AlphaBean said:

---

Ecodiesel 100k powertrain warranty. Oil change at 99,984 showed metal fragments.

---

Pretty sure you win this thread

2007 two weeks after graduation I grab a couple buddy's and we drive straight through to Trenton New Jersey to pick up some equipment I bought. Made it back to PA when a tire on the overloaded trailer blew. Only Jack we could get to was a hi lift. Aka widow maker. It caught me across the cheek with literally only a scratch. Probably the closest I've ever come to real serious injury

Same trip coasting into Alabama after pushing too hard through the mountains. Stop to fuel up and hear something. Step back and see trans fluid pouring out. Not dripping but pouring fluid. Defeated I call my dad. He says go buy Lucas stop leak and get back to Texas. Got 7k more miles out of that transmission.

Lost the transmission in a Boxster on elevated I-10 in Breaux Bridge, La. Throw hazards on to get the semi off my rear. Coasted down the Breaux Bridge exit and stopped in a rural intersection. Old boy stopped and pushed me into the Atchafalata Welcome Center. No shoulders on that elevated section. Turns out my driver side axle separated from the transmission end. Felt damn lucky that happened near the only exit within miles.

1988 Ford Taurus, I was driving from Greenville to Clemson, SC in 1998 and my gas pedal went to the floor just like in the movies. I got it released enough where I basically glided home toeing the accelerator so it didn't go past a certain point.

By some miracle, my parents were in town to visit and possibly buy me a new car, and my dad WRAPPED RUBBER BANDS around the accelerator lever in the engine which worked for several days til we traded it in for a new used car.

When the dealer took it for a test drive, I thought we were cooked because he whipped that car around the corner totally out of control, and threw it into Park to stop. I can't believe they even gave us money for that thing.

1992 Chevy Silverado, 300k+ miles, five speed manual. Driving through middle of nowhere Texas borderlands and truck dies at 75 mph. Coast to a stop in front of a (nice) ranch gate. Pop hood and nothing lose. Truck completely dead. Ranch owner sees me out front and drives out in his suburban with two german shepherds in it. Uh oh.

Introduces himself. Asks what went wrong. I explain in some mechanical detail.

He asks me the year of the truck. I am surprised but answer. Says he had something like that happen once on his 1993 with the V-8. Claimed it was an electrical part that attaches on the back of the distributor. I appreciate his thoughts but can't wait to interrupt to ask if he's cool with my truck sitting out front until I can get a tow. But before I can he says...

I still have that old '93 out in the pasture. Let me run see if it still has that part on it. Okay...

Comes back in 10 minutes. With the part. We switch it out.

Truck fires right up. I am befuddled. Ranch owner says pay it forward.

Another lucky/unlucky story:

Fish/soph summer (2001) and was driving to see GF in houston from CS. 1986 S-10 blazer. I'm driving and having fun on a wed(?) night to see her for a few days and come back. As I drive down, car starts having 'fun' electrical problems, like stereo acting up, AC not blowing, etc. So I cut the AC, roll the windows down and lower the radio volume. Things stop and I keep driving. Between Navasota and the high overpass of 290/Hwy 6, my car dies. I think there's a well driller spot/company and ended up around there. A couple stops and asks if I need help. I have no tools, so I'm kind of helpless. They give me a bottle of water and let me use their cell phone. I call a friend who's going to come and get me.

Eventually a tow truck comes and offers to help. Since I have no clue (and I'm trying to not tell my parents about my mid-week excursions), I say yes and he tows my car back to Navasota. Mind you, friend is still coming to get me. She actually passes us on Hwy, as I'm now in the tow truck, around the gas station on the random 'hill' on Hwy 6 to CS from Houston. He yells out, at both of us doing 70MPH and, amazingly, she has her window down to hear him. He stops, she turns around and meets us. Follows us to his repair place and I leave the car. We go back home to CS.

He calls the next day (didn't tell the GF, as I was trying to surprise her) that "my starter's bearings locked up and fried the electrical system". He changed the battery and starter; I owe $150ish. Same friend drives me down, I pay and I keep going back to Houston. Friend drives back to CS.

SAME ISSUE happens again, this time near the H&H Ranch store (or whatever it is now) off 290 near the old 'outskirts' of Houston. Mind you, 290 at this time hasn't been changed and there are still lights and such. So I pull over, go to the gas station and call GF. She's happy and annoyed about me surprising her, but agrees to come out. I walk back to my car from the Shell station (about 1 mile each way) and I pop the hood. I look around and see a clip on my alternator; it's partially melted, but I use my knife to shimmy/cut the plastic to get i back into the back.

GF comes, I suggest she jumps my car. She has a 1991 camry, so this is...fun. I think that was about the only tools I had; an air compressor for tires and a set of jumper cables. We hook up, I leave it for a few minutes and....boom! My car starts up. I leave it for a minute then decide, 'let's go!!!" She follows me back to her place and we have a fun weekend.

After a month or two, I told my dad about the battery/electrical issue (he's a EE) and he was suspect of the bearings being an issue. So we both change the starter and such. Yeah, mechanic/tow truck lied. Never touched the starter, was probably still good. All he did was change the battery for $150 (I think I paid an additional $100 or something for the tow as well, insurance covered that). Turns out the clip was the sensor/wire to 'charge' the battery or something. Probably came out the first time and had I found it, could have plugged it back in, get a jump and been fine. The battery was 2 or so years old at the time.

Was a catalyst for getting tools that I could keep in my car and helped me further 'understanding' emergency fixes in a car so I don't get ripped off again.

~egon

Had an old Ranger that rarely got driven, but happened to have my wife with me in it on a run to Lowes. Going up the big hill on Spicewood Springs in Austin required wide open throttle for the little four banger. Crest the hill and let off the gas only to realize throttle is stuck wide open. Turn off the ignition and coast to a shoulder (with no power steering due to engine shutoff). As I'm opening the hood I noticed the smell of roasted pecans and realize squirrels have been using my intake manifold as a buffet table for their meals. Wide open throttle and the hill's steep incline allowed the pecan shell fragments to fall back into the linkage and cause it to stick. My wife held the gas pedal down with the engine off, and I swept out the remaining fragments. Started it back up, but had to convince the wife it was okay to continue the Lowes run.

I forgot two more, one from a neighboor.

My neighboor from UT (Tennessee) was driving home after repairs on a property in Deep Ellum near Harry Hines. Two gangbanger groups met and started going at it at the gas station across the block. He got a .45 lodged in the lock mechanisim on the cab which would've hit him in the heart if it was upwards about 1/2".

Gentleman pulled my truck out of that demendented diamond interachange in College Station after it threw a rod and a piston through the block. Thankfully I lost power just after the interchange.


Bonus paying it forward story:

I'm on a personal trip to Redmond/Terrebonne Oregon for a old vehicle I wanted to buy from Idaho. I found a guy driving a Chevy 2500HD diesel with his wife and two kids on US 20 moving to Bend from Texas (Amarillo) stuck at the top of Drinkwater pass (No cell signal) on US 20 that overheated if he drove around 9PM (it's cold up there). Managed to tow him down the pass, up Stinkingwater pass, and down into Burns, Oregon with an old 4.0L Ford Ranger in first gear.

Get back to beating it to Bend, towed a couple without gas going eastbound somewhere in the western half stretch to Bend where there's no gas for 100+ miles (There's a bloody sign) between Bend and a small town around 2AM. Had 1/5th a gallon left when I pulled into the shell on the east side of the city.