Mechanical Engg revisited Part 1 of 2

After a hiatus, finally I write something.. I really envy the frequent bloggers.. How do they churn out so many creations every now and then..
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I had got a car in April, a 2003 Mazda Protege and it was running well. Driving in the US is a pleasure. In India, you can trust your fellow road users to MAKE mistakes, suddenly swerve the car to show their prowess at the steering wheel, test your reflex by turning on the indicator at the last second and test your brakes by crossing the road exactly when your feet is about to give some gas. In the US, I can trust my fellow road users to adapt to MY mistakes. Pedestrians are super careful and will dare not cross until all cars come to a complete stop or disappear from the horizon, and drivers follow lane discipline and traffic rules to a T. It is credits to them and Him that with very limited driving experience in India, I managed to take my parents and my sister around when they visited me. ~3000 miles in 4 weeks was something even I did not imagine! I am in no way blaming the Indian traffic (which I have every right to). I know the root causes are in population density and there is no way individuals can be made to follow traffic rules unless it is ingrained in their blood. Alas, this article is not about traffic rules!
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So, the car was running well. Suddenly, sometime in the middle of August there were first signs of craziness. One good thing about mechanical things is that they do not suddenly fail. They wear, giving you enough time to act and then if you are lazy come down crashing. So, the signs that my car gave me was rather rocking! Yes, when I started the car or when I was idling, it will rock and vibrate as if it wants to throw me out as though I am in a bull fight! But curiously it will stop misbehaving if I step on the gas (accelerate). The technical name for such a thing was Rough idling!
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Just like how when a child misbehaves and the mother will give stare , where in it will stop misbehaving only to start causing embarrassment at the opportunistic time, I figured out a way to handle my car. Every time I idle, I will switch to neutral, keep one foot on the brake and one foot on the accelerator. It was extremely funny (and dangerous, as even if I miss one action, I am sure to get into trouble). Soon, the car was unhappy with the attention I gave and the check engine light (CEL, the miraculous light that shows up in the dashboard if it detects some malfunctioning in the engine) was on. So the Mazda dealer said he will charge me $50 for just diagnosing. I thought I could do better and went to Autoparts to get the diagnostic kit for free. The kit gave me two codes P0401 (EGR Insufficient flow) and P300 (cylinder misfire). Don't ask me what the codes meant. they sounded as crazy as my course codes.
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But, I figured out that the problem was with the EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculator) valve. It is some valve that controls the exhaust gases (which you know is nasty smoke) and the valve is blocked. Quick googling actually hinted that it is a common problem with Mazda protege and can be fixed by anybody. Call it adventurous, audacity or sheer stupidity I thought I will do this myself. So, I decided to brush up my mechanical engineering (not that I learnt anything close to practicality, but did remember studying about this EGR, in theory that is), opened the hood and tried to locate the EGR valve with no idea on what it would even look like. I disconnected the battery. Removed some wires and tubes and still had no idea where this stupid EGR is. Somehow managed to put everything back and ensured the car started again and the brakes were working. Of course the problem remained. Removing the battery and putting it back obviously would not have solved this problem.
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So one day my department wanted me to engage a visiting person for break fast (recruitment drive). And I had to take my child along:P . I thought I am just going to drive it to the hotel (5 mins) and then have breakfast at the hotel and then drive back. And so I thought. But, as luck would have it, the person said let's go out for breakfast.. Ahem ahem.. Err.. 'Don't you have a car?', 'Of course I do, Let's go' came my spontaneous reply. Funny moments ensued with my car sensing the right moments (traffic lights) to play some rock and me trying to calm it by feeding it some gas. Somehow managed to finish breakfast at Bruegger's and drop him back at the hotel.
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To be continued (Next week)