The hot weather here fried the main power relay in my 1991 Honda Civic. Apparently, when the inside of my car heats up, the circuit board in the relay expands, and over time creates tiny cracks that cause the car to refuse to start on hot days. Since it's hot all the time down here during summer, my car wasn't starting more and more often, and I have gotten temporarily stranded three times in the last two days.
I figured I'd fix it myself - how hard can it be? It's just a small electronic component under the steering wheel, and it's a simple unplug, replug maneuver, right? Boy, was I wrong.
Witness:
Everything under the steering wheel is very easily accessable EXCEPT the main power relay. I had to remove much of the dash, and still couldn't get at it. I had to pull and stretch a portion of the dash just to get in there and remove a single retaining bolt. After cursing up a storm and cutting the back of my hand, I got it out - only to discover the parts store had sold me the wrong replacement. Once I got the correct replacement, I had an even more difficult time getting the new one back in there. More cursing ensued. This little tiny fix that I thought was going to take me 30 minutes ended up taking 3 hours. Ugh. My hands are sore and I'm all sweaty and stinky.
But I feel damn good. I accomplished something today that is usually out of my range. I was able to isolate my problem and solve it, thanks to the wonders of the internet. This probably would have cost me $200 or more in parts and labor to replace at the shop, but I was able to pull it off for $65, with a sprinkle of cursing and blood thrown in. I'm awesome.
