How to make sure you are never stranded on road

[postmortemIA]

Is preventive maintenance by professional enough to predict the potential breakdown? Or some mechanical/electrical problems can appear from nowhere?

Did anybody have such experience, like car dies in middle of nowhere on some highway or interstate, in a middle of night?

I've been driver since '99, and so far had great luck with every car I have owned.

I saw few poor souls stuck tonight on my way back from the thanksgiving trip.

 

[sniperruff]

with older cars, your best bet is to subscribe to AAA.

if you have a decently reliable car with reasonable tires, i dont see how you can get stranded.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: sniperruff
with older cars, your best bet is to subscribe to AAA.

if you have a decently reliable car with reasonable tires, i dont see how you can get stranded.

Exactly what he said. I used drive older cars, and since they are mechanical, they are obviously more prone to breakage. AAA has got me out of a pickle so many times, it is totally worth it. I would have AAA as a precautionary measure. Even with my new car, it saved me when I had a problem with me hitting a piece of metal on the freeway

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: zerocool84
since they are mechanical, they are obviously more prone to breakage.

I don't even know where to begin to describe what's wrong with that statement...

Mechanical failures give literally thousands of miles of warning beforehand; solid-state devices work perfectly then fail without warning.

When a mechanical part fails, it's trivial to jerry-rig something that will get you home; solid-state devices cannot usually be repaired by simple hand tools.

Don't give me the "it's not trivial to rig up a new axle" or something like that. Every car has those, not just the older "mechanical" cars.

I have had far more problems with electronics than I've ever had with mechanical parts.

ZV

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: zerocool84
since they are mechanical, they are obviously more prone to breakage.

I don't even know where to begin to describe what's wrong with that statement...

Mechanical failures give literally thousands of miles of warning beforehand; solid-state devices work perfectly then fail without warning.

When a mechanical part fails, it's trivial to jerry-rig something that will get you home; solid-state devices cannot usually be repaired by simple hand tools.

Don't give me the "it's not trivial to rig up a new axle" or something like that. Every car has those, not just the older "mechanical" cars.

I have had far more problems with electronics than I've ever had with mechanical parts.

ZV

QFT.

Every car I've owned was built in the 80s. And yet it seems that every week I see several MUCH newer cars stranded by the side of the road.

If you know what you're doing and you keep up on your maintenance on the older cars, they'll never let you down. On the newer cars, you get a rear ashtray sensor failure and suddenly the car refuses to start.

The worst part is that it's next to impossible to troubleshoot those kinds of electrical gremlins, and now all the manufacturers want you to take your car to the dealer for any diagnosis or service. If you're lucky there will be instructions somewhere on the web to bypass the unneccessary sensors, but that's by no means a sure thing.

 

[LTC8K6]

Yes, we got along fine for many decades without a crankshaft position sensor.

Christ! It won't run. It doesn't know where the crankshaft is!

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
Yes, we got along fine for many decades without a crankshaft position sensor.

Christ! It won't run. It doesn't know where the crankshaft is!

I got a kick out of that too. What's amazing is that a Google search reveals that this is an occasional problem with tons of different cars, not just the well-publicized Nissan recall...

But my car uses a *gasp* distributor! I have to use a timing light and everything every time I want a tune-up. And change my timing belt once every 100k or so. Oh noes, the agony...

 

[Colt45]

Heh.. mine uses a *gasp* distributor as well, but there's a hall sender in it, and a crank sensor. 3x the fun.

no timing light here though.

 

[imported_Truenofan]

im with zv. my car has given me no problems. mechanically sound. engine, tranny, diff, brakes, clutch, all work fine. its more along the lines of electrical and electronic issues that most cars have. downside is that you cant check all your wiring in your car. you cant see some of it. i have a timing(cant call it crank) sensor and coils instead of distributor cap. the only problems that i've had as of late, is the power anntena(its rusted and fubar) not working, and the drivers side headlight motor draining the battery which would be electrical.

edit: only reason they went to crank/timing sensors is because its probably more accurate in the long run than a mechanical based system. but don't use me as a all knowing source because I'm not.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

One thing about the older purely mechanical cars, is that they'll run like crap for a long time before sputtering out. Newer cars have a larger tendency to just stop running.

 

[AMCRambler]

Mechanical things you or a mechanic can diagnose before it becomes a problem just by giving your car a good once over once or twice a year. Things like brakes, suspension, belts, exhaust, etc can all be visually inspected fairly easily just by getting under the car every once in a while. The things that'll strand you are the things you can't easily test on a regular basis, mostly electronics/electrics. Alternator, fuel pump, ignition coil, wires, sensors and so on. The best way to minimize getting stuck with one of those is follow the prescribed maintenance for your car. If the plugs and wires should be changed at 75,000 miles then make sure it gets done. That's really about all any of us can do.
The one time I got stranded it was the ignition coil in my 1991 Accord. The car was 12 years old so I was pretty much expecting to get stranded at some point. Fortunately it died about a mile from my girlfriend's house as we were coming home with some Chinese food. I got the car over to the shoulder and we walked the rest of the way to her house and ate dinner and then I called the tow truck. If reliability is a concern for you because you're frequently far from home, then your best bet is to make sure you've got a fairly new car. That'll decrease your odds of gettings stuck.

 

[mooseracing]

Originally posted by: jagec

But my car uses a *gasp* distributor! I have to use a timing light and everything every time I want a tune-up. And change my timing belt once every 100k or so. Oh noes, the agony...

You mean you don't gap the points when doing your tune up.

I'm glad I got rid of that truck. Don't get me wrong it never had an issue, but you could set your watch as to when the points needed a change.

I've never been forturnate enough to have to change a timing belt, only chains and gears.

Originally posted by: Truenofan
i have a timing(cant call it crank) sensor and coils instead of distributor cap. .

I think nearly all cars with spark plugs have coils

 

[HannibalX]

Originally posted by: postmortemIA
Is preventive maintenance by professional enough to predict the potential breakdown? Or some mechanical/electrical problems can appear from nowhere?

The best way to make sure you don't get stranded is to follow the service schedule in your owner's manual. The facts are, just about any modern car from any car company will run a very long time and not have problems if you follow the service schedule outlined in the owner's manual.

I have never been stranded, thank God. I also keep my cars on the service schedule in my manual. Yeah - it costs money. Naive people think that the cost of owning a car is gone once they pay the initial price to purchase the car - wrong. I like to use Edmonds.Com true ownership cost web page to see what a car will really cost me.

Take my sister for example - she didn't have any brake work done on her Neon for about 70k miles resulting in total lockup of the front brakes - the front wheels wouldn't budge. It cost her 3k to fix it, but if she had spent $50 on pads every 15k miles she wouldn't have had a problem.

 

[HannibalX]

I should also ad, that conservative driving will also go a long way in preserving the life of your vehicle. If your are constantly at WOT, especially right after you start your car (first ten minutes of travel), you are asking for trouble.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Originally posted by: Pale Rider

Originally posted by: postmortemIA
Is preventive maintenance by professional enough to predict the potential breakdown? Or some mechanical/electrical problems can appear from nowhere?

The best way to make sure you don't get stranded is to follow the service schedule in your owner's manual. The facts are, just about any modern car from any car company will run a very long time and not have problems if you follow the service schedule outlined in the owner's manual.

I have never been stranded, thank God. I also keep my cars on the service schedule in my manual. Yeah - it costs money. Naive people think that the cost of owning a car is gone once they pay the initial price to purchase the car - wrong. I like to use Edmonds.Com true ownership cost web page to see what a car will really cost me.

Take my sister for example - she didn't have any brake work done on her Neon for about 70k miles resulting in total lockup of the front brakes - the front wheels wouldn't budge. It cost her 3k to fix it, but if she had spent $50 on pads every 15k miles she wouldn't have had a problem.

15k isn't many miles to get out of a set of brakes. I'm up to 90k on my Dakota and they still have a lot of life left. My brother in law got 70k out of his Ram's. The key is to keep an eye on wear items. When one gets close, replace it. I knew I was hard on my clutch as I was learning, so I replaced it at 50k. Because I did it preemptively, I didn't have to replace the flywheel, and I was able to do it at my leisure. I'm a lot easier on my clutch these days.

 

[HannibalX]

That was just an example number - you should change them at the manufacturer suggested intervals, whatever that may be for your vehicle.

One thing most people overlook is shocks and struts (also wear items). Want to makes your 10 year old car ride "like new"? Take a look at replacing your shocks/struts.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: mooseracing

Originally posted by: Truenofan
i have a timing(cant call it crank) sensor and coils instead of distributor cap. .

I think nearly all cars with spark plugs have coils

I think that he meant a coil pack for each rotor as opposed to a traditional distributor.

ZV

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Pale Rider

Take my sister for example - she didn't have any brake work done on her Neon for about 70k miles resulting in total lockup of the front brakes - the front wheels wouldn't budge. It cost her 3k to fix it, but if she had spent $50 on pads every 15k miles she wouldn't have had a problem.

15k? Umm...that's a little extreme. When I bought my car at 135k, the owners (who had full maintenance records since 50k) hadn't ever changed the brake pads. "We checked them every time, and there was still plenty left". Incredible. I ended up changing the pads and rotors myself later, but not because the pads were worn out.

Originally posted by: Pale Rider
I should also ad, that conservative driving will also go a long way in preserving the life of your vehicle. If your are constantly at WOT, especially right after you start your car (first ten minutes of travel), you are asking for trouble.

It's actually a good idea to occasionally touch redline, but ONLY when the engine is fully warmed up. Aggressive driving all the time is a bad idea. With some exceptions...there's a 4AGE in my car, which basically means that once warm, I could just leave it at redline all the time and not worry.

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
15k isn't many miles to get out of a set of brakes. I'm up to 90k on my Dakota and they still have a lot of life left. My brother in law got 70k out of his Ram's. The key is to keep an eye on wear items. When one gets close, replace it. I knew I was hard on my clutch as I was learning, so I replaced it at 50k. Because I did it preemptively, I didn't have to replace the flywheel, and I was able to do it at my leisure. I'm a lot easier on my clutch these days.

You can almost always resurface a flywheel. That's recommended whenever you replace your clutch, actually.

Originally posted by: Pale Rider
That was just an example number - you should change them at the manufacturer suggested intervals, whatever that may be for your vehicle.

One thing most people overlook is shocks and struts (also wear items). Want to makes your 10 year old car ride "like new"? Take a look at replacing your shocks/struts.

Very true. I'm replacing my shocks in the next few weeks. Now that I got new tires it's evident that I have WAY too much body roll and springiness in the car. The bushings are being replaced too...another maintenance item that most people forget.

 

[HannibalX]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: Pale Rider

Take my sister for example - she didn't have any brake work done on her Neon for about 70k miles resulting in total lockup of the front brakes - the front wheels wouldn't budge. It cost her 3k to fix it, but if she had spent $50 on pads every 15k miles she wouldn't have had a problem.

15k? Umm...that's a little extreme. When I bought my car at 135k, the owners (who had full maintenance records since 50k) hadn't ever changed the brake pads. "We checked them every time, and there was still plenty left". Incredible. I ended up changing the pads and rotors myself later, but not because the pads were worn out.

I guess you missed this part: <<<That was just an example number - you should change them at the manufacturer suggested intervals, whatever that may be for your vehicle. >>>

I guess it's too much to ask people to apply advice to their own situation these days. Everyone needs their hand held.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: postmortemIA
Is preventive maintenance by professional enough to predict the potential breakdown? Or some mechanical/electrical problems can appear from nowhere?

Did anybody have such experience, like car dies in middle of nowhere on some highway or interstate, in a middle of night?

I've been driver since '99, and so far had great luck with every car I have owned.

I saw few poor souls stuck tonight on my way back from the thanksgiving trip.

I used to work for a rental car company and was stranded by a brand new Pontiac Sunbird (car had less than 500 miles on it) once on a Saturday night 200 miles from home. Fucking thing just quit running as I was cruising along at 60mph. Turned out it was some sensor that quit working. I had to have the car towed and called up the manager of a local office on a Sunday to swap another car with me.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: postmortemIA
Is preventive maintenance by professional enough to predict the potential breakdown? Or some mechanical/electrical problems can appear from nowhere?

Did anybody have such experience, like car dies in middle of nowhere on some highway or interstate, in a middle of night?

I've been driver since '99, and so far had great luck with every car I have owned.

I saw few poor souls stuck tonight on my way back from the thanksgiving trip.

I used to work for a rental car company and was stranded by a brand new Pontiac Sunbird (car had less than 500 miles on it) once on a Saturday night 200 miles from home. Fucking thing just quit running as I was cruising along at 60mph. Turned out it was some sensor that quit working. I had to have the car towed and called up the manager of a local office on a Sunday to swap another car with me.

The Sunbird is one of the worst cars ever made. A friend had one.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: postmortemIA
Is preventive maintenance by professional enough to predict the potential breakdown? Or some mechanical/electrical problems can appear from nowhere?

Did anybody have such experience, like car dies in middle of nowhere on some highway or interstate, in a middle of night?

I've been driver since '99, and so far had great luck with every car I have owned.

I saw few poor souls stuck tonight on my way back from the thanksgiving trip.

I used to work for a rental car company and was stranded by a brand new Pontiac Sunbird (car had less than 500 miles on it) once on a Saturday night 200 miles from home. Fucking thing just quit running as I was cruising along at 60mph. Turned out it was some sensor that quit working. I had to have the car towed and called up the manager of a local office on a Sunday to swap another car with me.

The Sunbird is one of the worst cars ever made. A friend had one.

Still, you would think that a brand new car...even a Pontiac...wouldn't leave you stranded on the side of the road right? :laugh:

 

[imported_Truenofan]

I think nearly all cars with spark plugs have coils

yeah, but i have two different sets of coils. along with two sets of two different spark plugs. leading and trailing. thats definitely different lol.

 

[Sluggo]

I got stranded just a couple of weeks ago, from a vehicle that had never let me down...it was a sad day. There is a thread about it.

A stupid fuel pump, you cant really ever see or test, it works great for years, until that one time it doesnt.

I do think AAA will be a good investment for me, just the one tow I paid for would have almost paid for it.

 

[MetalMat]

I drive around in an old 93 honda accord throughout Louisiana and East Texas, average around 2500 miles every month. AAA has bought me piece of mind, I would recommend you get it. It is only around 50 bucks a year for the basic coverage.