[Vwdiesel] limping home and roadside repair

[Chris Collin]

One of my most fun limps home was when the throttle
 linkage broke in my vanagon.  I sat in the back seat 
(engine room) and ran the throttle with the engine lid off.  
At first I obeyed my wife's calls for power, but towards 
the end I had a little fun off from the stoplights.  Just 
yesterday on the way to work in the diesel scirocco, I 
left a stoplight only to seem like the clutch slipped and 
failed.  I quickly swerved off to the side street and parked.  
The drivers side drive axle was free from the transmission!  
The bolts had worked themselves loose.  I remember 
tightening them down but must have forgotten to fully torque 
when I installed the trans.  I had to un-jam the cv joint 
and then I finger tightened the bolts to get to the local 
parts store for the 12 point.  Collateral damage to the 
shift linkage did occur, and all I had was reverse, first, 
and second.  Some gentle persuasion later put this back 
in order.  Good feeling for making the fix and only being 
late for work by 45 minutes!  And yet another lesson learned 
on proper torque!  The most humorous scene in the whole 
incident was driving away from the curious onlookers ten 
minutes after informing them that my axle had fallen off!
  

		
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
 Dress up your holiday email, Hollywood style. Learn more.