Enough Rain Already

I’m starting to think that I’m living in Seattle with all the rain we’ve been getting here on the east coast recently. I know I shouldn’t complain, it is spring after all. But I’ve mowed my lawn twice in 4 days, and that was in between storms.

I realized that it’s not only me that’s affected by the weather, but my 21 year old truck as well. For years the pop up sunroof has leaked onto the driver’s seat when we get a hard rain. I keep a plastic bag in the truck so that I can sit on it and not get wet. The most annoying thing is that it drips while I’m driving, right on my head. Of course I always forget about it and I’m surprised to find water running down my face after hitting a bump.

I also have a pulley that squeals when the engine is running after it rains. For some reason I feel I need to set an example of a finely tuned vehicle and it bugs me that, until it dries out, I have this loud screeching noise. I’ve lubricated it, and that works for a while, but like a human….the truck is getting older and the weather affects it.

I also get a brake squeal after it rains. I know, I tell everyone that it’s normal…but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. The latest problem is that even after it’s dry, I still get the noise sometimes. I mostly hear it on the passenger side front, so I keep that window rolled up so it isn’t so loud. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not telling you to ignore noises that you hear coming from your vehicle, find out why it’s doing it.

Pay attention to whether the noise is only at start up, or maybe when it’s cold or wet out. Does the noise go away after you drive for a while? By paying close attention to when the noises occur you’ll be able to help your technician do a better job at diagnosing the problem. In my case, I am my own technician and if I don’t fix it early when I first hear the noise, I know it could become a bigger problem down the road and cause me more of a headache to fix.

So if you find an annoying or problematic issue that’s happening with your vehicle in the wet weather, write it down so that you can talk intelligently to your technician. Fixing the vehicle right the first time is a win/win for everyone, now if I could just remember where I left my umbrella.

Lori