Saturday, June 4, 2011

Car Adventures

This week was hectic and I had a son who was sickish (long story). I didn't realize how off kilter I was until Friday though...here's the story:

Thursday, I came out to my Tahoe, we were in a rush,  as you often are with 4 kids. I noticed immediately that something wasn't right. My steering seemed sluggish and there was an "engine overworking" sound to the car when I got above 45 mph. There were no "alert" lights or indicators on. The tires seemed fine. So, I kept going to my destination with a cautious driving stance. It became clear thru the day that this was not a temporary issue. There was definitely something wrong with my vehicle. I suspected power steering or drive belt. I called the mechanic and told them the symptoms and said, "it's almost like when I drive in 4-wheel drive but worse." The mechanic said that could check it the next morning.
On Friday, I took it in and had an hour to kill with the 2 youngest kids. We walked a mile to enjoy a slurpee and visit the local fire station. When we returned to the garage, my mechanic told me, it's done- you guys are ready to go. I was surprised and asked what was wrong with it. He chuckled and told me, Nothing.
What?! I knew that couldn't be right; something was definitely wrong with my truck. I looked at him quizzically and he said, "you know how you said that it was driving sorta like it was in 4-wheel drive? Well, it was in 4-wheel drive...you must have hit the button accidentally or one of the kids did. The indicator light is hard to see in the sunlight, especially if you didn't mean for it to be on. (I think he was just being gracious.)
He told me that he checked out all the belts and fluids and everything looked great. He didn't even charge me for the time and effort he spent on it. All in All, "no problem, no charge" was a great thing to hear from the mechanic but I still felt silly!
There will be no more "driving" for the little kids and no more trips to the mechanic without checking the 4-wheel drive light for me.   :0)

~Sharon

No comments: