Have You Ever Broken Down?

[Ghosti]

You mean "thpethel"?

ROFL, exactly.

[exarsixturbo]

I don't have any stories about my cars because (touch wood) I have only broken down once in my life and that was when I blew the gearbox up in my old V8... But I have a million stories about broken down moto's in the middle of a forest somewhere!

Me and a mate were riding in Talleganda State Forest one time and we were about 5km's down some REAL tight, single "pig track" when a stick punctured his radiator. This was 5km from the fire trail and around 13km from the cars so we were in fairly deep s.h.I.t!! There was no way we could walk the bike back because of the ruggedness of the country so we ended up filling the radiator with water from our camel packs and trying to ride the bike back. He would ride for about 50-100 meters before the bike would run dry and we would have to stop and fill ‘er back up. Luckily the track was criss-crossing a river and when our camel packs were empty we filled them up with water from the river and put that in the bike! After a few hours and a VERY slow trip we made it all the way back to the fire trial. Our next task was to make it 8kms back to the cars with no river and no water!

Pushing was the only option!

We started on our merry way when the ranger showed up. Keeping in mind it is illegal to ride the single track as you’re not allowed to venture off the fire trails and my bike is not registered and I didn’t hold a valid motorbike license...

He stopped to see what we were doing and when we told him our story and he was good enough to turn a blind eye to all our "in-discrepancies" and throw my mates bike on the back of his ute and take it to the cars! When we arrived he sat down and had a beer with us, because god knows all we needed it after that little adventure!

And after all that, we did no permanent damage to my mates bike! A new radiator and a good flush of the cooling system was all it needed.

[lowfutura]

Well, some one was looking out for you on that day.

BUT dont get me started on bikes, they are trouble on two wheels.

Back in the days before radiators and disk brake; and YZ465's were 4 speed.

Along the very hilly Kinglake fire trails, and about 20 km from the cars.

Lost my gear lever While stuck in top gear, I must have kick started that bike 3,000 times to get back on that day.

Running along side to get up every hill and clutching it all the way, in massive big plastic 80's style VENDRAMINI racing boots that you couldn't walk in let alone run in.

I WAS STUFFED....

[Dardiboong]

My old 1968 Ford XT Falcon broke down like 20 times ay...

now I just walk

[lowfutura]

One day we were out cruising in my brothers GF's L34, when we came across an old bloke who had been broken down in his VW for a couple of hours, but we were the first to stop.

His 6 volt electrical system had karked it, so my brother and I sat on the torana bonnet, with our legs straight out, as a buffer; and pushed the old codger about 5 km to the petrol station.

And yes we can both still walk.

[turbotrana]

A guy I used to work with rang me up asking whether I can diagnose an engine noise in an old Volvo he had borrowed off a friend of his.

He came around and I could hear this Volvo from up the street and it was obvious it was something major. Quite sure that it was a spun bearing and the piston hitting the head. I think he ran it out of oil.

I told him not to drive it anymore and to call the tow truck, but him being a -anker just drove it another 15km to his house.

Dont know what he said to his mate but he certainly had a "I dont give a s-it about my mates car" attitude as he must have driven about 40km like that.

I think most people would have called a tow truck but not this -anker

Edited 25/11/08 01:30 PM by turbotrana

[lowfutura]

At least, put some nulon in it befor you drive it. lol

[lowfutura]

MY mate dennis had a good ol' HT with 202 and M 20 4 speed.

We would go every where in that car, with it's jelly bean mags, pumped out flaired gaurds and twin exaust with hot dog resinators.

The only thing was it always used to brake down, looking at the car you would think that it had king spring super lows (leaf Style).

But it was the 2 giant toolboxes that he used to carry in the boot. It chewed through timing gears nearly as quick as it chewed through harmonic balancers, but the biggest problem was the linkages on the M20 gearbox.

It didn't mater what day it was, or where you where going, that bloody gear shift would lock up, so, out you would get, under the car with a big flat screwdriver and unhook the linkage.

Passangers would have turns and you could not come in the car unless you wer proficient in un-hooking.

We became so good at it that we didn't even have to stop the car, just lift the rubber gear shift boot and with screwdriver, unhook it from there.

This day we had been to the kal-kalo pub about 40km Nth of Melb, (Back in the days when drink driving meant at the end of the day you just had less money than you left home in the morning with).

Time to leave and not quite dark yet, reversed out of the carpark and went to pull out onto the HWY and BANG that was it the box just went into full on grind setting and the only gear we had was reverse with no other gears to be selected.

Dropped the box right there in the carpark, disconnected all the linkages, tried to select a forward gear but no luck, No Probs we just drove home 40 km in reverse along the Hume hwy, with a carload of louts....

[John K]

EF Falcon on the way to the snow late at night about 15 years ago.

All of a sudden, somewhere before Queenbeyan the oil pressure light came on.

I stopped and had a look - oil was pi$$ing out of the sender!

Out of phone range, it was freezing and with 2 girls in the car, skiis on the roof etc etc we just waited for someone to drive by.

Finally a lunatic young guy in a 120Y came flying past and stopped.

He seemed a bit kind of rattled and told us he'd just rolled it - it was his mums car and just took it for a burn while his oldies were out. The roof was trashed and had a couple of broken windows. LOL.

He said he would call the NRMA when he got home (presumably just before his old man killed him).

The NRMA arrived about 5am and he took out the sender and put a 1/4" plug in. We made it to Cooma where I bought a new sender and put it in.

I've often wondered what happened to the 120Y guy :~)

[lowfutura]

Good one John, I was wondering how you managed to keep warm.