Crap. Bus broke down.

[DurocShark]

I can finally say my bus stranded me.

I should have known he would do something to me when he took a bite out of my favorite hawaiian shirt while I was moving through the walkthrough at a Mc Donalds. I was just going back to grab a book to read while eating and RRRIIIIIIIP! Took off the shirt, put on a sweatshirt I keep in the bus, and went to eat.

Then, on the way home and looking for a flower shop (15th anniversary) and of course there are no more to be found, push on the clutch pedal and hear a "TTTWANGGGG" and the pedal goes to the floor.

Slam the bus into second so I can get it into a parking lot (sorry about that gear bus!!) and start calling the wife. Of course, she let the bill go on her cell so she's been without for a while now, so I call the house, her parents, etc. Nothing. Sigh. I'm only a couple miles from home in Anaheim, so I grab the laptop bag out of the bus, cover anything that might make the bus a target for a breakin, and start walking.

I pass some "wonderful" neighborhoods. You know the kind, ones with 15 year old kids outside playing with switchblades and butterfly knives. Ahhh. Home. I'm glad I'm not a skinny longhair anymore! While I bitch about putting on weight, this is one of the few times when I LIKE having some bulk. Especially I'm carrying a laptop bag with IBM emblazoned on the side.

I'm home now, on the laptop, and the bus is all alone in a parking lot in front of a Smart & Final. After a few minutes to relax I'll start seeing if any of the FLAPS around here have a clutch cable (and hope that's it). With any luck the wife will show up with the Volvo to go get said cable and see if I can install it in the dark.

Good times.

 

[InlineFive]

Good luck.

 

Good luck...I hate to see your pride and joy disappoint you.

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: jumpr
Good luck...I hate to see your pride and joy disappoint you.

Thanks. What sucks is that it wasn't unexpected. A spare cable was on the list to put in the parts box in the bus. Sigh. Just never seemed to have the spare cash. Sigh.

None of the FLAPS that are open right now have one so it's stuck till tomorrow. Grrr. I was supposed to spend tomorrow in a class. So much for that.

 

[Brutuskend]

Man I have been through SOOO many clutch cables in my Type 3.

I'm seriously considering putting a hydraulic kit in it.

When you put the new one in, GREASE IT UP GOOD!

 

[HappyPuppy]

I take it you don't have AAA.

Noob.

 

[no0b]

You could have called 411 to get a taxi number....

 

[thomsbrain]

if it's in a bad neighborhood, might be worth waiting until it's light out to put in the clutch.

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: no0b
You could have called 411 to get a taxi number....

That would cost money... I considered taking the bus, but figured the risk was even higher of getting hit for the laptop since I'd be sitting on the bus with the "IBM" logo staring at the guys. Gives them time to get up the nerve to do something, rather than just walking past...

Nobody had the cable I need last night. I have to wait until 9am to see if the VW parts shops have it...

 

[cavemanmoron]

When the Bus breaks down around here they send another one to pick the people up.

Oh you mean an Old VW "MicroBus"?

They are durable,why didn't you drive it home?

The clutch cable is broke,so?Shift at engine speed,or leave in 2nd gear,you can go to
a traffic light and turn the van off,and start in second.

Oh,and I agree with this.

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy
I take it you don't have AAA.

Noob.

I have had AAA Plus for years, 100 mile towing.

Last year my Chevy van's fuel pump stopped working,had the Van towed home,
and worked on it on the side street.A lot cheaper than a garage.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Heh, my dad broke a clutch cable on his 1sr gen Rabbit, he ran into a hay fork on his tractor, punched a hole in the radiator. I'd never seen him so mad. The car had ~5K miles on it, wasn't even 6 months old....

 

[aircooled]

I learned to always carry a spare clutch cable in my bugs and buses. (then of course the accelerator cable would snap since I didn't have one of those with me )

 

[LennyZ]

check your ground wire from the battery.
a bad ground will eat cables.

 

[DurocShark]

aircooled: Yeah, I should have had one in my bus. They're only like $15. Grrr....

LennyZ: Huh? I think you're thinking of electrical. A clutch cable just runs from the clutch pedal to the clutch fork to allow you to shift.

I'm getting my AAA today too. I had roadside on my Sprint phone, but when my wife stopped paying it ("Why do we need that phone when you have your work phone?" @$#%@#$@#) I obviously stopped getting roadside too.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: DurocShark
aircooled: Yeah, I should have had one in my bus. They're only like $15. Grrr....

LennyZ: Huh? I think you're thinking of electrical. A clutch cable just runs from the clutch pedal to the clutch fork to allow you to shift.

I'm getting my AAA today too. I had roadside on my Sprint phone, but when my wife stopped paying it ("Why do we need that phone when you have your work phone?" @$#%@#$@#) I obviously stopped getting roadside too.

LennyZ is right about cables being eaten by a bad ground. You see, without that ground the electricity will travel down other paths to make it's own ground, that being an accelerator cable or clutch cable or any conductive material. This causes the cables not made for a ground strap to become one, corroding it. This is what is happening to the TV cable on my Jeep.

http://www.misterfixit.com/badgrnd.htm

 

[Brutuskend]

Originally posted by: aircooled
I learned to always carry a spare clutch cable in my bugs and buses. (then of course the accelerator cable would snap since I didn't have one of those with me )

I had my accelerator cable break in my Type 3 once. I just took off the engine cover, took the broken cable out of the tube, attached a pair of vice grips to the end of it and drove it home using the vice grips to pull on the cable from the drivers seat.

Squarebacks OWN bugs!