| 1034, Where Are you? |
[Dec. 4th, 2008|10:37 pm] |
A- Driving to work today in the toyota, I was at a light and checked the reflection of my tail-lights in the car behind me. Same thing for my headlights in the car in front of me. Today I discovered that I had a brakelight out.
I was supposed to get off work at 1730, got off 30 min late, then drove a little over a mile down the road to where there happens to be Auto Zone, Napa Auto Parts, and Pep Boys all within a block of each other.
Auto Zone was first encountered and maybe the largest so I went there. There was a manager and 3 guys working inside and never more than 4 other people in the store during my time there. I went to the headlight aisle and looked for the helpful book or electronic guide to tell me which bulb I needed. None were there. I thumbed through a technical guide for my build of car but it showed how to dismantle the various lenses and the electric schematics for rewiring the lights, but not which bulb to use. So I waited in line while 2 clerks helped on customer and the other 2 tried to look busy. Eventually one of the first two assisted me and looked up which bulb to get.
1034. But when he looked it up on his computer, it showed that they don't carry that type anymore and gave me the impression that it isn't made anymore. That kind of clicked in my head because when I was looking at the various bulbs initially, I was stuck between 2057 and 1157. So the computer wouldn't tell him what to substitute with and said my best chance would be to bring the bulb inside and we could compare it with current models. Sadly, while I have a maglite, several quarts of various automotive fluids, old half-full bottles of water, and various books and CDs in the truck, I lacked any tools. I had a Gerber multi-tool in my backpack previously but it had been blocked by TSA screeners in OKC after staying on my person out of the ontario airport (I chose to leave it with my family since I had already checked my bags) so that was not an option. I bought a screwdriver from the manager since his clerks had run away somewhere for $10 (decent quality and inter-changeable bits, quake in my manly nerdiness), put on my ipod & LED headlamp, and proceeded to dismantle the taillight assembly in the parking lot. I went back inside with the burnt-out 1034 bulb to find someone that I had yet to deal with manning the front counter and everyone else scattered and trying to look busy. I explained that I needed to replace this bulb and how his store no longer carries this model. He assured me he could take care of it and asked my vehicle information so he could look up the necessary bulb model information in his computer. No surprise, the computer only listed 1034 with no substitutions.
We walked over to the bulb aisle after I again mentioned one of his co-workers' idea of cosmetically comparing the bulbs to find another that would fit. I mentioned that I thought I had previously used a bulb ending in 57 but he compared them and assured me that 1154 most matched my old bulb. The packaging made no mentioned of wattage, voltage, etc when I knew from the car manual that I needed something stating 23/8 of unknown units. He was the expert with cars and I am the one who doesn't really know much beyond checking, not even changing, the oil, so I bought a two pack of 1154 bulbs for $3.
The deputies in my town are usually bored and I have a distaste for being pulled over for whatever reason which led to me going to the parking lot again, armed with my ipod, screwdriver, and LED headlamp, and changed out taillights on both sides just in case. The passenger bulb that I had already removed was a 1034 and was partially darkened with carbon scorching on the inside though both filaments appeared intact. The driver's side bulb turned out to be a 1157, answering that earlier argument. Task completed, I started to drive away but thought to back into a parking spot in front of an empty store so I could check my brake lights in the reflection. Backing in, things are good. Both taillights work. Yet when I braked, neither intensified. I was depressed by this achievement in the negative direction and pressed the brake pedal on/off a few more times until I was satisfied that my new taillight bulbs, though they had two filaments, wouldn't increase for braking.
Well, that was enough of auto zone's helpfulness so I drove to Napa at the other end of the strip mall to find them dark and closed. I crossed the street to Pep Boys and went inside to the headlight aisle.
It had an electronic guide to what model of bulb I needed but kept telling me 1034. I got frustrated since there were no 1034s in the main section of bulbs. I pull out a pack of 1157s and start to walk away when a small section of accessory lights catches my eye and sure enough, there are 1034s. Oh happy day. $3 for a 2 pack of the correct bulbs and I head home. After some food and de-stressing on the computer, I stepped back outside, armed once more with my ipod, headlamp, and multi-head screw-driver and change out both bulbs again. From the illumination of the building I parked by, it appears they both get brighter when I brake. Success!
If you read all of this, wow, you deserve a cookie! |
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