Does your car break down in convenient places?

Speaking of tires and break downs------------- I already mentioned it a few months ago when it happened. My late model Dodge quadcab blew a fairly new rear tire. No it was not in a convenient place.
My son had borrowed the jack and the crank thingie needed to remove the spare from under the rear of the truck. I had just left my eye doctor and both eyes were still dilatated. Yes, I was driving but in Florida around Gainesville sight is not important and not being able to see some things is a plus.
Anyway, not feeling the greatest and in the boonies on a two lane road I decided to call for help. Who ya gonna call? So held a white floppy hat up to attract attention. This ain't gonna ever work! Within minutes a truck and car stopped. A young guy and his wife. Using his tools and jack he changed my tire and would not take a dime. Also he is a tire man at a large truck stop so knew what he was doing. We still have to go to where he works and buy him lunch like we said. Conveniently inconvenient!

Here's nuther one. We were at Daytona Turkey Run, a very large car show which just happens to be held over a long weekend which also happens to be Thanksgiving. A coincidence? Left motel and nearly at speedway, 55 Chevy wagon started making a squeeling sound and got hot. But we made it to the show field. A Wal_Mart plastic bag got sucked up and ended up around the alternator pulley. Actually melted around the pulley. Could not get it off. Walked to a few vendors and found a $1.00 razor knife to cut the plastic off.
I've been driving old and new cars since around 1956 so may have a few stories left. As the hard drive in my little brain clicks I remember.:confused:

 

A food truck broke down in front of me with a broken fan belt. I had some 1/4" rope so I made a loop with a "long" splice to replace his fan belt and off he drove.

 

That does sound similar and it reminds me of that 1970s Bruce Dern movie with the fake Psychic girl. But when the car was on its last wheels (I'm not about to say legs here) We were driving it in 2005 and 2006; It worked well enough for the first thirteen or so years my parents had it. I might as well speak about the car in more depth:

We got a 1995 Plymouth Voyager in mid-2006 (Which was also problematic after a few years and is now rusting in the closest junkyard to us as of this posting time unless it's been sold) and parked the Jaguar in the garage at that time. About five years later (2011) we tried to start it and sell it but the starter was messed up and probably all of the engine oil seeped out onto the floor. When the Jag was parked in 2006, It had been missing one exhaust pipe and teeth were missing off the flywheel. When we finally called a tow truck to sell it to a junkyard, The rear brakes were also locked up. If anyone wanted a 3,850+ pound paperweight Jaguar XJ6, That car would've worked for that purpose.

On another subject, Let's have some early "Christmas Cheer" Even if the company/brand name isn't quite right:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50IgzksUqpQ

Austin

 

I wonder if they know how to open the hood?

I haven't been stuck on the road in over thirty years, and I don't drive new cars, that goes for the rest of my family's cars too.
Preventative maintenance does work, it's a no-brainer.
Inspect and maintain your car like an airplane, figure if it does break down you're going to hit the ground hard.

 

Ma's Volvo, Arthur, is notorious for breaking down in Inconvenient places. Once, during rush hour, a single wire let go under the dash. Suddenly, in the middle of the intersection, no electrical anything worked. No 4-ways, no brake lamps, NOTHING. Luckily, 2 good Samaritans pushed the folks out of the road and into a parking lot. Took the mechanic 3 minutes to fix it. Seems that wire has a habit of breaking on the late-80s and up Volvo 240s. Oops. So much for safety!

Another time, I was getting on the expressway, foot to the floor, when a frost plug let go. Coasted to the side of the road, but what a MESS!

No way could anyone claim Arthur is not maintained, either. By the book, or early, for every recommended service. Something starts to go wrong, and in he goes. There is a 3 inch thick book with every piece of paper for that car over the last 23 years.

 

My wagon broke down in a convenient place recently - in my garage. But the timing was inconvenient - awful really. I spent the 4th of July getting the wagon ready to go to Des Moines; had it washed, shined up, loaded up, ready to go. All I needed to do was get gas and then head out the next morning at 4 am. So at 6 pm on the 4th I go out to start the wagon to get gas and it won't start.

I had recently replaced the solenoid, so I checked my work there - all looked well. I broke out the volt meter and started checking for the problem. I didn't have a helper so it's kind of a pain in the butt without a remote starter to test (going back and forth to the key, etc.). troubleshooting pointed tot he starter so I started to remove it and saw that it still had the original starter cable on it and it looked bad (cracked). Made it Auto Zone right before they closed at 7 pm (4th of July holiday) and got a new starter. Pulled the starter and also replaced the cable. Bought longer cable than I originally had (couldn't find same size), rerouted this cable to stay away from exhaust manifold but got in a hurry and didn't realize I was shorting out the cable on the starter case. Now the problems start to snowball. I get more PO'd, get more rushed, time's ticking - need to leave in 5 hours.

Long story short, didn't make it to Des Moines. I was bummed but in the big scheme of things I don't have much to complain about. I went and got a new starter and starter cable yesterday and I'm back on the road.

 

I've been driving my '58 for 2 years this 27th of July. Never broke down or left me stranded.

Oh... I've broke things. Blew a radiator twice. Blew a tire once.... but I've always been able to limp home before things got critical.
There is something comfortable about owning a "tractor like" simple piece of machinery that you can depend on.