My truck broke down on the way home from my girlfriend's basketball game tonight. The motor started knocking so I went to pull over asap, still not sure if it died or if I got the ignition off first so the jury's still out on whether or not the motor is locked up. Started looking it over though and the problem turned out to be the shitty brittle plastic line that feeds oil to the oil pressure gauge broke the fitting, probably when I went over some rough railroad tracks not long before, and sprayed all my oil out. So that little fitting, a 40 cent part, may or may not have cost me my engine. I'll find out tomorrow.

Another time, my truck broke down, acting like the fuel pump went out, at 2 AM on a middle-of-nowhere road at the end of December. It acted exactly like a fuel pump failure, I'd had it happen before, so I gave up and spent a freezing night in the truck on the side of the road. Turned out the wire running from the fuel pump to the fuse box came off.

Post your stupid/aggravating/worst breakdown stories.

Had the Jimmy tuned up on a Saturday. New fuel filter etc.

Sunday, went shopping. Came out, loaded up the truck and while the truck was cranking, it was not catching. Stepped out and discovered we were in the middle of a puddle of fuel. To make matters worse, it was raining and the gasoline was spreading in a nice big slick. Turned out the fuel filter had fallen off.

I had the truck towed to the garage that the work was done and had the driver leave the truck directly in front of the bay doors. I also left them a nice little note.
Monday, they had to move the truck out of the way and therefore it wound up being the first vehicle on the hoist. I called when they opened and the guy confirmed the fuel filter had fallen off. I also told the guy it's a damn good thing my wife and I don't smoke or there could have been a fire from the fuel. Anyway, they fixed it and the mechanic was told to be more careful next time. Luckily my boss allowed me to work from home so I didn't lose any pay.

Best part, I had the satisfaction of seeing the nice big fuel stain on their pretty clean asphalt.

my cavalier beater tossed a fuel pump in december, worst part, there is a sunfire on blocks under a snowbank in my moms driveway with a 6 month old fuel pump. Since i only had the car for a month when the pump died the dealer replaced it for 200, but i had to get the car towed from the other end of the city

Tercel winter beater blew a tranny cooler line on my way home from toronto, it's so underpowered/loud I didn't notice and ran it DRY. Fixed the line, filled it with fluid, MAJOR slippage.

Drained it. Changed the fluid and the filter, and filled it with Type F (Excellent for a nice harsh shift)... and damn, it works. I've put about 2500 km on it and it's been acting FINE.

And yes, I AM converting it to a 5 speed... just waiting for a few other "goodies" to arrive for the "different" engine I have bolted up to said 5 speed.

was at college three hours from home with my 1980 Pinto. Drove it over the mountain into Red Hook NY to get gas and munchies for the trip home. As it shifted from Drive into 2nd, the engine started to get this uncomfortable tick... one of those ticks that was the harbinger of bad things to come. So I promptly spun the car around and headed back to campus when there was a colossal BANG from under the hood followed by a "KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK..."etc. I figured I had lunched the engine (2.3L OHC Lima). Called my dad and he says to try and make it home with it.
So I do... KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK on to the Thruway and headed home, burning unleaded like it was free! Got it home, dad takes it for a ride, comes back to the house with, slaps me side the head when he gets the hood open and tells me, "You silly ass, you blew #4 spark plug out of the head. And sure enough I had... I drove 200 miles on three cylinders. I put another plug in the engine and it blew that out too. Turns out I had to put a cam and followers in that weekend.

The very first day I had my license, my '75 Monte Carlo lost a wheel. As in, the lug nuts weren't tight (never made that mistake again). I heard a clunking, slowed down, lose the tire. Ahhh, the joys of being young and stupid... Although in my defense, the way the mags were made it tough to get a socket on the lug nuts. The fix was easy (new wheel studs and lug nuts), but being stranded blows nuts.

Same car 1 month later lost a c-clip in the rear differential. I was going about 50 that time though. It's a little surreal to look over and see your axle and wheel doing 50 mph next to you. Ended up sticking it in a big ditch.

my '03 focus wagon dropped a coil pack once, i guess that was a bit aggravating.

the only breakdown i ever had that truly pissed me off was when the center bearing on the double-cardon rear driveshaft joint failed a second time on an '84 continental i had. it only had 5K on it since Drive-Tec in Scarborough "rebuilt" and balanced it. this time it cauliflowered the tailstock housing and blew all the fluid onto my exhaust. this was in the middle of february on the way home from a long trip. So i used my last CAA rescue of the year and had it sitting, pissing fluid all over the driveway until i found another car in the next town at a scrap yard. paid $600 for another trans and driveshaft and ended up swapping them out in the driveway during a blizzard.

i had a company van i could use for business purposes only and survived for three weeks that way until that stupid car was fixed. i only got another seven months out of it until it failed e-test (this was before the rules were changed to '88 and newer only). i took my stuff out of it and just left it. i had had enough...

Posted by Samurai I drove 200 miles on three cylinders. I put another plug in the engine and it blew that out too. Turns out I had to put a cam and followers in that weekend.

My 3-cylinder lost a spark plug cable (it was loose, I didn't notice, and it rusted out the end on the spark plug). 2 cylinders of a 1-liter engine won't accelerate. Ever.

Just an update, the motor did lock up for loss of oil but not all the way, was able to free it up with some PB Blaster in the cylinders. Replaced the oil pressure gauge line and fittings and whatnot and she's good to go again, total cost of parts $14. (had to buy a whole oil pressure gauge just for the line and fittings)

First time I broke down I was in my first car, a 1975 Chevy Nova with more rust than metal.

I was on my way home from...somewhere, had a few of my friends with me. About 1/2 mile from my house, I heard a pop and smoke started pouring from under the hood. I pulled over and popped the hood, burning myself in the process. A radiator hose had exploded, lodging bits of rubber in the radiator and spraying hot coolant everywhere. I had some antifreeze in the truck, so as soon as things cooled off some, I opened the radiator cap, dumped in what I had, and closed the cap. It was enough to get me home before smoke started billowing again.

I also ran out of gas a couple times in that car since the fuel guage didn't work. Oh, and lets not forget the driver's side door didn't latch correctly and would sometimes fly open going around corners. And who could forget the time my wheel shattered after hitting a pothole?

Mmmmmm...good memories of that rust bucket.

Not really a breakdown story...more like a stupidity story.

A friend of mine and I decided to go to visit some other friends who were camping in the woods. Well, what they didn't tell us was that it was 3 miles in off the main road between Malone and Paul Smith's, NY. The parking lot was 3 miles in, the campsite was another mile and a half or two miles from the parking area. So, we get the car about halfway into the place and bottom out.

Nobody ever told us that a '92 Beretta had low ground clearance. Well, too low to make it through a very nasty road full of 9 or 10 inch deep potholes and ruts.

How the flatbed got in and out without getting stuck is beyond me. Since it was springtime and muddy on top of it.

An even better story...one night we both decided to go out drinking, she put one wheel off a ledge because the parking area didn't have a fence and both of us were somewhat too drunk to drive. She slapped the car into drive instead of reverse and turned the wheel. She managed to sweet talk 4 or 5 guys from the bar into picking up the front end of the car and pushing it back on the pavement.

One last one, then I'll shut up.

Another night of stupid college drinking, she backed over a "Legionnaire Parking Only" sign, after she'd parked where she shouldn't have, at the American Legion Hall in Saranac Lake.

Well, the sign got hung up underneath the car as she pulled it out of the ground.

I still remember telling her, "No hun, I don't hear anything dragging under the car" as we dragged that sign 26 miles back to campus, throwing sparks and making a hell of a racket. The next morning, I walked the half mile from my dorm to student parking with a hammer and a pair of pliers and got it out from under the car.

I had that sign in my dorm room until I left school.

Ahh, memories.

Shael

Nice stories

Also, update on the update, the motor is free in my S-10 but it's still trashed. It runs by definition, but it makes a hell of a racket.

Posted by WarBird69 First time I broke down I was in my first car, a 1975 Chevy Nova with more rust than metal. I was on my way home from...somewhere, had a few of my friends with me. About 1/2 mile from my house, I heard a pop and smoke started pouring from under the hood. I pulled over and popped the hood, burning myself in the process. A radiator hose had exploded, lodging bits of rubber in the radiator and spraying hot coolant everywhere. I had some antifreeze in the truck, so as soon as things cooled off some, I opened the radiator cap, dumped in what I had, and closed the cap. It was enough to get me home before smoke started billowing again. I also ran out of gas a couple times in that car since the fuel guage didn't work. Oh, and lets not forget the driver's side door didn't latch correctly and would sometimes fly open going around corners. And who could forget the time my wheel shattered after hitting a pothole? Mmmmmm...good memories of that rust bucket.

Oh yeah. My first car was a 1976 Chevy Nova. Great little beast. Nine times out of ten that car would start on the first try and it was very reliable. Was a three tone (Red, primer and rust). Had a radiator hose pop on me as well. I made a patch of panty hose and duct tape which got me home without cooking the motor.
And yeah, good memories of my rust bucket.

Posted by CDSbigsby Nice stories Also, update on the update, the motor is free in my S-10 but it's still trashed. It runs by definition, but it makes a hell of a racket.

thats because you locked the piston rings into the lands and have no compression.

Posted by steponmebbbboom thats because you locked the piston rings into the lands and have no compression.

or took the rods or main bearings out.

Drive it till it blows. The waiting is intense. Don't worry tho, if your within 5 miles of home it will run forever. So if you drive local you should be fine. Its just that one day when you go about 30 miles away.............................

Oh I knew it wasn't going to be okay even after freeing it, I was just hoping to have it running long enough to drive it somewhere and park it.

I think I'm going to buy a recently rebuilt 305 ho out of a Monte Carlo SS to put in it...Then get this 305 rebuilt and put it in my Jaguar. Two birds, one stone.

Posted by CDSbigsby Oh I knew it wasn't going to be okay even after freeing it, I was just hoping to have it running long enough to drive it somewhere and park it. I think I'm going to buy a recently rebuilt 305 ho out of a Monte Carlo SS to put in it...Then get this 305 rebuilt and put it in my Jaguar. Two birds, one stone.

305's are a boat anchor.
you'd be better to find a four-bolt 350 out of a truck and swap cam and take the heads off your engine.

as a quasi-breakdown story, the alternator in the Beretta start death rattling today. It's on its way out. Ordered a replacement from NAPA. $76.00 US. Having my brother swap it out tomorrow while i am at work on a double.

still, it made it where i needed to go.
Luck is a beautiful thing.

tcc solenoid, halfway between vermont and ohio