Chevron Station: Fill & Download for Free

Years ago, I had a 1982 Oldsmobile Delta 88 like this one.The intake manifold gasket was leaking, so I decided to fix it myself. After hours of trying to get the metal gasket lined up with one hand while holding vacuum hoses and wires out of the way with the other, I finally got it back together. I probably should've gotten some help, but I wanted to do it on my own. I was proud of my work, until I turned it on.It made the worst metal on metal sound I had ever heard. I immediately shut it off. I knew I screwed up the job and the pistons were hitting against the manifold. Or, something like that. I wasn't quite sure, but by the sound, I knew it was going to destroy the engine if I kept running it.I didn't have much money, but did have a Chevron credit card that would reimburse me for towing. So,I had it towed to the Chevron station by my house. I explained what I did and the sound it was making. I told the mechanic that I butchered the gasket replacement and needed them to redo it. It was going to be $400. I authorized it. I knew I could have had it done cheaper somewhere else, but could only pay with the Chevron card. I didn't have much choice.The mechanic asked me to turn it on. It made the horrible metal on metal sound. He told me to shut it off and called another mechanic over. Then he called another. Soon, every mechanic in the shop was looking at it.I felt my stomach sink. It was worse than I thought and was going to cost a fortune. Then he called me over said the craziest thing I've ever heard a mechanic say. “It's not the intake manifold gasket. You actually did a decent job on it. Here's the problem.”He had another mechanic start the car. That horrible sound was back. Then, he moved the metal air intake hose away from the spinning alternator that was rubbing against it. The noise stopped.Why was what he said crazy? Because he could have easily pulled the car into the garage, moved the hose, had lunch, and charged me $400. I wouldn't have questioned it because I already authorized it and had convinced myself it needed to be done.But, he didn't. He was honest and only charged a small diagnostic charge. That's what was crazy.

Don't try to pump your own gas. In Oregon it's illegal for a gas station to let a driver pump their own gas (and I love it).If you're in Portland, the cheapest gas is at Costco, or at the ARCO station on SE 39th & Belmont. Unless you are literally running on fumes, do not buy gas at the Chevron station on West Burnside and 23rd. That's the most expensive place in town.If you are not in Portland...Oregon is big and contains several different climates. West of the Cascades and east of the Coastal Range, the Willamette Valley is temperate and rainy 8-9 months of the year, temperate and dry in the summers. West of the Coastal Range the weather is wetter and windier. East of the Cascades you are in the high desert, where the conditions can be far more extreme and everything is farther apart. Gas up your car, make sure you have a good spare tire ... and if you are within 100 miles of it for any reason, do not miss Crater Lake. I promise you that you have never seen anything like it. Yes, it really is that blue.

I think that garage mechanic scams were much more of a problem many years ago than today.Back in the late 1970s I was driving cross-country with my new bride on our honeymoon in a 1975 AMC Pacer (!). We stopped somewhere in Texas at a Chevron station. Full service gas stations were the norm then, and two guys immediately came out.One started to fill the car, but I noticed in the passenger rear view mirror that the second guy had crouched down momentarily by the passenger side rear wheel. When he stood up I actually saw him put a small oil can in his overalls pocket. I was about to witness a scam I’d actually read about in the paper a month or two earlier.The attendant then comes to me and says, “Sir, your shock absorber is busted and leaking. Fortunately I have your size in stock. Please take a look.” I got out and looked with him. Sure enough, there was fluid apparently leaking on the shock, and on the ground. If I hadn’t seen him with the oil can and read about this, I probably would have fallen for it.But I said, “No thanks. I’ll pass.” He then said, “Is that your wife in the car?” When I said yes, he actually said, “I wouldn’t let my wife ride in such an unsafe car.”I told him, “To be honest with you, we’ve been arguing a lot lately.”I paid for the gas, and we drove off!