So you obviously noticed that we never updated yesterday like we said we were going to. Here's the story of the last two days...
We drove down to Oswego N.Y., to watch our sons baseball team. It's about two and a half hours each way, and it was a nice, uneventful drive.
Stopped at Subway in Oswego and picked up some lunch to eat when we got to the ballpark. Got there just in time for the 12 noon start, although they started a little early and we missed the first couple of batters. No worries. We won both games...21-12, and 10-7. Lots of excitement, and lots of bad umpiring calls....very entertaining games, because it seemed both coaches and both teams were upset at the umpiring.
As we were leaving the park at around 7pm, we noticed a strange grinding noise coming from underneath the car. Sounded like something was dragging, and making a noise like something was wrapped around the CV joint. Stopped and looked around...couldn't see anything. Drove around the block and it seemed to stop. So we continued on.
Stopped in Watertown and bought a couple of things at Walmart...around $20 worth of stuff that is cheaper there than in Canada. Got some takeout from Taco-Bell. Don't do that very often, but it was not bad! Filled the gas tank....even at $3.00 a gallon U.S., it still only comes to .80 Canadian per litre...almost 20% cheaper than the current .97 per litre we pay here.
Got home around 10pm with no problems.
This morning, as soon as I started moving the car, I knew something was not right. That same grinding, flapping noise was back, only worse than when we had the problem yesterday. I made it to work (it's only 5 minutes away). When I had a few minutes, I grabbed a floor jack from the shop and went and took off that left front tire. Sure enough, the wheel bearing was shot. Now, I have no idea how the bearing could have made that much noise in Oswego, and still got us back to Kingston problem (and noise) free. It doesn't make any sense.
So, I rented a car for this afternoon to do my blood driving job to Perth. I bought a new wheel bearing at the auto parts store next to the RV place, and got a mechanic that one of our RV technicians knows to do the job this afternoon.
Got the car back at 5pm, returned the rental car, and everything's fine...except the wheel bearing on the other side will inevitably need changing very soon as well.
Cost of the whole situation...rental car $36 tax included, wheel bearing $46 tax included and labor to install $165 tax included...total $247.
Cost would have been a lot more if that wheel bearing would have had to have been changed in Oswego. Still have no idea why the noise stopped and allowed us to get home!
Oh glad you got it fixed right.. and by someone you trust rather than getting gouged by someone on the road who would take advantage of the fact you were desperate and needing to get back home!
ReplyDeleteAnother example of Good things happening to Good people. Thank God you guys made it safely home without the wheel coming off at speed. But again it worked out better for you with the costs of repairs being cheaper at home. Have fun & be safe out there. Sam & Donna
ReplyDeleteWe were definitely lucky we got home with no problems. As Kevin said, had we gotten it fixed in the States it would have cost more. First we would have had to stay overnight as it was early evening on a Sunday, then there would have been the lost wages at work on Monday because we couldn't have gotten back Sunday. Kevin knows lots about cars so I am sure we wouldn't have gotten ripped off, but it is still better to know who is doing the repairs. All in all it worked out for us.
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