Pain in the Axle

I got into my car the other day and felt a strange tug as I started to back up. There was also a strange noise. I raised the hood and noticed that the power steering fluid tank was empty...bone-dry. I poured in a $3.79 bottle of the stuff and tried it out. No more tug and no more noise.

I forgot all about it, but then it happened again about two-days later. A mechanic friend checked it and told me that there is CV boot torn on the axle. He checked a little deeper and found that a little valve on the rack and pinion steering mechanism was leaking. He said it may be a casualty of the February Freeze. Those big chunks of ice may have torn the rubber boot and allowed the dirty snow, ice and slush to damage the little valve.

Nobody fixes the little valve. They replace the whole thing. Bottom line...about $600 bucks. That's not really how I wanted to spend $600 bucks, but my car is paid for...so it will have to be done. I guess it could have been worse. I could have wrapped it around a telephone pole or something.