Roadside repairs to get you home
Discussion
First post from me...What unusual items have got you home? Mine was a phone charging cable.....I recently went over an unexpected bump in my Rover 75 MG Cdti shed and heard a serious clunk at the back. On checking, both rubber exhaust mounts at the rear had failed and the back box was hanging low, just off the ground. With nothing else available, a phone charging cable was pressed into service to tie the exhaust up as high as possible.
Apparently, what i thought would be standard parts, were going to take 2 days to arrive. 4 exhaust places later, I'd like to give a shout out to the Dingwall McConnochey/Halfords garage who produced two unwrapped but new rubber units out of a drawer,fitted them and wouldn't accept any payment.
Apparently, what i thought would be standard parts, were going to take 2 days to arrive. 4 exhaust places later, I'd like to give a shout out to the Dingwall McConnochey/Halfords garage who produced two unwrapped but new rubber units out of a drawer,fitted them and wouldn't accept any payment.
Nice! One which sticks in the memory was a failed rocker cover gasket on a 4-cylinder motorbike I had. I was around 150 miles from home, it was the evening, no breakdown cover, and it very quickly began dumping oil all down the side of the engine, and onto my leg 
I had a small toolkit, enough to be able to remove the cover. I manage to repair the broken gasket with torn strips of a fag packet that I found discarded in the layby.
Incredibly, the repair lasted so well, it stayed like that all the next week for commuting to work too, before I was able to buy a new gasket and repair it properly!
I had a small toolkit, enough to be able to remove the cover. I manage to repair the broken gasket with torn strips of a fag packet that I found discarded in the layby.
Incredibly, the repair lasted so well, it stayed like that all the next week for commuting to work too, before I was able to buy a new gasket and repair it properly!
I love these kind of tales 
I was driving a makeshift-campervan in remote Australia and went to overtake a road train. Obviously they're massive and it takes a while to get past them in a slow van so I pulled out and floored it. There was a sudden noise from the engine bay and the car gently rolled to a stop.
It was a Mitsubishi Starwagon, a small van where the engine was under the passenger seat. I kicked the passenger out and opened it up to find that it hadn't appreciated me putting my foot down. The throttle cable had snapped.
We were a long way from civilisation so we had to improvise. I ended up tying the remaining cable around a screwdriver and drove the rest of the way with the seat/bonnet propped up by a book and pulling on the screwdriver with my left hand to accelerate.
Thankfully it was an automatic and the roads were straight and quiet so once my brain had tuned into it, it was OK. Parking it in Darwin city centre was a little uncomfortable though.
I was driving a makeshift-campervan in remote Australia and went to overtake a road train. Obviously they're massive and it takes a while to get past them in a slow van so I pulled out and floored it. There was a sudden noise from the engine bay and the car gently rolled to a stop.
It was a Mitsubishi Starwagon, a small van where the engine was under the passenger seat. I kicked the passenger out and opened it up to find that it hadn't appreciated me putting my foot down. The throttle cable had snapped.
We were a long way from civilisation so we had to improvise. I ended up tying the remaining cable around a screwdriver and drove the rest of the way with the seat/bonnet propped up by a book and pulling on the screwdriver with my left hand to accelerate.
Thankfully it was an automatic and the roads were straight and quiet so once my brain had tuned into it, it was OK. Parking it in Darwin city centre was a little uncomfortable though.
Edited by durbster on Friday 8th July 08:04
Mum had an austin apache back in the day when I was a kiddo.
Accelerator cable snapped. Back then I knew the lever over the motor that you could blip to make the car rev which was exiting!
Found some string nearby and popped the bonnet and connected the string to that and out the bonnet into the passenger window.
We drove home with mum in a total panic as I was the one controlling the revs in the passenger seat.
Accelerator cable snapped. Back then I knew the lever over the motor that you could blip to make the car rev which was exiting!
Found some string nearby and popped the bonnet and connected the string to that and out the bonnet into the passenger window.
We drove home with mum in a total panic as I was the one controlling the revs in the passenger seat.
Throttle cable snapped in my Dax Rush on the M25 (due to no accelerator pedal stop). Only thing I could find at the time was the coiled ECU mapping cable, so I tied one end to the throttle body under the bonnet and then had a finger control over the acceleration as the cable came in under the drivers door. As you can imagine it made for an "interesting" driving experience, but hey I made it home 
Edited by NotNormal on Friday 8th July 13:15
A few years ago I traveled from Edinburgh down to Silverstone Classic with a mate in a flathead V8 powered car. We had just left Scotch Corner services and it lost pwer. The fan had walked forward on its shaft and sliced the newly recored radiator, which squirted water over the front mounted dizzy, killing the power. We pulled over and a couple of motorway patrol guys stopped. They gave us some water and escorted us to a car parts shop nearby. The best we could come up with was a small tin of body filler. We borrowed a bucket, drained the water, then pinched the sliced tubes with pliers while blowing in the radiator fill hole.
When the hissing was reduced as much as we possible we mixed up the bog and smeared it into the cut/fins. After it set we headed off and it was running fine, not overheating. We got to Silverstone, then over to Melton Mowbray, up through Wales and on to Chester, then Edinburgh. We did around 700 miles after the damage, and I believe he drove it like that a few more months as well.
When the hissing was reduced as much as we possible we mixed up the bog and smeared it into the cut/fins. After it set we headed off and it was running fine, not overheating. We got to Silverstone, then over to Melton Mowbray, up through Wales and on to Chester, then Edinburgh. We did around 700 miles after the damage, and I believe he drove it like that a few more months as well.
Not me but the previous owner of an old Passat snapped one or more of the exhaust manifold studs. He clamped the exhaust to it with a pair of Molegrips. I drilled out the broken stud and cleaned the Moles. They are still in my toolbox 30 years later.
Edited by Spydaman on Monday 11th July 18:26
I burst a heater hose on my Calibra Turbo in 35 degree plus temperatures in Bristol. Luckily I was passing Halfords so I bought a generic piece of hose and fitted that, it was still there seven years later when I sold it.
My diesel Golf wouldn’t start, a fault I traced to the fuel lift pump relay. I popped the cap off the relay, inserted a piece of cardboard to hold to switch open and drove it like that. You did have to remove the cardboard once you’d arrived somewhere or the battery would go flat.
My diesel Golf wouldn’t start, a fault I traced to the fuel lift pump relay. I popped the cap off the relay, inserted a piece of cardboard to hold to switch open and drove it like that. You did have to remove the cardboard once you’d arrived somewhere or the battery would go flat.
Last year I had the exhaust hanger failure and had to use the tow-rope to take the load.
Many years before I had a similar problem and I was able to find a suitable length of wire in the field hedge nearby - in deference to the Australian passenger I had, I was able to use barbed wire.
Many years before I had a similar problem and I was able to find a suitable length of wire in the field hedge nearby - in deference to the Australian passenger I had, I was able to use barbed wire.
Edited by Allan L on Friday 8th July 16:10
When the throttle cable snap on my mini (proper old mini) I was about 3 miles from home with a large hill in the way. Using a screwdriver I wound the tick over screw in to about 4000rpm then drove home, very slowly on the uphill. Gear changes had to be done very fast. Sitting at the traffic lights with the engine screaming got some funny looks, even more so when you then pulled away so slowly.
Circa 1990, brought the then girlfriend a Turquoise Fiat 126 as her first car to learn to drive in.
Had to do a few bits of work like changing the engine! Which involved buying another one, anyway not long after all was good, I decided to take a 200 mile around trip to Blackpool for fish and chips !
On the way back the throttle cable snapped on the M6, it was dark and around 10pm at night, needed a way to keep the throttle open, having not much with me, I took off the door lock knob and wedged it in carb linkage and tick over screw all done using passing vehicles to light up the back of the car so I can see.
Drove the next 70 odd miles home by using the ignition key to kill the engine which also killed the head lights at the same time! , all while making sure not to go too far on the switch and put the steering lock on.
Happy times
Had to do a few bits of work like changing the engine! Which involved buying another one, anyway not long after all was good, I decided to take a 200 mile around trip to Blackpool for fish and chips !
On the way back the throttle cable snapped on the M6, it was dark and around 10pm at night, needed a way to keep the throttle open, having not much with me, I took off the door lock knob and wedged it in carb linkage and tick over screw all done using passing vehicles to light up the back of the car so I can see.
Drove the next 70 odd miles home by using the ignition key to kill the engine which also killed the head lights at the same time! , all while making sure not to go too far on the switch and put the steering lock on.
Happy times
I snapped the clutch cable on a yamaha YBR125 many years ago right at the engine end.
Being an absolutely skint student I pushed it home (not far) and stuck on a pair of mole grips onto the lever at the engine end and rode it by hooking my foot around the mole grips to change gear... Took a bit of getting used to (especially when stopping) but it worked for a couple of weeks until I could afford a new cable.
Being an absolutely skint student I pushed it home (not far) and stuck on a pair of mole grips onto the lever at the engine end and rode it by hooking my foot around the mole grips to change gear... Took a bit of getting used to (especially when stopping) but it worked for a couple of weeks until I could afford a new cable.
Not sure if this qualifies, but I had the throttle stick wide open while racing. I used the ignition switch as an 'on/off' throttle, relying on momentum to restart the engine. It worked - at least I was able to finish!
Impromptu 'repairs' are frowned upon by scrutineers, not unreasonably, but I've used Araldite to repair a stone hole in the radiator, that was draining the coolant. Between practice and the race, I was able to get the rad out, filled the hole with glue and compete without any overheating probs.
John
Impromptu 'repairs' are frowned upon by scrutineers, not unreasonably, but I've used Araldite to repair a stone hole in the radiator, that was draining the coolant. Between practice and the race, I was able to get the rad out, filled the hole with glue and compete without any overheating probs.
John
Similar to that already mentioned, a bracket / hanger broke on a mates Rover 213S, probably not helped by the fact that he’d fitted a big bore Peco designed for an Audi 80. His ingenious solution was to remove his t-shirt and use it to secure the exhaust. How were we to know that the exhaust would get hot enough to set fire to the t-shirt?! Oh to be 17 again.
Bought a Lotus Elan S4 DHC from a dealer in Scarboro' back in 1988. Traded in my Metro Turbo for it.
Couldn't understand why it wasn't running "quite right". Discovered that the inlet manifold which on the twink is integral with the head was broken. One of the mounting lugs separate to the rest, across the inlet. Had been "fixed" with some black exhaust gun gum stuff. Add that to the brand new replacement chassis that was actually the old one painted. A situation proved when one front turret folded inwards after a few months.
Couldn't understand why it wasn't running "quite right". Discovered that the inlet manifold which on the twink is integral with the head was broken. One of the mounting lugs separate to the rest, across the inlet. Had been "fixed" with some black exhaust gun gum stuff. Add that to the brand new replacement chassis that was actually the old one painted. A situation proved when one front turret folded inwards after a few months.
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