[Vwdiesel] stranded

Tue May 22 16:54:27 PDT 2012

This is a fun thread!  

I haven't been stranded by the side of the road, but I have had a few times when the car didn't want to leave it's last place, and others where some ingenuity was needed to get or keep going.  

Off the top of my head, somewhat in order:

Several years ago in my '90 Corrado, on a trip with a friend from LA back to Kansas.  We were planning to grab some fast food and camp at the Grand Canyon.  In the drive through, I heard all sorts of squealing and smoke was coming from the hood.  We instead pushed the car to a nearby hotel and got a good rate due to our sob story.  The next day, I discovered that the water pump had seized, the impeller was jammed against the block.  Through talking with a mechanic in Topeka, I removed the belt, and unjammed the impeller.  I then bought a belt that fit loosely around the pulley, bypassing power steering.  The bearings in the pump were shot, but it never leaked.  The loose pulley was enough to turn the pump enough to get us all the way home and me to drive another week before I could change the pump.

In my '78 Bus, attempting to drive to Alaska.  In Montana, the aftermarket ignition system failed slowly.  After a couple hours of bucking and such, we pulled into  Lucky Lil's Truck Stop and Casino in Three Forks where the engine finally died late on a Friday night.  I figured out the initial problem, but couldn't get it to run with the points and condenser on Saturday.  We decided to find a church to go to Sunday, and on the way there, my friend said, "Maybe we'll meet an old lady who will buy us lunch, and a mechanic."  (No lie, he said this as we rode our bikes there.)  Well, at the end of the service at this little Baptist church, the elder said, "looks like we have some visitors, make sure to get acquainted."  Sure enough, an old lady took us to lunch, along with her son and his family.  The son had a mechanic friend in town, so that afternoon he brought him over to the truck stop.  The mechanic friend and I figured out that when I
 reinstalled the distributor I had put the drive gear in 180 degrees out.  After swapping the spark plug wires around, we were on our way. We ended up giving up on Alaska and headed toward Utah, where a starter problem caused us to just head straight home.  I kind of regret that decision.

Another time in the 90 Corrado.  I used it to pull a trailer full of supplies to sell Cinnamon Roasted Nuts at the Denver Bass Pro Shop.  On the way out, the trailer lost a wheel bearing.  I found out when I saw the wheel flopping side to side in the parking lot.  Amazingly enough, the wheel didn't fly off on the interstate!  But that isn't the rear breakdown story.

We loaded all the leftover supplies into the Corrado at the end of the weekend and headed toward Kansas.  Somewhere in eastern Colorado, I noticed the battery light come on, but never heard any noises, and the car wasn't overheating or anything.  So I drove to the next town and gas station.  The serpentine belt shredded.  

I decided I wasn't going to be stranded in a little town in eastern Colorado where I had no idea if the town had a parts store or if the store would have the right belt.  So we push started the car and hoped to make it within 100 miles of Hays, KS (I had AAA and a friend in Hays).  We made it to within 70 miles, where I called AAA.  I never did get ahold of my friend in Hays, so AAA took me to the Wal-Mart.  There I bought a marine battery and attached it to the harness for my power inverter and plugged it into the cigarette lighter.  Pulled a headlight fuse, push started the car, and away we went.  We made the 165 miles back to Manhattan, just as the battery was dying.  I put a new belt on the car, and drove with the battery plugged in again to recharge it.  

Recently, my old Exploder's starter died in the parking lot of my grandma's nursing home in Topeka.  I had AAA tow me back to Manhattan.  This would be lame except I had Caesar, my great dane with me and he had to climb onto my lap in the truck cab to get back.

The Exploder finally died a few weeks later in a ball of steam, as a head gasket burst on the interstate halfway between Manhattan and Topeka.  As the plume of steam came out, I said, "Huh, that's interesting" and drove on to Topeka.  By that time, the rest of the truck was so worn out I elected to not fix it and made plans to build a hitch for the newly-purchased Golf.  

:)

Dave Cook

________________________________
 From: Val Christian <val at mongo.mongobird.com>
To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com 
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2012 6:21 AM
Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] stranded

I have had 8 cars with over 300K, two over 500K, which were VW diesels.

Things start to happen after 300K, for me.  Like the upholstry starts 
wearing out on the driver's side.  Crud collects in doors, fenders and 
rust accelerates.  Periodic (every couple of years) cleaning helps
that, but it's a pain to pull doors and wheel well liners.  

Current fleet has:
284K  (Caravan)
181K  (Caravan)
254K  (99TDI)
248K  (91 IDI)
179K  (03 TDI)
171K  (02 TDI)

Given today's economy, and my needs, it is not likely that a new VW will
grace my fleet in the next couple of years.  I'll let kids move out and 
retire cars to the shreader next town over. 

Off topic: My kids are driving the Caravans, and one had brake noise so 
daughter and I pulled the offending wheel.  I cheaped out on the front brakes, 
and since the rotors were in good shape just kept putting pads on it.
Well it's the 4th set of pads, and she pointed out stress cracks in the 
rotor.  So Wednesday morning, her day off, we put new rotors, new pads, etc.
on the Caravan.  The brake noise appears to be a clip for the pad rubbing 
on some rust at the inner portion of the rotor area.

> 
> Wow, I thought my cars had a lot of miles on them, but not 300K.
> nice job.
> =A0
> 
> Bryan Belman, Pt. Pleasant, NJ
> 04 Jetta Wagon TDI PD, 100hp, 5sp -- running :<)
> 92 Jetta 1.6 Eco-Turbo Diesel, 5sp -- running :<)
> 82 Diesel Westy 1.9NA -- running :<)
> 70 Type 1 stock Elm Green Beetle -- Under Restoration :-)
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Shalyn Shourds <sshourds at flash.net>
> To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com =
> 
> Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 4:47 PM
> Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] stranded
> 
> I can only think of two times I've actually been stranded and unable to fix=
>  the car on the road.=A0 Twice, same car ('00 TDI), same problem, 30 miles =
> apart.=A0 Unless you want to carry a spare head and gasket set, though, I d=
> on't think there's much to be done about it :(
> 
> I've been driving these cars since '93 and, knock on wood, no major problem=
> s far from home.=A0 I have, however, gotten to the point to where if the ca=
> r's at all iffy and the trip's long, I rent a car.=A0 I drive from Texas to=
>  Kansas in December, usually, so the cost and genuine danger of having a br=
> eakdown in the middle of that desolate landscape in serious cold makes the =
> expense of a rent car and the ability to call a 1 800 number for a new car =
> seem like a good deal.=A0 All of my cars are 300,000+miles.=A0 I did feel g=
> ood enough to drive it to Kansas this past year.=A0 With a trunk full of to=
> ols, fluids, and a spare alternator.=A0 =
> 
> 
> Of course, Kansas in December will fail to impress the Saskatchewan members=
> ......
> 
> 
> -Shalyn
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