Backcountry Vehicle Repair

[Ketch-Up]

On Saturday while driving down logging roads to Whack Whitecap and NKD the 2nd car in our 2 car convoy bottomed out and put a crack in his oil pan. There was a steady drip of oil coming out. Using Canadain ingenuity he chewed some gum and put it on the crack. The heat from the oil sucked the gum up into the crack and the drip stopped. He then put duct tape over the gum. This held for over 24 hours and 25 miles of dirt road travel. What other emergency vehicle repairs have you done miles from a repair shop?

 

[Jay H]

What flavor?

Hopefully the gum wound up in the oil filter before it made its way through the cylinders...

Jay

 

[spongebob]

It was, "Does this gum make my as@ look bigger" gum.....really

 

[DrewKnight]

Re-gapped points by eyeball

My first car -- a spectacular 1973 Opel Manta Rallye with a glorified four-cylinder gerbil wheel under the hood -- once jumped timing and left me dead on the side of the road right by the Mt Major trailhead in Alton Bay. I knew right away what the problem was (engine spins and coughs but doesn't catch).

I had grown up listening to my dad describing the process of gapping ignition points from inside the car while he had his head under the hood... he would have me "bump" the starter with the distributor cap off to get the cam-lobe to line up with mechanical points in the open position, then adjust the gap with a screwdriver. Well, it all sounded pretty good in theory, so I popped the hood, disassembled the distributor, found the points, and pushed the car watching the gap (which was non-existent). I used a pocket-knife to turn the screw on the points till the distance was "a few sheets of paper" (can still hear Dad's voice describing from under the hood). Reassembled the rotor cap, got in the car, turned the key. Lo, it starts up and I can limp on home.

Not exactly a MacGuyver moment, but not bad, either.

 

[sardog1]

Drew, I think I want you for my Trunk Monkey!

 

[RoySwkr]

My ex-brother-in-law disassembled and removed crud from a carbuerator jet in the Auto Road parking lot, but this skill isn't much in demand anymore

 

[DrewKnight]

Does the light stay on when the trunk lid closes?

Drew, I think I want you for my Trunk Monkey!

Kinda depends... I don't think they have built a car with a set of mechanical breaker points in about 20 years, so my usefulness is on a steep decline curve. I look under the hood of my 2005 Volvo and shake my head. If I had to do more than check or add oil or windshield washer fluid, we'd both be walking.

 

[sardog1]

My father-in-law never paid a nickel to a mechanic, so far as I know.

I've replaced ignition parts, catalytic converter, water pump, etc. (none of this in the backcountry, mind you), but I have never attempted brakes, suspension, etc.

My nephews and nieces probably wouldn't recognize a radiator hose clamp if it bit them on the you-know-what.

"Sic transit homo habilis."

 

[KayakDan]

After years of driving beaters,I have fixed just about everything by the side of the road.
Once dissasembled a friends Triumph ,pulling out the trans crossmember,run to a local shop,get it welded,reassembled(seats and trans cover had to be removed),all the while the state cop stood behind us in the breakdown lane,shaking his head in disbelief.

One of my favorite cars was a beater Volvo I dragged out of the junkyard. Rebuilt the motor on an aquarium stand,and dropped it in in the middle of a blizzard.

Ohh for the good old days.when I was young,crazy and broke.