Zen and the Art of DIY Car Maintenance #03 …

There’s a stand out section for me in the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and it is the part where the author describes making, or proposing to make makeshift ‘shims’ for his friends John and Sylvia Sutherland’s new and exclusively dealer serviced BMW motorcycle. Pirsig tries to explain how shims made from a discarded Coca-Cola can would be perfectly adequate and functionally identical to those fitted by the BMW Dealer’s mechanics at exorbitant costs. John Sutherland could not see this or be convinced, so programmed was he that only the main dealer has the expertise, equipment and materials to carry out such a task.

“In the book, the narrator describes the “romantic” approach to life of his friend, John Sutherland, who chooses not to learn how to maintain his expensive new motorcycle. John simply hopes for the best with his bike, and when problems do occur he often becomes frustrated and is forced to rely on professional mechanics to repair it. In contrast, the “classical” narrator has an older motorcycle which he is usually able to diagnose and repair himself through the use of rational problem-solving skills.”

So, what has this got to do with the 3 old cars in my family you may ask? A short time ago I wrote about the dreaded ‘Engine Fault’ light, cheap DIY diagnostic tools and repairing the EGR Valve. In that post I discovered and pointed out a missing ‘gasket’, missing for several years it turns out, omitted by accident or through lack of care by a ‘reputable’ local garage of self proclaimed ‘Motor Engineers’. At the time, needing the car back on the road and concluding that one more week running minus the gasket while I source a replacement can’t do that much harm, I re-assembled, tested and had the car back on the road.

At the end of that previous post I even screen shot an image of the replacement gasket I’d found and ordered for what I considered quite a hefty price of £9.99! Anyway, gasket arrived but car was busy until this last Sunday when both car was available and weather favourable (yes I’m a wimp and have to work outside) for fitment, 1/2 hour, maybe one hour max? – Wrong! See below;

When I was ‘on my tools’ in Heavy Engineering working as a Millwright, we used to say “the art of our trade was not when things went right, but how we overcame and resolved issues when things didn’t go right“. The little episode above reminded of that saying.

Please note: No Green ‘Recycling Wheelie Bins’ were harmed during the execution of this DIY Car Maintenance session 😉

Thank you for reading.