Car time

I changed the belts of alternator and A/C in Galant today. The replaced belts were installed maybe a couple thousand miles back by A.C.E. at 57W Grant Line. They are, essentially, brand new. However, they started squealing horribly when the car was cold, and it was getting worse and worse. A.C.E. used Goodyear belts. I bought OEM belts at Modesto Mitsubishi.

I managed to forget that P/S belt on Galant 2.4L is separate, and only ordered two others. We'll see if this one needs replacement as well.

This got me a little disappointed in A.C.E. They aim to be a higher grade shop, which makes them fractionally more expensive than, for example, their neighbour California Proserve. But not only they gave me substandard belts, but also they lost the regulating bolt from the tensioning pulley on the A/C side. I had to buy a new bolt in Home Depot.

For some reason, I am having a bad luck stretch with independent shops. My favourite transmission place, J&M (run by Mauricio Urtega), managed to return Galant to me with a leak from the tranxale pan. I certainly hope that this is only a poorly installed gasket rather than a stripped bolt socket. Stripping a socket and not telling me would ruin the trust in the shop.