The sun was brilliant today and the temperatures relatively warm so I resolved to replace the EGR valve on the truck. It wasn't a difficult job but an interesting one.

When I first opened the hood I found a mouse nest on top of the engine. The parent mouse fled leaving its brood of four babies. They were tiny with eyes not yet open. Cute but still mice. Moving them to a protected spot in the garden meant certain death and I'm not a person who wants to kill any creature. This wasn't a pleasant way to begin my project.

I was able to easily remove the old valve only to find the new one not exactly the same as the original part. The orifice protruded on the opposite side so the vacuum hose was too short to span the gap. No problem. My daughter's car sat unused in the drive and had lots of new vacuum hose. I opted to rob a section.

When I popped the hood of her car I stood staring at two rabbits huddled on top of the engine block. It took a second or two to understand what I was seeing and for them to realized their cover was blown. They'd been busily gnawing on the spark plug harness and had one wire completely cut in half. Oh well, that would have to wait. I needed vacuum hose and found a section the appropriate length.

I fitted the hose into place and started the truck. It seemed to be working just fine. The entire process took about half an hour.

On the other side of the state, my daughter was doing the same thing to a car I had loaned her. The difference is it took her about four hours without bunnies or mice but helpful men.