Lots of car stuff this week in pubski. I also have car stuff.

I had gotten new ignition coils for my car, after getting quoted $700 to have the work done at a mechanic and realizing that the parts themselves are less than $300 and the labor is like assembling legos.

So I've had the coils for about a week prior (and I needed them BAD at this point as the stutter and misfiring was getting pretty common), but the simple process of putting them in was stymied by an unsuspected obstacle. The screws for the cover to access the coils were totally seized in place. Nothing would make any (bar one) budge. The screw tops were starting to strip before the screw would move, and I warped two torx bits! I even took it to a mechanic to see if they'd get the screws out, but they didn't know what they could do and recommended a bolt specialist.

Finally after seemingly exhausting all other options I took a drill to them to drill off the heads so I could remove the plate and do the repair. I would at least have one screw to put it back on with.

Turns out that drilling through the screw head loosens up the screw, and I was able to remove all but one without having a shaft stuck in the hole. Still only have one screw holding the plate back on though.

After the swap it runs like a dream. Now I only have to deal with:

Anti-personnel Takata airbags

Oil leak

Burnt out marker lights

Occasional random electronics systems failures