The Curious Case of the “Rat”tling Fan

We arrived back in Uganda a year ago. James had gotten a bunch of work done on the vehicle before we came back. We thought it needed an overhaul but it ended up needing a whole new engine. The mechanic replaced some seats that were falling apart, and put on new tires. Then he painted the whole thing to deal with rust forming on the hood and roof. It looked like a brand new car.

But it didn’t sound like one. The new engine sounded great! But the air conditioner blower had an….odd…. sound. Sort of a low growl. I have hearing loss in one ear and the pitch was enough to make me feel like my teeth were trying to vibrate out of my mouth. But I put up with it. We have a new engine, right? Everything is working like gangbusters, right? :cue nervous laughter:

In recent days the sound got worse. Sometimes we’d hit a bump in the road and the fan would start a high-pitched whining sound. There’ve been a LOT of bumps in our roads, too. The other day we hit a bump and the growl increased in volume. We turned off the fan for a couple minutes, turned it back on and voila! the noise when back to it’s normal growl. We decided the fan motor must be dying and tried not to worry about it.

We usually walk everywhere in town, but now and then we’re in a hurry and drive. Last night was one such time. James needed to get to town and back quickly. He and Ethan jumped in the vehicle and left. 

They hit a bump (as we’re wont to do) and the fan started rattling and blowing dust out of the vents and all over them. They turned off the A/C but the rattle didn’t stop. James drove it the rest of the way home, parked it, and called the mechanic. We figured the motor for the fan had died. He wanted to be sure the serpentine belt wouldn’t break if we drove it to church and back today.

The mechanic was about 2 hours away and he said he’d come straight here and look at it. We were thrilled about this! We had a couple hundred doses of malaria meds we needed to take to church.

He’d only been at our house checking the fan for a few minutes when he texted the following picture to James:

That, my friends, is the fan housing in the state the mechanic found it. Sometime, before we came back from furlough, a rat had built a nest inside. There were trash, sticks, and even a dead bird or two in there. (Where is the barfy emoticon when you need it?) Then, that dirt and air had been blowing over us when we rode in the vehicle.

And we wondered why we kept getting head colds all year. :-/

The mechanic cleaned it out. Now it sounds just like a fan should. 

We got to church with no trouble and delivered all the medicine. They’ve repaired part of the road. Hopefully, they’ll get another big chunk done before we go out again.

In the meantime, I’m grateful to not be breathing in ratty air! Literally!