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So my beloved 1998 Town & Country has over 180k miles on it. It's been a great van, I bought it wrecked for a good price several years ago and repaired it. Recently the water pump started squeaking, and developed a slow leak. I assumed it would cost more than the van is worth to fix, so my plan was to try to squeeze a few more miles out of it and then buy my wife a newer car and take over her Odyssey for myself. Well, right after I merged on to the freeway this morning it let loose. I don't know if it locked-up or just spewed water, but either way it threw the belt which meant no power steering, no alternator, and no cooling. I was hoping I could coax it to an exit with it being so cold, but the temp gauge started to rise instantly so I had to pull off. I was a good yard off to the right side, and I called for a tow. I was told it would take a half an hour, so I sat in the ol' van and froze my Megos while I waited. I returned some emails on my phone to kill time. I started watching my mirror as the time for the tow truck arrived. As I was watching I noticed a sedan that was awfully close to the edge line bearing down on me. There was really nothing I could do but hold my breath. He came two feet over into the median before he corrected just a few yards from me. He was probably doing 70, so it happened really fast. As he whizzed by I could see him fumbling with his cell phone. It was close.
It ends up the water pump would have been under $300 to fix. But add in a mangled belt, lost coolant, and almost $100 for a tow and the brief terror of the near miss and I'm feeling pretty stupid and unnecessarily lighter in the wallet. I walked about a mile home from the Goodyear where the tow driver dropped me. It was COLD.
Thank goodness my wife told me, "You need to get that fixed" two weeks ago.
It ends up the water pump would have been under $300 to fix. But add in a mangled belt, lost coolant, and almost $100 for a tow and the brief terror of the near miss and I'm feeling pretty stupid and unnecessarily lighter in the wallet. I walked about a mile home from the Goodyear where the tow driver dropped me. It was COLD.
Thank goodness my wife told me, "You need to get that fixed" two weeks ago.
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