Like I Was Just Saying...
In yesterday's entry I was talking about how useful a cell phone can be if you have an aging car. How ironic it was, then, to have my phone ring while I was in the checkout line at the grocery store last night. It was the shop to which I'd taken my car on Wednesday.
My car's been making unusual noises in the lower aft region lately, accompanied by an intermittent vibration that's more pronounced at lower speeds but seems to calm down at higher speeds. A friend of mine who knows more about cars than I do—and who doesn't, by the way?—said these symptoms most likely meant the universal joint was going out. Since I had a couple of days off work, I decided to take the Dreadnought in and have it serviced. I called the shop and told them what was going on, and they said they'd be able to fix it pretty quickly.
Anyway, the call I got at Albertson's last night was the shop owner, who was calling to tell me that the U-joints were fine. The problem was actually a rear axle bearing that had gone bad. As a result, the axle itself was now damaged and needed to be replaced. This changed the nature of the problem from a one-day, $200-$300 job to a two- or three-day, ~$900 job. Ouch.
He said he was going to try to locate an axle at a local salvage yard, which should make the repair both quicker and less expensive. So for now, I'm playing the waiting game. I hate waiting. Still, if I can get the Dreadnought back in good working order, I'll be satisfied. I just hope they get it done today, or I have no idea how I'm getting to work on Monday morning....
My car's been making unusual noises in the lower aft region lately, accompanied by an intermittent vibration that's more pronounced at lower speeds but seems to calm down at higher speeds. A friend of mine who knows more about cars than I do—and who doesn't, by the way?—said these symptoms most likely meant the universal joint was going out. Since I had a couple of days off work, I decided to take the Dreadnought in and have it serviced. I called the shop and told them what was going on, and they said they'd be able to fix it pretty quickly.
Anyway, the call I got at Albertson's last night was the shop owner, who was calling to tell me that the U-joints were fine. The problem was actually a rear axle bearing that had gone bad. As a result, the axle itself was now damaged and needed to be replaced. This changed the nature of the problem from a one-day, $200-$300 job to a two- or three-day, ~$900 job. Ouch.
He said he was going to try to locate an axle at a local salvage yard, which should make the repair both quicker and less expensive. So for now, I'm playing the waiting game. I hate waiting. Still, if I can get the Dreadnought back in good working order, I'll be satisfied. I just hope they get it done today, or I have no idea how I'm getting to work on Monday morning....
posted by Michael at
8:52 AM
4 Comments:
Any word on the Dreadnought?
By
Your Host, At
October 17, 2006 1:55 PM
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
By
dilliwag, At
October 17, 2006 2:31 PM
If it's any consolation, and I'm sure it's probably not, we just dropped $1100 on the Civic. According to the tech, the clutch will probably need to be replaced before next summer (another $800). It's a ton of $$$$ for an old car but it beats another $400 car payment every month. The old civic is now 11 years old, approaching 160K miles, and still gets between 45-50 mpg. I'm going to try and milk 250K out of that vehicle. Once it dies, we're dead set on buying a Civic hybrid.
Sorry about the deleted post. I had WAY too many typos.
By
dilliwag, At
October 17, 2006 2:33 PM
I've read a few good things about the Ford Escape Hybrid. I've given some thought to looking into a hybrid vehicle when the time comes to buy a new car.
Which won't be for some time to come, I'm sure.
By
Michael, At
October 17, 2006 4:53 PM
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