car.want.attention.NOW

the car is, for want of a better word, good.

i suppose one could say that it's been quite good to me (in addition to being good for me, in the sense that mobility is a good thing, mostly).

...never mind the gas cost and maintenance and registration and stuff that's part of the car-owning world...

...and speaking of maintenance, the car has only had two events of that nature in my limited ownership experience of it. the first time was on santolan coming home from a visit to the mum. the clutch went to the floor and stayed there. some pumping of the pedal got it unstuck, and the car was drivable long enough to get to makati and finally became immobile as i parked in front of the apartment there.

long story short, had it towed to the casa, incidentally near santolan, clutch master cylinder replaced, and working well to this day (knock on wood).

today, as i turned into the street where our office is, shifted to first, rpms to 2000, let clutch take up, and then back into the clutch to slow for the one and only hump on the street.

rpms maintained at 2000. hmm. prod the gas pedal. engine immediately dies.

um. start car. rev to 2000, let gas go. rpms sink to 1500.

okaaay. we've got a problem. get to office, unload bag, get back in car, and proceed to auto repair joints next to alabang town center.

on the way there, tried not to think too much of the sound of the car "idling" at 2000 rpm.

so, repair joint is open, good. describe the symptoms, and go and have breakfast.

coming back, they say the car is fixed - they jigged about with something called a "co"? and vacuum, and lubricated something or other.

while we were there, i remembered something that another corolla-owning officemate had recounted, something about the engine supports and a feedback vibration loop in clutch actuation.

well, since i was there already, might as well have it checked. bingo, one of the four supports was broken, and visibly so. no option there, replace.

and the morning goes by waiting for the part to come in.

i'd also had the aircon looked at, but the quotation is kinda steep, so i'm holding that off till i have a reasonable fund buffer.

going back, i still have some juddering in the clutch when engaging first on slight uphills. its either me or the clutch, but might as well add a clutch checkup to the list of repairs for the next time.

later we'll see if the fix to the carb holds...