This weekend as we were leaving the house, B noticed that my muffler looked a little off. The muffler, though a few inches off the ground, was much lower than usual. B knelt down to investigate and saw that piece that was supposed to hold it up was missing (or broken, or something). We planned to drop my off with my mechanic on Monday evening (since Monday was a holiday) to have him look at it on Tuesday. Best not to attempt a 75-mile round-trip commute with a muffler that isn't fully committed to your car.
Except we forgot to drop her off. After an event-filled Saturday and Sunday, we didn't leave the house once on Monday, so we didn't have the helpful visual reminder of the low-riding muffler. It wasn't until Tuesday morning when I started my car that I remembered the issue.
And of course by the time I remembered, there wasn't time to drop off my car at the mechanic and get B to the train station on time, so we resorted to Plan B. I drove the Subie, and B took the Island Corolla to the train station. The station isn't too far away, so we figured the car would be fine. We made plans to meet up at my mechanic that night after B arrived back on the train.
That evening, I arrived at my mechanic's first and waited, and along came the IC, though it was making a little more noise than usual. Between the time that B left the station and arrived at the mechanic, the muffler went from being a low rider to being a ground rider. Seeing the muffler drag on the ground under the car brought back entertaining memories of the "If it falls off, you can keep going; but if it starts dragging on the ground, you have to turn around and come back home" advice. Sage wisdom, that was.
Luckily, the muffler didn't drag for too long, but we had no idea if this turn of events had worsened the situation and if a more expensive repair would now be necessary. We left the car with my mechanic and hoped for the best.
And amazingly enough, the best actually happened! I heard from my mechanic mid-day today, and the repair came to a grand total of $20. I think that's the cheapest repair I've ever had. I'll probably never see such an attractive bill ever again, so I am enjoying it as best I can.
B raised the question of what I'd do if I were on the highway when my muffler became partially detached and started dragging on the ground, and I can't say that I have a good answer. I certainly wouldn't have noticed that my muffler was ready to fall off, and if B hadn't, I'd probably have found myself in that situation. I don't know how a dragging muffler sounds from inside a car, but the noise probably would have scared me enough to pull over. Either that, or I would have continued driving while calling B in a panic, leaving a trail of sparks behind me and praying that my car wouldn't blow up on the highway.
In conclusion, I am very lucky to have such an observant husband.
2 comments:
The dragging muffler noise is like no other. You'll know it. You'll want to pull over.
I would have to check, but if you hear it and you're on the highway, I think you have two options. I would keep a string of leather in the car, and you can tie it back up if the bracket goes. However, if there's a bigger problem, like it's about to fall off, I would try and knock it off. I believe that my dad has used both methods, or maybe my childhood memory is failing me.
I was thinking I'd put a roll of duct tape in my trunk. You can fix so many problems with duct tape. How do you know if a muffler is just dragging or about to fall off?
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