Three Guys Diagnose

Backing into my driveway yesterday, I heard the kind of metal on asphalt screech you get when your muffler is falling off.

My driveway slopes a bit, so I stopped immediately to prevent driving the tailpipe in on itself like a telescope. Then I nudged forward and the same scraping sound came again.

Of course it was raining. I got out and down in a crouch, then on hands and knees, to see what might be hanging off my undercarriage.

I saw nothing. Puzzled, I backed into the garage to the sound of sparks flying everywhere.

I popped the hood and all was in order, no obstructed fans or belts, which anyway are plastic and rubber and don’t produce the gravelly dragging grind I heard coming from below the passenger side.

I shut the hood and closed the garage on the rain, leaving the problem for some dry weather, which was today.

The first guy to diagnose the problem guessed it was a problem with a fan. This was revised to an issue with a heat shield, which sounded cool but more like a problem for NASA than for Subaru.

The tow truck guy, who let me run it up the ramp, suggested the problem was with my brakes. Outside the service shop, he decided it was a loose muffler.

My father called to ask if the sound came while in reverse only, then assessed the problem as brake-related.

I remained agnostic, my ears telling me something my eyes couldn’t see.

When the mechanic called, he told me a rock had lodged itself behind the front right backing plate. That’s a part that covers the front passenger brake, so my father and the tow truck guy were pretty close.

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