Anyone do a "MacGyver" Emergency Repair?

taskmaster

Anyone have to get by and get home with a MacGyver-type of Jerry-rigged repair on your vehicle? Did you save anyone else with an ingenious temporary fix? Let's here about it...

swschrad

I did have some issues with an oil pump pickup once, the pressure went flatline on the interstate. I pulled over and stopped, saw lots of oil in the right place on the dipstick, and cogitated a while. decided to spin off the oil filter and crank the engine to see if I was pumping. ya sure by golly you betcha, then, Ole, ya we haf oil here and there and everywhere now. put on a new filter from a fresh bag of geegaws I had picked up for the next shady day under the ol' oak tree, and tooled on homeward another 240 miles. dealer found nothing, of course, until two years later.

and I did make a real jerry-rig on the choke of my 76 buick once to keep it in the middle half of its travel for a couple weeks, until I both found which of the vacuum motors was rotten, and had the scratch to buy a replacement. whole bunch of scraps of aluminum U-bar and angle with bolts all over Hell and gone. without that stinker, I couldn't pull the car out of park into gear without killing the motor.

tboner1965

Lost a heater hose on a freeway on ramp. It was about 5F outside.

Got a ride to a nearby gas station. Called the office and got a co-worker to bring me a gallon of water.

I had a screw driver and a knife and was wearing a suit. Took off the jacket, rolled up my sleeves and cut the broken end off the heater core. Bent it over itself and used the hose clamp to clamp it down.

Did the same to the other hose going to the heater.

Drove to work, freezing my .... off. Started the car every couple of hours to prevent the mostly water coolant mixture from freezing.

Drove home, really cold as well. Lots of stops a Cstores for cocoa and coffee.

Changed all the hoses the following weekend as I drove the "nice car" the remainder of the week.

TB

opera_house_wk

In the total time I owned this car I had replaced 3 fuel pumps. This pump was a plunger type with electronic drive located near the drivers side rear wheel and the rotary had a carb. I was about 20 miles from home when the driver transistor shorted out. Every time I applied power I would hear it do one plunk. I unbolted the pump and let it dangle, insulated by the fuel hoses. Looked in the trunk and found about seven short sections of wire which I taped together into a long piece. Connected one end to the pump case and brought the other through the window. I would tap it against the bare metal of the stick shift and get one little squirt from the pump. I was able to get it running but the engine would start to sputter every time I stopped pulsing the wire to shift gears. I made it home but my right arm hadn't been that tired since I first reached puberty.

malachy72

but I needed a cap for the coolant overflow reservoir on my '89 accord. Found that the cap from a plastic gallon jug of milk fits perfectly. Now I'm looking for a cap for the washer fluid. Have my eye on a plastic cover from a baking powder can.

Mr_Shiftright

We were driving in a friends MGB across Nevada when we smelled coolant, a very strong smell. Sure enough, a heater valve was leaking right onto the distributor. The leak was at the base of the cable-operated valve. I unbolted it with a pair of vicegrips that I keep in the glovebox of every car I ever drive, and saw that the gasket was bad. I looked and looked for some type of gasket material and finally thought about....the tongue from my beat up old jogging shoes in the trunk. I cut out a gasket using a tiny Swiss Army knife scissor and smeared it with some front end grease. Bolted it back up. Worked great, all the way home!

vidtech

a buddy of mine lost fuel delivery to the carb on his van.he and his buddy pulled the engine cover and air cleaner housing off.they went for gas.they then cup fed the air horn of the carb with gas and sputtered back to their workplace fifteen miles away!!

karl

... fixed with chewing gum.

On a 4x4 trip a few weeks back, someone punctured the rear differential cover on his truck. Gear lube was running out, but it was a pretty small hole, maybe the size of a pencil.

I was chewing Wrigley's "Extra" gum. It plugged the hole just fine, even with the greasy gear lube all over it.

Some carb cleaner to clean off the cover, plus several layers of duct tape to hold the gum in place, and we were rolling again.

-Karl

adc100

I had the same problem. Going to Atlantic City on a 1980 B210 Datsun. I was able to remove the broken heater hose and use the other one to bypass the heater. Went right back into the engine.

opera_house_wk

Years back I had a 65 Galixie 500. I was up in Vermont on Sunday and sailed through a stop sign. Front brake hose cracked and back then auto stores were not open on Sunday. I cut the hose and screwed in a wood screw to block the hose. For some reason, I had brake fluid in the trunk. Figured I could drive 60 miles on 3 brakes if I was careful. Had my girl friend watch for a leak while I pressed down hard on the brakes. It held for a moment then it went to the floor and I asked her if the screw fell out. She said no. I discovered the steel tube to the rear brakes rusted through and the extra pressure finally made it pop. I made it home early Monday morning when there was no traffic using only the emergency brake. Glad those days of the single master cylinder are over.

rudy2000

I followed a friend home from work one day. We no sooner left the parking lot when his car started steaming. We pulled over to access the situation. He had a small coolant hose leaking. I said "wait a minute, I have just the thing". In my car, I had just the piece of hose needed for the repair and just the tools needed to complete the job. My friend is very religious, and said it was God's work. Rudy

tboner1965

The heater hoses were different diameters at the engine side. The only way to repair was to fold them over. Both hoses were tapered, smaller at the heater core than at the engine.

TB

swschrad

I have had once to shave a cut section of thin hose scrap to use as a pseudo-gasket between a larger hose and a smaller nipple to get past a weekend. a little gasket compound and a hose clamp, of course, helped mightily.

bburton1

Was once driving an 80 accord through IA with temp at 99+ and noticed temp gauge climbing-immediately put heater on defrost position, hottest setting and fan at max-temp went down till got home-200 miles away and replaced radiator-fins were eaten away by salt.

Returning home from a road trip in Atlanta-noticed car door lock was in open position-now this car lot had an Atlanta cop station about 50 feet away-opened door-clock stopped-then checked and battery flat - walked over to the cop station and asked them if they heard an alarm-"Yeah a couple of nights ago and damn was it loud". Sorry to disturb your evening officer. In a totally flat parking lot started it by putting it in neutral-pushing it backward and jumping in and popping clutch in reverse-started first time. Moral to the story-never ever park in Atlanta airport lots and avoid IA in the summer.

tboner1965

The waterpump ends were bigger than the heater core ends.

Since all I had was a knife and the screwdriver, that was pretty much all I could do.

TB

spokane

An exhaust system pollution-control fitting on an '81 Mazda broke while far back in the Carolina mountains. Hot exhaust gas was then being directed onto a wiring harness. A beer can from the ditch (Within 100 feet, I had a choice Miller, Schlitz, or Budweiser) was cut and crimped over the leak. It worked fine, even stopped most of the noise.

A big bump on another Carolina mountain road caused failure of a Ford exhaust system support. A coat hanger served to get the muffler and tailpipe back in place.

oldharry

Was that name supposed to imply reliablity? On vacation one summer, two small kids, wife, camping gear, 82 K wagon with 2.2 (Yes it was underpowered). Filled with gas in Ohio and got back on the expressway, car died at the end of the on ramp. First thought, bad gas, but checking found no gas in carb. Disconnected a fuel line between pump and carb, no gas on cranking. Now this was a Sunday afternoon, and we were a long way from nowhere.

After thinking a while, I disconnected the fuel return line at the fender near the top of the right strut. It had a mechanical pump with a third small diameter line returning gas to the tank to prevent vapor lock. There was a short rubber hose between two steel lines at the spot I was disconnecting. After putting my thumb over the pump side of the disconnect, I blew into the return line, pressurizing the tank. When I had as much pressure as I could build up, I yelled to the wife, "Start it now!" It started, and ran until the next time we shut it off. Stopped for supper, refuelled again, then the campground, and Monday morning. Wife's comment was something about having to give the car a blow job before it would go for us. Monday morning the Chrysler dealer in (is is Rockville ?It's in Park County where all the covered bridges are.) Indiana put in a new fuel pump while we went out to breakfast.

When I was a kid, and most all cars had mechanical fuel pumps, my father had told me to put a new fuel pump on every 50,000 miles whether it needed it or not. Three times I neglected to heed that advice with my various vehicles, the other two times I had gas dripping from the pump after about 60,000, the third time I just told you about. Electric fuel pumps are more reliable.

Harry

badgerfan

Not exactly a field fix, but amusing:

In 1989 we drove this car to Florida to do the amusement park vacation with our young kids. The car had about 40,000 mile on it. While down there, it developed a tremendous clattering whenever the engine was idling or under no load conditions like going down hills. We took it to the local Chevy dealer, rented a loaner for a day, then called the dealer at noon. Dealer after analysis claimed it was a bad lower connecting rod bearing and would cost many $$$$$$ for repair. We really did not want to pay for a major repair or trade vehicles while on vacation far from home. After thinking it over, we decided to try to finish our vacation as is. After all, the worst that could happen is we got stranded somewhere and would have to rent a car to get home.

By carefully driving with one foot lightly on the gas and one on the brake when slowing down or stopping, we were able to finish our vacation, get the car all the way back to Wisconsin with minimal clatter. People in cars next to us would point at our noisy car(as if we couldn't hear it), with us nodding in agreement! (It was impossible to keep the clatter down under all conditions)

After our vacation, I took it to a service station near my home. They had seen the same problem before, and determined it was the three bolts holding the engine ring gear to the transmission had loosened up causing drivetrain backlash. They fixed it, total cost $50!
Otherwise, the car had been bad news, with many things happening that shouldn't (the vaunted GM sticky steering problem being one of many), so I dumped it the next year as it was not trustworthy.

jgmilberg

I had a couple different problems while out on the road, both of them in remote areas. The first one I sprung a leak in a radiator hose, luckily it was the top one, wrapped it up in electrical tape, refilled the tank and away I went. Another time the radiator itself sprung a leak, a small one, but none the less I lost most of the coolant. The only thing around was a small grocery store, I bought a container of ground pepper, and 3 gallons of water off the shelf. Dumped the pepper into the radiator, then the water. It sealed up I drove it like that for 2 months before I put a for sale sign in the window. Yes I did tell them about the radiator leak.

losangelesemt

Funny story there buddy. Just proves that cars can bring you to your knees sometimes and demand favors lol. Pretty good thinking though on the repair, gotta hand it to ya.

isellhondas

I started a topic a long time ago..." Cheap repairs we made when we were young and broke"

Some funny stuff there.

I once poured a half box of Ivory Flakes into a leaking radiator and was able to limp home 200 miles. The car looked like a mad dog with the foam that dripped from the grille!

karluvver1

The wife and I were driving through Nevada and ran over a metal bracket. I did not have time to avoid it. It was tall enough for the bumper to clear but I heard it hit something on the underside of the car. I stopped to look underneath and saw a steady stream of gas leaking from the tank. The gas gauge indicated already near empty and we were about 20 miles from the nearest town, so I knew had to get there as soon as possible so I took her to about 85 M.P.H. We made it to a gas station and I bought a small kit of epoxy, jacked up the car on a nearby lot and applied the epoxy. This repair lasted until I got home and then I made a permanent repair with fiberglass.

tboner1965

My first day with my DL, I was in a 66 Nova. Took it out in the sticks to my best friends house. Heck, I was a WRC before I even knew what WRC was 8^)

Except when I got there, there was this big golden/tan trail behind me. Seems in the rocks, I threw some at the fuel tank hard enough to puncture it in two places.

A couple of machine screws with little rubber "gaskets" fixed this in about 10 minutes.

Sold the car 5 years later with this repair, and perhaps a bit of undercoating added for good measure, still on the tank.

TB

losangelesemt

A radiator foaming like the mouth of an angry bulldog ... too funny man.

Hey I traded in an old 85 chev blazer once. I was on way to dealer and I began hearing the unmistakeable sounds of lifters and valves going south. Pulled onto dealers lot, put it in park and right then noticed what looked like suds coming from under the hood up the windshield. I popped the hood and saw that the oil filler cap had blown off and foamed like a son of a gun. Definitely can picture the foaming mouth of a mad dog lol. Dealer still gave me 2500 for it though, couldnt complain.