The Fun Guy's Journal: 191.1 What about the oven and the car?

Since I'm on the subject of repairman-style dash and elan, I'll update on my oven and car.

The gas oven wouldn't light. After quite a long time, many minutes, it would be a bit warmer than ambient, but not hot. Burners and broiler come on, but not the oven. The troubleshooting section in the owner's manual basically boils down to a) be sure it's plugged in, b) be sure the gas is on, c) call a repairman.

Oh, good heavens, we can't have that! With much diagnosing and tracking down part numbers, I've determined that the igniter is shot. It's a glow bar, a little open-faced resistor that gets hot enough to ignite a trickle of gas from the burner bar. When this lights up, the much greater amount of heat triggers a thermocouple, which opens a gas valve to full on. Whoosh, big flame.

Except in my case, the glow bar wasn't getting hot enough to do the job. I couldn't find a replacement locally, so I turned to web sources. Cost of the replacement varied depending on the merchant, from $21 to $135. I went for a $25 model that looked the same and gave tech specs that matched the original's, even if the housing looks a tad different. It should be here Thursday. (I hope so, because I'm leaving for a float trip on Friday morning.)

Incidentally, I didn't go with the $21 version because it didn't give any tech specs and the item page said "guaranteed to work!" in three different places. Such assurances tend to have the opposite effect than intended, as far as I'm concerned.

As for my car, I'm just going to take it into my mechanic tomorrow morning. The exhaust system broke, and it makes terrible exhaust noise. When I sit at idle, I can really smell the exhaust, so it probably separated just after the manifold. I'm going to have him check the brakes and tie rods, too, since I get a nasty scraping sound when I take a hard right turn.

This car is an old clunker, but since the engine still runs OK and the structural elements of the body are still in decent shape, it will have to do for a while longer. It has trouble starting, but that's probably a battery issue, something to address before winter.

Most of the fit and finish stuff is gone or broken, the rust holes would be noticeable if those really rusty parts were still attached, the seals and gaskets are cracked and leaky.

Still, with at least two, maybe three sets of braces to pay for in the next year or two, and various other sudden and unexpected expenses, a new car tends to be last on the list. For a hundred here and a hundred there, it will keep running for a good long while.

As for my dryer...

[Qzukk]

I got the thing apart and the entire timer assembly is in one big metal shell, held together by bent-over tabs (not at all user-servicing friendly). I'll have to try and trace the wires (or find a schematic) to see if I can figure out which leads should be active at each position of the knob before trying to open the thing (or just buying a replacement). Who knows, maybe the only problem with the timer is that it doesn't cut off the motor without me wiggling the knob, and the "real" problem is somewhere e