The first month or so went smoothly. Sometime after that, the trouble started. Not being much of a mechanic, when the truck first had trouble starting, I rushed out and bought a new battery (the first $100). When that didn't fix the problem, I had to think a little more. My next trip was to O'Reiley's. The guy working there told me that from what I was saying, that the problem was more likely wire connections. I spent about six dollars and thought the problem was solved. Well, it wasn't fixed for long. It turns out that the starter was indeed bad. In fact, it almost caught fire in the testing machine! A new starter was purchased (for the second time) and installed (for the first time). Still, the truck wouldn't start. Lori's favorite part of the story is when I got stranded and had to push-start it on a flat parking lot in front of the Furniture Mart. Finally, I tried out my voltmeter. The battery wasn't holding a charge. Well, at least the new battery wasn't. I re-installed the old battery and finally the problem was solved. Bob at Advance Auto confirmed that the battery was indeed bad and gladly returned it - cutting the final cost of the repair in half! Lets just hope that the clutch holds out in this truck!
Here are a couple of pictures of some father-son bonding somewhere in the middle of the many repair attempts.
