Mike's Adventures in AutoLand

Mike has spent  time on the hunt to get the power-steering repaired. He started by asking the attendant at our parqueo if she knew of a place he could have the power-steering pump rebuilt. She said 'Si!' and sent him to Pie de la Popa, a barrio outside the tony historic district.



He got in a cab and let the driver know what his mission was. The cabbie immediately made it his mission, too. Pie de la Popa is an incredible maze of every kind of auto part stores, shops and services imaginable. The driver took Mike to many places asking for information several times until they finally were directed to the King of Transmissions (El Rey Transmission Shop).


The King himself asked for 5 minutes to finish up what he was working on and then he'd be ready to help. Mike paid and heavily tipped the taxi driver and sent him on his way. Then Mike and the King and another fellow who spoke some English got into a customer's car that needed a 'test drive' and drove to a sidewalk shop. This 'shop' consisted of an oily wooden bench, a bent hammer and a variety of tools set up on a corner of a sidewalk....there was no building or even roof structure overhead. Literally, a sidewalk shop. The King assured Mike that this was "the guy" to deal with and that the guy owed him a favor.

From there, the guy sent two employees with Mike to remove the power-steering pump from the van in situ at our parqueo. Back at the parqueo, Mike suggested driving her to the sidewalk shop as she is still drivable, and off they went. The two young employees quickly removed the pump, cleaned up the outside and took it apart.


The sidewalk shop owner drove the seals out with his crooked hammer and dug into his parts baggie and pulled out new seals, promptly put the whole thing back together and reinstalled it. After refilling the pump with hydraulic power-steering fluid the joven empleados noticed that one of the hydraulic hoses was leaking.


They quickly removed the hose and took it down the street to have a custom hose made. Returned, reinstalled the hose, topped off the fluid and for a sum of $US75 Mike was on his way.


Now, time will test the quality of the repair. Either way Mike says they know more about such work than he does.

Note:  All of the repairs occured while MIke was sitting in the shade drinking beer provided by the owner. A unique experience indeed.