It's the pinion seal of course!

A quick update on the car problems:

So anyone who has known me for any period of time, knows I have a nasty habit of worrying incessantly. That said, my car issues didn't make for a good few days. All that kept running through my mind was thoughts of hundreds of dollars going down the drain (or into a mechanic's pocket), and days on end without my car while they tried to determine what was wrong with my car and eventually fix it. To make matters worse (though I know they were trying to make it better), everyone I talked to had their own theory of what was wrong - ranging from condensation from my air conditioner, to a leaking gas tank, to some rear differential stuff that totally confused me!

The start of fixing this problem came with the last blog entry on the car - which ended up being well worth the time and ranting to post!

The first thanks goes to Droste. He read the post at work, and remembered that John R. was "a car guy." Well, I don't know John, so Droste took it upon him self to tell John that I had a "problem with occasional leaking.... from the rear axle of my car."

From here, the thanks goes to John, who offered to stop by after work the next day to "check out my rear end (or my car!)". So in the parking lot yesterday, John got down on the ground, crawled under my car, and got all dirty trying to figure out what was wrong. Even though he couldn't give me any definite answers (other than "The whole underside of your car has this film of oil on it. I've never seen anything like this."), the fact that he wasn't too worried gave me a little more peace of mind.

The next thanks goes out to Joel, who was just able to give me a good reference for a mechanic - who made Lori (his wife) feel comfortable being there. That was really my only requirement for a mechanic anyways! Dirty, gross garages are not my favorite places!

So the last thanks goes out to Brian at Gaspers Auto Clinic just off Union Road in Sheboygan! What a guy! I called this morning and he told me he was booked, and I guess he could sense the worry/disappointment in my voice, because he went on to ask me what the problem was, and tell me to just bring my car in this afternoon and he'd make time to take a look at it. (The added bonus in this little deal was that I had to leave work a little early to get it there in time for him to look at it - thanks for that too Brian!). When I got there this afternoon, he put my car up on the lift, shined a little light under there, and immediatly said "Oh yeah, no problem, it's just your pinion seal." Of course! Just the pinion seal! He topped off whatever fluid was leaking, told me to come back next week, that they'd fix it then (for under $100!), and that I'd be fine driving anywhere until then. What a guy! You're my hero Brian! See you next Thursday!