|
The opposite of oil rags current post. In the past I have seen some things work that I would not have believed possible. Brake fluid poured into a carb at full throttle to free up the rings! A down draft carb with a blocked jet had the air filter removed, it was then revved up whilst someone gave a sudden slap to inlets (totally amazed that worked). There must be plenty of "personal ideas" out there (think its called the bumble bee principle).
|
my brother had a beetle engine that was thoroughly shot. there was a lot of wear and the whole crank was loose so he built up part of the engine block using some kind of liquid metal filler which he then filed and sanded smooth.
He refited everything and bolted the engine back in.
It started and he kept it going for at least a year or so.
Disclaimer: The above should not be taken as tecnhical advice in anyway, shape or form.
Seek professional help before embarking on anything similar.
;-)
Edited by Mick Snutz on 10/02/2010 at 13:40
|
|
Nice one I,m impressed. Was it on top gear that I saw a tyre being reinflated on snow useing lighter fuel and a match?
|
|
If so, they pinched the idea from the Finns, who may've pinched it from the Ruskies. Only for balloon tyres.
|
|
|
Yes. The Scandinavians do it when using large tyred vehicles to cross the tundra etc.
Its the sudden expansion of gases that pops it back on the rim I think.
I wonder who first thought: "Hey look. We're stuck in the middle of nowhere with a tyre off the rim. I know what I'll do. I'll pour lighter fluid all over me car and light it to see what happens...WHOOSH!'.
Clever really
|
|
|
|
|
|
Once (going back a while) had a Rover 213S....in fact, my first car....starter motor was knackered, but got going every time I hit it with a hammer.
|
I had a Peugeot 505 that had problems with the starter motor. Got it going by switching ignition on and then used a long screwdriver to create a short from the live starter feed to any convenient earth point. Used this bodge to get us round France and back.
alfalfa
|
I've forgotten most .
But, once I had an 850cc Mini. Being a BMC car it was struggling to crank over fast enough in the proper winters we had in the mid 70's. I removed one spark plug and the reduced compression enabled it to fire up on 3 cylinders. I managed then to insert the plug (iron head so little danger of cross threading) tighten it up and push the HT lead on without any personal injury.
|
|
|
How does this work? What's happening here?
Is the starter motor perm engaged with the flywheel on this car?
Heard of this a few times with everything from Jeep Grand Cherokees to ... cant think of anything else right now :-) Never got my head round how it works? (Never seen the components involved up close, keep forgetting to look...)
|
|
I had this "starting with a hammer" facility in a Vauxhall Firenza I had in the late 1970s. If that cure works, it's the starter motor solenoid which is sticking, and by whacking it with a hammer you unstick it.
|
I had this "starting with a hammer" facility in a Vauxhall Firenza I had in the late 1970s. If that cure works it's the starter motor solenoid which is sticking and by whacking it with a hammer you unstick it.
yeah, as previously recounted here my Cavalier Mk3 developed a sticky solenoid; being a sensitive soul I used a piece of wood rather than a hammmer. :-)
|
|
|
solenoid which is sticking, and by whacking it with a hammer you unstick it.
Usually it's the brushes that are sticking, or rather worn so short that the springs don't press them against the commutator. A hefty tap with a big hammer will sometimes shake them down into contact. Stops working in the end though. My VW 411 went through a period of forcing me to lie in the road and hit its starter motor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ha ha, used to have to do that with a Citroen GSA, however the starter motor was in such an inacessible place that it was very difficult to get any power behind a swing. A big spanner was better at it than a hammer. Same problem in a mate's Renault 5.
Best bodge I ever had done was in an old Beetle, a 1975 1303. The cabin filled with exhaust fumes when the heating vents were open, and the solution found by a local mechanic was to shove the cap off an air freshener aerosol can up some pipe or other connected with the heat exchanger. Worked a treat. I tried to explain this to several Volga driving cabbies in Moscow whose brakeless, bald tyred sheds had similar problems, however their prefered method was to ignore it and snap the window winders off the back doors in case anyone survived.
I did sell the Beetle soon after that and got a much more modern and reliable 1983 FIAT Regata, one of the best cars I've owned, even a snapped cambelt didn't stop it going to Gibraltar and back several times without incident.
Edited by Alanovich on 10/02/2010 at 14:09
|
|
|
|
My brother had a Vauxhall Shove-it that he had to do the same thing to. Ahh the good old days...
|
There are several bodges with a starter motor, depending on type.
With the old inertia engagement kind, the sliding pinion may stick and refuse to wind along the shaft. A hammer may free it.
Or it may be jammed in the flywheel, eg because the teeth are sticky or very worn. again, a hammer may free.
If a solenoid kind the solenoid may be sticking and not engaging the pinion. Hammer again.
Or the solenoid may have failed, in which case you can connect the live directly to the battery wire with a screwdriver, so bypassing the solenoid.
Or there's the spanner on the square end, usually underneath a pull-off cap.
Or bump start to rock a jammed pinion out of the flywheel ring.
|
1983 FIAT Regata, one of the best cars I've owned, even a snapped cambelt didn't stop it going to Gibraltar and back several times without incident.
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>now thats a story just too tall ;-0
|
A mate's Allegro went onto three cylinders in the wilds of Wales, miles from anywhere, let alone civilasation that could provide an HT lead.
A thin ally coat hanger wrapped around the top of the plug. The other end folded and wedged into the distributor cap. Made sure it had good clearance all round. I think it ran like that until terminal tin worm claimed it.
|
Viva/Chevette.inlet manifolds used to corrode and develope a big hole so the engine was sucking air instead of fuel mixture.
Used to pluck a suitable sized branch off a tree and hammer it into the hole 1/2 an inch.
Brought back most of the suction and got the punter home. Done a couple like that.
Driver usually amazed !
Ted
|
|
|
|
|
|
A friend's car was running very roughly. Inside the distributor cap was a nice tracking mark, which he'd been trying to scrape off. The mark kept coming back. I cut a postage-stamp piece out of the cap, and used a PVC glove putting the thing back together. That sorted it out!
|
|
could be urban myth but wasnt a 2cv capable of running on mashed banana skins in the sump instead of engine oil? goodness knows how they read the dipstick
Edited by Webmaster on 11/02/2010 at 00:40
|
wasnt a 2cv capable of running on mashed banana skins in the sump instead of engine oil?
Don't know about that, but I have had my 2CV running down the A1 on only 1 cylinder! A bit down on power to say the least!
|
|
|
could be urban myth but wasnt a 2cv capable of running on mashed banana skins in the sump instead of engine oil? goodness knows how they read the dipstick
not the sump, the gearbox.
www.helium.com/items/1151070-french-cars
Edited by Webmaster on 11/02/2010 at 00:40
|
|
|
|
My first SAAB 99 suffered a damaged starter ring gear at the hands of my partner (later models had a starter interlock). The damage was confined to a small area of the ring gear but caused starting problems because the engine often came to rest at that point.
The clutch/flywheel is very accessible on the (proper) SAABs - no major dismantling is required as the gearbox primary shaft is telescopic and pulls out to allow simple access.
So, flywheel taken into work and the ring gear very carefully pushed off the flywheel using a 100T hydraulic press. Working around the periphery, it came off without damage.
Ring gear turned over and rotated 90 deg relative to the flywheel. Gear heated to prescribed temperature in the oven, flywheel cooled with liquid CO2 for good measure. The two parts fell together - I had a few anxious moments whilst the temperatures equalised as it was so loose.
Complete success - starter interlock added electrically using a slave relay powered from the alternator aux line. I wonder if the next owner noticed the chipped teeth on the side remote from the starter?
659.
|
|
After our tractor caught fire and burnt out all the electrics, the only way to start it was to climb out and use a wide copper bar to short the starter motor to the battery. Trouble with that tractor is that it was quite hard to tell when it was in neutral because this had the side effect of bypassing every safety interlock on the thing.
|
|
|
Along very similar lines, I once drove a Volvo FL10 8 wheeler for a roofing supply company. This particular truck had some teeth missing from the flywheel and every so often would stop in just the right position to make starting....well, a non starter!!!
The solution was tucked away down the side of the drivers seat, it came in the form of an 18 inch long flat bladed screwdriver, with said tool you had to get under the cab to the gearbox where there was a piece missing, from there you could insert the screwdriver and slowly lever round the flywheel a few degrees. Then hop back in and start her up!!!!!
As far as I know this truck had been like this for months (maybe even year).
|
|
My Elan had Strombergs and they used to ice up. Wound many turns of wire around the dashpot housings and connected it to the battery via a switch in the cockpit. Worked perfectly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Saw an engine started with a missing fuel pump by someone holding a paint brush dipped in parrafin over the carb. Wonder how many of us use the ring end of a spanner jammed onto the open end of a combination spanner for extra leverage. Then the work force can sit down and make a brew useing a lump of 4 by 2 with a bed spring nailed to it and wired to the mains (army in cyprus. Haven`t seen this myself). Like the Stromberg heaters. All the usual disclaimers etc Do not try any of these bodges or you may die etc etc
|
Once came across a cylinder head glued together with what looked like Araldite.
We didn't do it, the car came in that way.
My gaffer's best guess was the owner had at some point dropped the head and it had cracked cleanly in two.
|
|
1985 Polo C - 2yrs old. A large sponge - squeezed behind the instruments, held the big wiring connector in place for the next 15yrs.
|
|
|
|
The screwdriver accross the solenoid trick was a favourite in the old Minis, allegros etc. until you got your backside down to the factors (or the scrappies like me) to pick up a new solenoid.
Some of my favourite bodges are.
Ford Escort Mk2
The horn had rusted out. It was located behind the grille IIRC and part of it was an integral part of the bodywork in that area. I simply routed the cable back to the inner wing and attached a horn assembly from a mini.
Renault 11 GTL.
I once used a wheel bolt in place of a caliper bolt to hold the caliper in place on the front hub. They were the same thread. I had managed to lose the correct bolt and this worked a treat. I did change this back to another bolt.
At 105k I needed to replace the rear wheel bearings, and noticed my drums were also quite badly worn. For the princely sum of £7 I bought two complete hubs with bearings from a breakers, took them off the car myself. The car had only done 50k. The drums looked new.
Just before I sold it I had the bright idea of changing the plates for new ones to brighten up the car. On undoing the rear plate at the back one of the plastic screws tore out a 1 inch rust hole at the back so you could see straight into the boot! I got around this by using the old front number plate on the inside facing the bodywork, so the grey coloured back was visable from inside. I just so happened that the car was metallic grey so this wasn't too noticable. The car sold for very close to the asking price.
Land Rover 200TDi
The fuseable link in the loom recently blew above the offside wing, taking with it several items like electric windows, starter etc. Rather than find the very intermittant short I've attached a resettable fuse. It's not tripped yet but if it did then all I would have to do is open the bonnet and reset it.
Nissan Almera
Many of you will have read about my woes getting this through the MOT. In the end we got a replacement hub from a local breaker. Unfortunately the idiot who removed it from the car saw fit to CUT the ABS cable about 8 inches from the hub, despite actually being told in great detail (because I "do" detail) about how my car failed on ABS and how I needed the sensor or a hub with it on. Mechanic made a good join onto the cable from my vehicle.
|
|
|
|
A couple of SU electric fuel pump tales.
My mum bought a brand new Morris Minor in 1971. The fuel pump was unreliable from about day 3. I ran some scrap wire from the heater control to the bulkhead mounted pump so that when the engine coughed as the pump stopped working a tug on the heater control would jerk the pump into life. This went on for IIRC 2-3 months because a new pump wasn't available; British Leyland at its finest.
On the way from Leeds to Haslemere in my dreadful Austin Cambridge, the fuel pump stopped. The AA man tutted as he stripped it and cleaned the points. It lasted another 15 miles. Twice more I called them out but time was getting on so I wired the positive terminal of the pump to a length of wire and shorted it out on the gear lever when the pump stopped. I got to Haslemere and later changed the pump in the car park.
|
Lada timing chain guide used to wear away and end in the sump. The chain would wear a hole in the head. Fit new pad, adjust on the other side. Clean around the hole with thinners, fill with body filler, carefully sculpted with finger and paint with ally paint. Perfect and leak free. No oil pressure there, just splash off the chain.
Ted
|
|
|
|
Dad's Triumph 2000 overheated on the M4 once, in a traffic jam going in to London, near Heston services. We were driving some holidaying Canadian cousins "Up Town" to go to a West End show, the poor perishers.
We pulled on to the hard shoulder and waited for things to cool down, and removed the radiator cap. Very low coolant level. No idea how it got in to that state as it was not leaking.
Anyway, we were very pleased to realise we had a big bottle of diluted lemon squash in the boot, left over from a recent picnic. In to the radiator went the squash, and off we went.
|
Four up in an old Ford, late at night in the middle of nowhere. It had overheated and no coolant visible in the rad. I'd done something earlier that day and had obviously forgotten to tighten a hose clip.
It was my turn to drive and the others had been drinking pints all night. Tightened clip and well, if it's good enough for boy scouts to use to put out camp fires...............
|
|
|
|
