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Thursday, November 20, 2008

When It Rains...

The truck's had a nasty shimmy between 49 and 54mph for the last couple of months, so I finally took it in yesterday for a tire rotation and balance and a transmission fluid flush. The mechanic called to alert me to some other problems they found (of course), so my boss went in with me when I went to pick it up. He's worked on cars for years, so I figured he had a much better chance of understanding and retaining the information. The mechanic said the truck has a leaking right rear axle seal and a leaking left rear wheel cylinder. But for a mere $500 (maybe) he could fix it. And I must do it now, because its not safe to have the truck on the road.

I called a couple of other places today for estimates (both were lower). My boss went out and looked at the truck, because he was concerned about me being on the road for several hours this weekend. He said the axle seal was leaking but that it was a slow leak that had obviously been going on for a while. Since we were out there, we checked the differential, which was nearly full. We also took the rear tires off to check the cylinders. The left looked like it had an extremely slow leak (again, long-term), but nothing significant. The right showed a lot of axle grease in the drum. We cleaned that up as best we could. Boss' opinion is that the axle seal definitely needs to be replaced, but its not exactly the safety hazard the mechanic made it out to be. I'm a smidge low on brake fluid, but I believe John can top me off tomorrow afternoon. I know what to keep an eye on, and I'm hoping I can keep this particular money-sucking stress off my plate at least until the new year. Have I ever mentioned just how much I miss my car?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ronnie says $500 is way way way to much. A new wheel cylinder and axle seal shouldn't be $50 at the most or probably less! Labor at that place would be more than the parts. Way more. Rip off!!! Love ya, Mom