On our way to two January concerts in Charlotte, NC we had to make a quick and nasty pit stop (our 3rd child got car sick and threw up...yeah that's the nasty part). After we got back on the road we noticed that the check engine light was on and it was solid (verse blinking). Looking at the Ford manual it says (gross paraphrase) 'no big deal it's probably bad fuel or your gas cap is loose'.
Since we put 60,000+ miles on our vehicle a year I figured I'd at least check the error code (Autozone will check the code for free). I can't remember what the code was off the top of my head but it was something about the EGR System (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) and that's some pretty serious stuff!
Next call I make is to the Ford dealership that usually services our vehicle and it's going to take 2 days on the lot before they can even check it with their "Super Ford Computer". Ouch! But OK we can deal with it because after all we travel 60,000+ miles a year in this vehicle and need it to be in tip top shape.
This morning I'm at Meridees in Franklin, TN (go there if you can...amazing pastries!) and I get a call from our Ford Service Department. Apparently we had lost fuel injectors 3 and 7 on the right hand bank and 1 and 5 were beginning to fail fast...PLUS...the EGR valve is sticking. Now the awesome thing that I haven't mentioned yet is that last April, 2010 we spent $3,000 getting the whole EGR Cooler replace (I have no idea what it really does...Google it for crying out loud!) and injector #4 on the left hand bank. Now we are basically loosing the whole right hand bank, and most of the left hand bank is still old and could go. Immediately I get on the phone with all my friends that know Diesel Engines and they all agree...go ahead and replace all the injectors on the left bank too.
What does this all mean? It means our emergency fund (Thank you Dave Ramsey!!!) is now $4,000 leaner. Which is scary because we, as independent musicians, already are living at poverty level (yes...we live on less that $1,600 per month...try that!). So to put this all into music terms...we need to sell 6,413 downloads from iTunes to pay for our engine repairs.
So who's up for it? Anyone want to help us cover this expense? Look up NEELY on iTunes and download a song or two off our album "Everything I Am" (or the whole album if you really love us!) then give all your friends our sob story and plead with them to do the same.
We love y'all and Thanks for those of you who will do this...y'all ROCK!
Since we put 60,000+ miles on our vehicle a year I figured I'd at least check the error code (Autozone will check the code for free). I can't remember what the code was off the top of my head but it was something about the EGR System (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) and that's some pretty serious stuff!
Next call I make is to the Ford dealership that usually services our vehicle and it's going to take 2 days on the lot before they can even check it with their "Super Ford Computer". Ouch! But OK we can deal with it because after all we travel 60,000+ miles a year in this vehicle and need it to be in tip top shape.
This morning I'm at Meridees in Franklin, TN (go there if you can...amazing pastries!) and I get a call from our Ford Service Department. Apparently we had lost fuel injectors 3 and 7 on the right hand bank and 1 and 5 were beginning to fail fast...PLUS...the EGR valve is sticking. Now the awesome thing that I haven't mentioned yet is that last April, 2010 we spent $3,000 getting the whole EGR Cooler replace (I have no idea what it really does...Google it for crying out loud!) and injector #4 on the left hand bank. Now we are basically loosing the whole right hand bank, and most of the left hand bank is still old and could go. Immediately I get on the phone with all my friends that know Diesel Engines and they all agree...go ahead and replace all the injectors on the left bank too.
What does this all mean? It means our emergency fund (Thank you Dave Ramsey!!!) is now $4,000 leaner. Which is scary because we, as independent musicians, already are living at poverty level (yes...we live on less that $1,600 per month...try that!). So to put this all into music terms...we need to sell 6,413 downloads from iTunes to pay for our engine repairs.
So who's up for it? Anyone want to help us cover this expense? Look up NEELY on iTunes and download a song or two off our album "Everything I Am" (or the whole album if you really love us!) then give all your friends our sob story and plead with them to do the same.
We love y'all and Thanks for those of you who will do this...y'all ROCK!
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