Cars pick the best places to break down
- Thread starter Gibbo
- Start date
Soldato
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- 2 Mar 2004
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- 11,919
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- SE England
Amen to that. The transmission in one of my Corvettes disintegrated as I was en route to a friend's house to compile and print our group dissertation, hours before the deadline.
Fortunately it did so on a hill and I coasted into a conveniently clear space outside his front door
Still, it'd done 168,000 miles and was 20 years old - so it had lasted quite well.
Fortunately it did so on a hill and I coasted into a conveniently clear space outside his front door
Still, it'd done 168,000 miles and was 20 years old - so it had lasted quite well.
Soldato
- Joined
- 6 Dec 2007
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- 2,617
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- Dewsbury
Ouch Gibbo, not havking much luck with that 911 recently are you? 
I temember talking about your baffles at the Manchester meet.
I temember talking about your baffles at the Manchester meet.
Ouch Gibbo, not havking much luck with that 911 recently are you?
Yeah the gen1 are known for having PSE issues, thankfully that was a £50 fix and my local garage were happy to store the car whilst the exhaust was re-welded.
Here is the classic breakdown image:-
Should be ready to collect tomorrow/later this week.
Luckiest failure for me was a goodridge braided hose splitting and I lost all braking completely... Just as I got onto a flat bit of road and was only doing 30mph.....half a mile earlier I had been caning it for 6-7 miles down a very steep twisty but with long straights road with 8-900 foot drops if I didn't make a corner.... That could be been exceptionally interesting
One of the brake hoses on LSPIII's S3 failed as he was following me just after a bit of a hoon at a southern meet... That could have been equally interesting seeing as he was right behind me and then.. gone, as he somehow managed to stop.
I had an air con tensioner bolt snap whilst on a 40mph sharp uphill corner. The tensioner was then rattling around in the engine bay making a horrible noise (didn't know what the noise was at first) as it bounced around on the alternator belt.
Had to quickly freewheel reverse down the opposite side of the road to prevent getting rear ended.
Waited there like a lemon until it cooled down enough to remove it.
Also broke down on a roundabout for 30 mins before, damaged icv gasket on a crap old vectra.
Had to quickly freewheel reverse down the opposite side of the road to prevent getting rear ended.
Waited there like a lemon until it cooled down enough to remove it.
Also broke down on a roundabout for 30 mins before, damaged icv gasket on a crap old vectra.
All braking? Are you suggesting that your car didn't have any form of split braking system whatsoever?
If one splits, then each time you pump the pedal, it would **** out everywhere.. No?
I've found split braking systems to be all but ****ing useless when you need it. It's not an effective 50% efficiency like you'd think, and that was with brakes that had just passed an MOT.
OP - bad luck. I thought my £140 Valeo new replacement for the valver was steep.
Yeah it runs fine with another vehicle powering its battery.
Now in the garage, alternator is kaput, can't even be repaired.
So re-furb Bosh unit going in at £320 +VAT and £90 +VAT for fitting.
http://www.mister-auto.co.uk/en/alternator/bosch-0-986-047-140_g4_a0300!986!047!140.html
Fitting is 30 mins max. Took mine out to replace the filler tube.
Who told you it can't be repaired anyway :/
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That's why the car has a split braking system with multiple circuits. You may lose the fluid from one circuit but the others retain theirs. You have to press the pedal further and harder but the other brakes will still work.
Associate
- Joined
- 13 Mar 2010
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- 503
Only break down I've had was in the '85 ur-quattro turbo, clutch master cylinder went right after I pulled away from dropping the missus off at her work, luckily it was early enough in the morning that most of the parking spaces on that road were empty so I just coasted into one. Trying to get the damn thing into neutral was a chore though, I had to use all my weight to get it out of second with out the clutch. Rang the AA, told them it won't be going anywhere on it's own so they sent a flat bed.
Can't believe I haven't thought of posting my own one.
Was in Manchester on the way to the MRI, came to a halt at the traffic lights and got rear ended.
These things happen and she was a nice girl and gave her details.
Notice there is a lot of smoke coming from the front so I pull up at the side of the road and switch the engine off. Open the bonnet and woooft steam comes up, yup expansion tank has snapped in half.
So there I am screaming at the car asking it why it does this to me. Just replaced a bunch of stuff earlier on.
Good news was that RAC came and fitted a new one for £50 so it wasn't all bad.
Was in Manchester on the way to the MRI, came to a halt at the traffic lights and got rear ended.
These things happen and she was a nice girl and gave her details.
Notice there is a lot of smoke coming from the front so I pull up at the side of the road and switch the engine off. Open the bonnet and woooft steam comes up, yup expansion tank has snapped in half.
So there I am screaming at the car asking it why it does this to me. Just replaced a bunch of stuff earlier on.
Good news was that RAC came and fitted a new one for £50 so it wasn't all bad.
It must just be the RAC who refuse to send flatbeds out first then!
The only time I've broken down was at a southern meet when a coolant pipe split. Saw a bit of steam/smoke and thought it was maybe the brakes from where we'd been hooning previously, pulled into the pub car park and opened the bonnet and was greeted by plenty of steam and water dripping onto the ground. Oh. Still, there were worse places I could have had to wait, I suppose.
Oh, years ago when I had my Megane, it cut out on a main road at ~30mph at rush hour. The engine just stopped for no reason. I put it in neutral and just coasted it into a side road and managed to park it up quite neatly. It started 20 minutes later, and never did it again.
French.
The only time I've broken down was at a southern meet when a coolant pipe split. Saw a bit of steam/smoke and thought it was maybe the brakes from where we'd been hooning previously, pulled into the pub car park and opened the bonnet and was greeted by plenty of steam and water dripping onto the ground. Oh. Still, there were worse places I could have had to wait, I suppose.
Oh, years ago when I had my Megane, it cut out on a main road at ~30mph at rush hour. The engine just stopped for no reason. I put it in neutral and just coasted it into a side road and managed to park it up quite neatly. It started 20 minutes later, and never did it again.
French.
Soldato
- Joined
- 13 Oct 2006
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- Surrey
That was when the RAC just sent the flatbed straight out.
I'd surely not like to repeat that particular incident again though! Still not entirely sure how I didn't career into you or the hedge. 