I got a call from the auto repair place, that went something like this:
"Mr Hoffman, I have good news and bad news, which would you like first??
I asked for the bad news…
"I'm going to give you the good news first… we found the problem."
I asked for the bad news again…
He said "The cost is $1048." There were two issues, and I thank the Lord for his timing. I blew a hose in the back of the engine, which is what caused the leaking fluid I saw under the truck. At the same time the fuel pump gave out. Everything could have been worse, it died in a parking lot 500 feet from the repair place and 1/2 mile from the house. My battery was also almost dead.
I picked up the truck when the repairs were completed and it went all of 100 feet, stalled and I could not get the truck started again (at a stop sign just about to leave the parking lot). I walked back to the NTB and asked if the warranty was more that 100 feet.
The mechanic came out to the truck and was able to get it started again, he told me there were a bunch of other issues he wrote up, and he asked if I was informed (needs spark plugs, the wires were old and arcing, the distributor cap need to to be replaced, a screw from the distributor had rusted out, broke off and fell into the distributor. The coil was arcing and needed to be replaced. I was not informed. The mechanic had been told that I just wanted to spend the minisum to get the truck running again (not exactly what I had said). The additional repairs will cost between $450-$660 (depending on whether or not he could get the screw out of the distributor). Again, I think it is the Lord's timing. Had they quoted $1600 up front, I would have probably taken it as a sign that the Lord wanted us to give up the truck. In two parts, it made sense to do the repairs (please pray that this will fix the balance of my issues and the truck will be serviceable).
