Joys of cars

tankclare · 05-10-2009, 03:14 PM

Had planned on going for a drive to visit some mates who live bit over an hour away. I filled the car with a full tank and about 15km out of town all of a sudden i had no power steering. I pulled up straight away and was trying to figure out what was happening. Looked down and the belt had come off. The harmonic balancer was sitting way forward and out of line. I just thought to myself "Fire truck". So had some tools in the car like always and pulled off the power steering cover and pulled out the thermo fans to get a better look. It appears the rubber in the harmo is stuffed and allowed the outer piece to slide forward. I tapped it back into place with a hammer and put the belt back on and drove it steadily back home. There was not even a slight hint of anything wrong with the harmo like no shaking or anything it happened out of no where. So now I have to chase down a new belt and harmo and hope thats all that needs replacing.

Out of all the cars that came past only one bloke stopped to see if we were ok.

something always has to happen when you want to go somewhere.

Anyway rant over..

Iggypoppin' · 05-10-2009, 05:44 PM

almost as bad as the time i was driving to work in my BMW and the rear wheel FELL OFF. i was lucky the lady behind me lent me her phone to call for help. i was stuck as i had no tools and it was a friggen beemer.

Dezza · 05-10-2009, 06:11 PM

The harmonic balancers are quite common for that. Mine ended up about 1mm out on one side, causing it to regularly throw power steering belts. Replaced the entire setup with the EF setup and it's so much better. Last year I also threw an alternator belt, so I'd had enough of the EA 3 belt setup for certain.

**Burnout** · 05-10-2009, 06:26 PM

I was going south down the Beef Road, NT one time in a Tojo and something caused me to glance left.............

It was the left rear overtaking us down along the table drain...... The studs blew; 85 miles from home..........

Neither I or my passenger felt a thing..... it was a bit noisy and bumpy at 140kmh in the Cruiser.

Bossxr8 · 05-10-2009, 07:03 PM

Had to replace a balancer recently when the outer ring moved back. Nearly shook the car to pieces.

Also had a rear wheel fall off, luckily it was going around a round a bout and not on the highway.

XDV800 · 05-10-2009, 07:52 PM

I had a ef taxi lose the balancer outer pulley completely, it fell straight out the bottom and took off smashing into a service stations glass automatic door.
Lots of puzzled faces there.

tankclare · 05-10-2009, 10:10 PM

lol some good stories..

I ended up getting to where I wanted to go in mums car. Tomorrow or wednesday i'll order in a new harmonic balancer and belt

jaydee · 05-10-2009, 11:06 PM

Had an old 70's Land Rover with a Holden red 6 in it. Was on a fishing/camping trip, towing a dual axle trailer with a dirt bike, camping gear,etc etc for a weeks worth of camping.
Anyway, a million miles from no where (actually 100 kays south of Pt Hedland WA) when it threw a harmo. No option to kep driving as the tide was coming in, the temp when thru the roof towing a trailer in heavy sand 4WD, but good old red just kept going.
Managed to get a tow home, wasn't going to push my luck.

phoenix555 · 09-10-2009, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 76txcoupe

almost as bad as the time i was driving to work in my BMW and the rear wheel FELL OFF.

Similar thing - years ago I'd got my Prelude lowered and low profiles tyres/mags put on. A week later I take it back to QuickFit saying it's making funny noises when I'm cornering. They tell me "it's okay, it's just the springs settling in."

Okay *shrug* what do I know?

A week later, driving some back streets, I turn a corner, hit a bit of a dip in the road (I was travelling sub-posted road limit), when the the car makes a horrible sound, veers 45 degrees across the road, and I'm unable to steer. But I can brake - yay!

I get out and the PS front wheel is wedged under the wheel arch. Amazing the number of people who slowed down but drove past, not asking or checking if I needed any help. Ha! even a pair of cops came past - stopped, asked, *shrugged* and drove off!

Assessor's report: "Front lower ball joint nut missing. My opinion was the ncorrect nut fitted to ball joint. Castle nut from the ball joint was on the lower shock bolt. No split pin. RH front lower ball joint nut was also not fitted with a split pin."

No wonder they're quick to fit... they forget to fit! $6,000 worth of damage and six weeks off the road.

kircher · 09-10-2009, 01:31 AM

I was driving on the Freeway from Sydney to Wollongong in my 180B, and coming down Mt Ousley into Wollongong I noticed the alternator light come on. I was on the Freeway with nowhere to pull over so I kept going, and I didn't even think about the water pump. Within a km or so the temp gauge started climbing rapidly. I had to drive another few Ks before I could find somewhere to pull over. It was night and raining. The car managed to drive a long way without the water pump functioning, and the radiator didn't boil over. I thought I was going to ruin the engine. It turned out to be the water pump pulley, which the fan is attached to had come forward. It's a press fit onto the pump shaft. After replacing the pump I noticed the bearing in the pump was ruined, so it probably vibrated enough to make the pulley move forward and make the belt jump off.

BFZ Wagon · 10-10-2009, 03:00 AM

Cool stories guys.

Back in the early 90's, I had an old 1973 Volvo 145 wagon to drive around in.
One night driving into Brisbane from Redcliffe, I could smell petrol coming from somewhere and I thought, 'Uh oh, this isn't gonna be good' and I pulled over and found that there was petrol spewing all over the engine due to a couple of the fuel injection pipes being split. (It had the old mechanical style fuel injection) I was waiting for the car to go up in flames but luckily nothing happened. It eventually got fixed. Lots of $$.

A few months later, I was starting to reverse out of a parking spot in a quiet area, when suddenly I had the complete steering wheel in my hand. It had come off the shaft as the centre nut holding the wheel on had come off. Apparently, some genius had adjusted the wheel after a wheel alignment and stripped the bolt that held the wheel on.

I'm very lucky I wasn't in traffic or driving at speed as I would have been stuffed. It took a few months to fix as they had to find another shaft for it as the whole steering shaft had to be replaced.

The old Volvo was one of the worst cars I've ever had to misfortune to drive (and I've owned an auto TN Magna :P )

Keep up the great stories guys.