Florence and the Jeep

In a previous post (Waiting for Florence) I said, “If I prepare for the coming storm, it will miss me. If I don’t prepare, it will hit.” At the time, Florence was on a track that would take it through Virginia. So I prepared, and the magic worked. Immediately after I finished my storm preparations, Florence steered herself onto a new course, away from Virginia and into North Carolina. I’m not saying I made Florence change course. No, that’s for the weather boffins to decide. Maybe, it’s just a coincidence.

My city has been smacked by enough hurricanes: six since 2003, the year I moved back here. In 2011 we were visited by Irene, as documented in After Irene, which is now my generic post for visiting hurricanes. I could copy that post, change the name of the hurricane, and publish it after any hurricane and it would still be accurate.

Two days before Florence was due here, as I made storm preparations, there was an incident with my Jeep. A strange sound began coming from under the hood. It was kind of a whining, whirring sound. I was mystified. The car drove just as well as always. What was making the noise?

The Jeep was stopped at a red light and I noticed that when the steering wheel was positioned to straight-ahead, the noise went away. If I moved the steering wheel to the left or to the right, the noise returned. I knew I had a power steering problem.

I stopped at the next parking lot to look at the power steering pump. From the outside, it looked okay. I removed the filler cap and looked into the pump to see if the hydraulic fluid was low. I couldn’t see any fluid. I put the cap back on and drove off to get my Jeep fixed.

I drove to an auto repair shop. Cutting a long story short, a high-pressure power steering hose had developed a small hole. That’s how the fluid escaped. The shop could replace the hose. The cost: $205.

I decided to also get the oil changed, which had not been done for three years. The oil change cost was $30.

Then the mechanic told me that the right front axle CV joint had a torn boot. He took me to the bay and showed me. Yup, it was flinging grease everywhere. It had to be fixed. “Replace the axle,” I told him. Cost: $250. I could almost hear the register go cha-ching!

Next I learned that the Jeep’s sway bar bushings were almost completely worn out. Sway bar bushings are kind of important if you don’t want to roll  your vehicle. I said, “Replace ‘em.” Cost: $136. There goes that cha-ching sound again.

I was in a repair frame of mind. In for a dime, in for a dollar. I told the mechanic to replace the rear hatch gas springs. The old springs had been defunct for several years. New springs: $160. This time I definitely heard a cha-ching.

I said I was going to cut this story short, so suffice to say that my pain added up to $860. Now, I’m not blaming Florence for having to spend this money. It’s just a law of Nature at work: Sometimes you’re the windshield, and sometimes you’re the bug.