We've been having some crazy weather this winter for SoCal. Actual winter. It seriously snowed in Malibu (the canyon and at 1500ft elevation) the other week. I mean strange.
This is a link to the ABC News twitter page showing the snow in Malibu.
It has been an unusually wet and cold winter for us. There is an El Nino (forgive the missing tilde) sitting in the Pacific causing all our wet weather.
The cold is something else and who knows why it is so cold this winter for SoCal. Global (global, people, the entire globe, not your specific block, nor neighborhood, nor zip code, nor area code, nor county, nor state, not even your country. . .) warming--maybe? A 10 year (or so) cycle--again maybe? Something else, quite possibly.
The great news is that we're getting all kinds of snow up in the Sierras. Mammoth Mountain is having a similar winter as their 2016/2017 season. They were open until July in 2017.
Unfortunately, like 2017, we're supposed to have a hot summer. Again, global warming. . .10 year cycle. . . Something else? I have no idea, but that's what Farmer's Almanac is saying for California and they tend to get it right.
So, yay, snow and cold for now. I'm actually looking forward to the summer too. WOO!
Until the next time, keep it rubber side down.
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Sunday, February 3, 2019
New Battery
My 2004 Toyota Tacoma has always gone through batteries quickly. I haven't ever bothered to hunt down the cause. I know, shame on me. Instead, I buy the Gold Level battery from Autozone which comes with a 3-year warranty. For the most part, my truck will kill the battery within that three year window and Autozone is kind enough to replace it without question. I had to replace the battery just in the new year after letting my truck sit while on break during The Holidays. Thankfully, I discovered it because I tried to go to the RC track and play.
The real reason for this post is my new-to-me 2016 Subaru Outback 3.6R Limited I purchased back in July of 2018. It's fancy. A little too fancy sometimes. In this case, I learned the hard way that there is "Off" and "Off-Off" with this car.
The single Off puts the car in Accessory Mode. What this means is that the electronics are all still on and energized. The whole car is electronic, so a car battery has zero chance of surviving Accessory Mode if left unchecked.
Well, I let the car sit for a couple of days in Accessory Mode, unaware of it. The battery was completely dead. I was only getting 0.22 volts on my multimeter.
So, it was back to Autozone for the second time this year to buy a Gold Level battery for a vehicle. Thankfully, it wasn't the same vehicle.
The Suby battery is pretty easy to install, it just requires the infamous 10mm socket! Yes, the very one that every foreign thing needs but always seems to be missing from your socket set.
In my case, I had my 10mm socket, but I needed a deep socket to complete the job. During the trip to Autozone I made a run to Home Depot and purchased the deep socket as well as a couple other 10mm wrenches to stash in the Suby.
The battery replacement went smoothly and the car instantly started up with a fresh battery. Another plus: all the radio settings were still there. As well, the driver seat settings were still there too. No need to reprogram all that stuff.
I did learn how to make sure the car is Off-Off. First, put it in park, THEN shut the car off. After leaving the car and closing the doors, use the key fob to lock the car. If you hit the lock button twice, everything turns Off-Off.
Lesson learned.
Until next time, keep it rubber side down!
The real reason for this post is my new-to-me 2016 Subaru Outback 3.6R Limited I purchased back in July of 2018. It's fancy. A little too fancy sometimes. In this case, I learned the hard way that there is "Off" and "Off-Off" with this car.
The single Off puts the car in Accessory Mode. What this means is that the electronics are all still on and energized. The whole car is electronic, so a car battery has zero chance of surviving Accessory Mode if left unchecked.
Well, I let the car sit for a couple of days in Accessory Mode, unaware of it. The battery was completely dead. I was only getting 0.22 volts on my multimeter.
So, it was back to Autozone for the second time this year to buy a Gold Level battery for a vehicle. Thankfully, it wasn't the same vehicle.
The Suby battery is pretty easy to install, it just requires the infamous 10mm socket! Yes, the very one that every foreign thing needs but always seems to be missing from your socket set.
In my case, I had my 10mm socket, but I needed a deep socket to complete the job. During the trip to Autozone I made a run to Home Depot and purchased the deep socket as well as a couple other 10mm wrenches to stash in the Suby.
The battery replacement went smoothly and the car instantly started up with a fresh battery. Another plus: all the radio settings were still there. As well, the driver seat settings were still there too. No need to reprogram all that stuff.
I did learn how to make sure the car is Off-Off. First, put it in park, THEN shut the car off. After leaving the car and closing the doors, use the key fob to lock the car. If you hit the lock button twice, everything turns Off-Off.
Lesson learned.
Until next time, keep it rubber side down!
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