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| Re: Wolfgang [message #50323 is a reply to message #50321 ] |
Thu, 14 June 2012 23:35   |
EMoon
Messages: 664
Registered: March 2009 |
Senior Member |
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Much sympathy. My much beloved (by me) Rambler, at it got older, used to die without warning occasionally (though not occasionally ENOUGH). It ate water pumps and alternators. When it worked, it was a great car with few problems. When it didn't, it was a lump of unmoving metal, always in the middle of a road or intersection.
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| Re: Wolfgang [message #50325 is a reply to message #50321 ] |
Thu, 14 June 2012 23:48 |
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 Diane in MN
Messages: 2729
Registered: October 2008
Location: Twin Cities, MN, USA |
Senior Member |
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This happened to me, many years ago, in my unfortunate Audi Fox*. I was zipping down the Baltimore Beltway at about 65 mph and the engine just stopped. It didn't start again until after it got towed and repaired, because the timing chain had broken. It's a scary situation, even if you manage to escape being hit by the car behind you. I'm glad Wolfgang recovered enough to get you home safely.
*The unfortunate Fox--the early model Fox and its sister car, the VW Dasher, were repairs waiting to happen--succeeded my unfortunate Fiat, whose engine cut out so frequently that I wouldn't drive it on the highway. It's problem was a defective gas tank that shed debris and clogged the fuel line. It had a standard transmission, though, and I got really good at popping it out of second gear to get the motor started.
"The point of books is to have way too many but to always feel you never have enough . . . " Louise Erdrich
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| Re: Wolfgang [message #50328 is a reply to message #50321 ] |
Fri, 15 June 2012 07:07 |
Mockorange
Messages: 161
Registered: January 2012
Location: England |
Senior Member |
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Aagh! Very sorry to hear about that Robin. 70mph is really very scary when you're standing by the side of a motorway with cars and lorries blasting past you. Mobiles are indeed a godsend in these situations, but the last time I was broken down on a motorway caused me a few problems because the noise of lorries etc whooshing past was so loud that I couldn't hear the person I was speaking to on the other end of the phone. Nor could I hear my phone ring when my parents (to whom a message had been passed that I was not going to be arriving on time)tried to call me. Consequently, I didn't answer it, causing them to become convinced some total disaster had happened and to besiege the AA with requests to know what had happened to me.
I had a similar experience to you about 20 years back with my first car. Travelling over the M62 in snowy weather to visit my parents for the weekend, the car died and wouldn't start, so I called out National Breakdown. By the time they arrived, the car started immediately at the turn of the key, causing me to feel a complete fool. The following day, returning after the weekend, the car died again. I sat there for a good hour, trying the key over and over again, to make sure it really wasn't starting before calling them out again. This time, the car really didn't start when they arrived (for which I was ridiculously grateful) and they had to tow me back to Manchester.
I don't recall the details much all this time later, but it was something to do with two wires in the ignition system rubbing together (insulation round them had rubbed through) and shorting out. It was actually a cheap and easy fix when they knew what was wrong. It sounds quite like what's been happening to you: I don't know if your various mechanics have looked into that possibility. Best of luck getting something sorted out, anyway. It's horrible not having a car you can rely on.
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| Re: Wolfgang [message #50335 is a reply to message #50321 ] |
Fri, 15 June 2012 13:51 |
jaccairn
Messages: 152
Registered: November 2008
Location: Kent |
Senior Member |
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You car dying on the motorway is never fun.
Mine chose to do it in the M25 on the stretch leading up to dartfordm,in the pouring rain, whilst I was in the outside lane. Desperately trying to get over to the hard shoulder as soon as possible next to an emergency phone,as the complete power failure meant that the wipers stopped working. I also didn't have a mobile phone at this time.
I had a car load of my sister's belonging which I was helping move from Kent to north London. The AA man, when he had managed to retrieve myself, Mum who was with me, and the car from the precarious spot on a flyover where we had stopped, diagnosed a faulty alternator and replaced that and the dead battery and we eventually got on our way again. Heading down the A1 in north London to where my sister's new flat was, it happened again, a few miles from my destination. Whilst we were waiting for the AA again (a kindly householder allowed me to use their phone and helpfully provided an accurate location) my sister came to unload her belongings. This new AA man correctly diagnosed a faulty cable between the alternator and the battery and replaced this and gave me another new battery (not charging me this time as they had made a mistake the first time).
Deciding not tempt Fate further we then headed directly for home. I never did get to see that flat before my sister moved again.
The car behaved perfectly for years afterwards but I think it was this that persuaded me that a mobile phone might be useful after all.
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| Re: Wolfgang [message #50378 is a reply to message #50321 ] |
Wed, 20 June 2012 21:28 |
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YIKES!!! How scary! (She said much later, having finally returned home from vacation and immediately entertained an out-of-country friend for a couple of days. Back to comfy routine and not wondering what to feed everyone.)
Smooshes!
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