico.

When the mechanico cleaned the battery posts the other day he showed me the engine oil was a little low so I went in search of a place to get it changed. I found a Pro 1 shop that was changing the oil in a taxi so I figured that was a pretty good recommendation and pulled in. I had my own oil (but no filter) if I needed it but the guy had everything on hand and supplied the filter and 20 - 50 oil. I bought an extra filter from him for next time and the bill came to $380 pesos ($34 CAN). This is quite a bit (for Mexico) but oil is very expensive here for some reason and multi-grade is hard to find. Everyone else seems to use straight 30 weight. As usual, there were no appointments needed and no line-ups. I waited for him to finish the cab in front of me and another guy pulled in out front while I was being worked on. No muss, no fuss no bait and switch and I was on my way. Another beautiful day in Mexico and the Honda is good for another 5000 KM. Yes dad, I will wash it.

Mexican Mechanics

When we headed out for Sam’s Club and dinner yesterday the Honda would not start. We pushed it over to the front of the motorhome for a jump start and when I opened the hood, I saw a mass of green corrosion over the terminals. I don't know what caused it. The battery is a year and a half old and was clean when we left home in November. It may have something to do with the high humidity down here.

Downtown we stopped at a Taller Mechanico, showed him the problem and asked him to clean it up. He cleaned the terminals and battery and coated the terminals with grease before checking the starting. He then checked all fluid levels, topped up the brake fluid, gave me the rest of the can and wiped up. Total cost? $60 pesos or about $5.40 CAN. I love Mexico!