2012 AD.
" For Chrissake it is the New Years day." - muttered the LoH. As she heard me pottering around packing up the tools and tackles.
"Great news - it's also a Sunday." - went yours truly.
" You mean no respite for the Admiral." - LoH.
" Actually the GDW is not coming today." - YT.
"He's a sensible chap." - LoH.
Well, as someone famously mentioned, the problem with a repartee is that it occurs to you after you turn a departee.
I couldn't come up with a response to that and by then I was already down with Admiral at his docking berth.
And it was an electromechanical day.
And so it began with the battery.
And that reminded me of a point raised on one of the threads here (think from Nilanjan) quipping as to why is it called 'Maintenance Free' battery when so much of care is still required. To my mind it is that it is 'Maintenance Free' between services. Meaning the MF (not an expletive please - refer previous sentence !) feature is at the owner's end between services and it has to be maintained only by the ASCs - as opposed to the earlier days when the owner had a weekly/monthly responsiblity vis a vis the battery. But unfortunately at the ASCs the battery is the last thing they look at, unless specifically asked to, even after that it could be a hit or miss as you as an owner have no way of verifying the task done unless you stand there on their heads. So it's safer to...you know !
Hey - what's that jug doing there ?
No, no not a huge jug despite what the photo suggests due to the snap angle. It is just a cute 3" toy carafe which helps me take the distilled water from the can below and easily pour it into the vents.
Thank God I explained that before someone insinuates that I carried forward the 'spirit' of the New Year eve celebrations into the engine bay.
Was also time for -
Yes lowering the stepney, checking the release mechanism and air pressure etc.
Just for a lark and out of annoyance with the cumbersome system - took the measurements of the tyre with a tape and under the floor, inside the storage are etc and came to a conclusion that it would be near impossible to have an alternate system suggested to Toyota - meaning to have a floor recess within the luggage area to hold the spare tyre for easy access etc as it would foul the suspension system below. Also realised that heaving out the humungously heavy tyre out of the luggage area recess would mean that the poor chap doing it would need a minimum build of Hercules - though even with that build, I suspect you'll need a 'Chokra' around.
But yes, I would suggest a much simpler release and securing system from inside the cabin like the Scorpio one.
Please Uncle Toyota - could you do that for the future owners of the Fortuner ? Would came as a big, big favour.
Quite happy with the rear storage space - holds quite a bit of paraphernalia:
And then it was time for me to renew my ties with the underworld Dadas. Yup, for the quaterly 'Mech-Check' down under.
All well here:
The rear wheels and suspensions seem fine:
Fuel intake hose and brake oil lines - check:
The rear tow hook (Damn ! Clunked my head on it.):
The gearbox and rear prop shaft & diff - fine.
Front prop shaft & diff - theek hai:
Gearbox mounts - look fresh and still supple to the pinch. (The only thing I pinch at the bottom !)
The 4X4 TC. The splotches here and elsewhere underneath are from the excess grease splattered around from the prop shaft.
And the front shaft & f'd diff. Just above, at 11 O' clock in the pic, attached to the aluminium clutch bell one can see the clutch slave cylinder and the actuator bellows - within which is the one end of the clutch fork jutting out. Looks fine - no tears in the bellows, to my eye.
Front wheels and suspensions look fine:
All the underworld 'Dons' look fine I think - though a little bedraggled with all the mud and muck ! But it adds to their character.
On return the good LoH took one look at my grime crusted face and clothes and asked as to whether I had tended to Admiral or had a fight with him. Even then a repartee escaped me. But then that loss for words helped maintain the peace and tranquility of a Sunday.
You can't win them all, can you - despite a fine start to 2012 ?