What vehicles have left you on the side of the road?

[DisplacedCaper]

1987 Honda Civic hatchback.
Paid $100 for it in Cape Breton, cost me a case of beer for a couple used good front struts. Drove it for a year around the island and halfway to Calgary. Timing went in the middle of northern Ontario. Girlfriend was not impressed hitch hiking with everything we could carry paid a tow truck in the next town to go get it for the scrap yard, called and reported it to the opp, and caught a greyhound the next morning which was a pleasant experience (I’m not sure if my sarcasm showed through there). A day and a half later and 1 flat tire on the bus we arrived groggy and miserable in downtown Calgary lol.
As ****ed as the gf was, she couldn’t have been that mad. We’re married 15 years this summer. That trip was 17 years ago lol.


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[Monica B]

Originally Posted by Ken07AOVette

and a $300 hotel room.

Did it have a waterslide?

[MRM]

1998 Dodge Ram 1500 in 2004. Pulled over to look something up and would not move after. $3600 to the good folks at the dealership in GP.

Same truck fuel pump went, but this time close to home.

1992 Honda civic, but that one was on its roof.....

[.257Weatherby]

1989 FLHTC and my 2002 FLHTCUI.
If it has ( @ )( @ j or wheels, it is going to cause some grief sooner or later.
Rob

[Scott N]

87 Chevy S-10 Blazer... transmission problems.

[tallieho]

94 gmc turbo diesel 6.5.general motors actually bought it back from me.They had it for months,couldn't get it to go.Last straw was the V.P from vancouver,took it for a drive & it stalled while he was passing a semi.When he got back.He told the manager to set appt with me to pick out a new truck..

[jpohlic]

1984 Mazda RX7, alternator. Got a boost and made it home.

Same car, fuel pump died about 10km south of Olds on Hwy 2. Spent the night in the car with my dog, walked to town at 6am, tow truck operator sold me an AMA membership and got it towed home to Red Deer.

1999 Jeep TJ, spent the weekend off roading at Waiparous, buried it up to the hood in a mud hole, spent an hour winching it out and cleaning the mud out from under the hood. Half way to Red Deer the clutch went, and a bud from the jeep club towed me the rest of the way.

Same Jeep, lost the front U-joint of the front driveshaft. Tied it up to the frame and went camping/off roading and managed to keep up pretty well to a couple friends on their quads

[ak-71]

Western cars - Geo Storm - broken timing belt way before sunlight first weekend going fishing in Pennsylvania. Was totally my fault - I knew it was just due, but hoped they had a lot of error margin, but them damn Japanese engineers knew it better, good thing I knew this year had a non-interfering engine. As a student I couldn't afford to change it in California anyway, and this unfortunate break down allowed me to fix it in rural Pennsylvania for way, way less money, I, actually bought the belt myself in a store - the shop was closed on a weekend. No expensive hotel rooms either, only few coffees over some hours waiting to be rescued in a local gas station, the only public place in town.
Geo Storm still was the best thing I bought for 600$, the only car I, actually, miss.

Otherwise every other car I had in the West, somehow, never ever failed, which speaks a lot for the quality for me.

PS. Geo Storm was a marketing name, it was built by Isuzu.

[sgill808]

Nothing yet. *Knock on wood*

Next thread could be which car have you owned that had the best back seat lol.

[Ken07AOVette]

Originally Posted by sgill808

Nothing yet. *Knock on wood*

Next thread could be which car have you owned that had the best back seat lol.

This was a good tread, just one single loser troll reply! (Not you)

[funkman]

1967 Mercury Montego...parents were balking at me buying a car, so I bought this behind their backs. Overheated on the way home, it was a POS...motor,tranny....so my parents co-signed a loan and we traded it in....on a 1971 PINTO....hahaha.

Also, a 1989 jeep chereokee.....twice....fusible link to the fuel pump and the water pump.

[funkman]

Originally Posted by Ken07AOVette

With several hundred that I have owned, 1 single vehicle has left me. I admit it was my own fault, it was giving me grief starting a few times and I did not diagnose it, drove it until that one time too many. 1999 Chrysler LHS that I bought new. Died in July 2015 with ~275km on it. I think it was the fuel pump, parked it that day and haven't looked at it since. That was the only tow I have ever had. I have been driving Fords exclusively for trucks since the 90's.

on a side note, that's an amazing number of vehicles you have owned.....i am just about 60 and have owned 13....

[knifeman]

2010 Dodge 3500.
1. Starter and fly wheel went.
2. Transmission line popped off while hunt (That was fun.)
3. Alternator died.

Its been a money pit.

[big zeke]

In my youth, I was travelled around a lot in something called a Fargo 4X4...built by the devil himself in about 1970, drove it, fixed it , drove it, fixed it repeatedly in the early 80s.

This was a vehicle that was never meant to be, had been towed by pretty much every AMA driver in Edmonton at the time, some a few times. Considered driving it off a cliff but probably wouldn't have made it to a cliff without a tow.

The list is endless...
-fuel pump
-starter
-bad grounds (several times lost all lights at night)
-dropped every drive shaft it had at least once
-clutch (changed it during engine rebuild)

Thing rode like a tank, all metal interior (you would die in a crash...if you could ever get it going fast enough to crash), no real muffler (on a 383!!!).

Great memories with that thing. Used it at the same time we had an Argo...keeps you humble & broke

[CMichaud]

1996 Dodge 1500. Alternator packed it in and truck died.

Only one that actually left me stranded although I think the 77 Datsun 280Z also did the same around Chilliwack (memory getting foggy) but I managed to limp it back.

[Ken07AOVette]

Originally Posted by funkman

on a side note, that's an amazing number of vehicles you have owned.....i am just about 60 and have owned 13....

I always had fun with vehicles. At one time a couple years ago, I had 19 Ford trucks sitting here. From the house you could only see 3, the rest were between the shop and trees, and in the shop.

I had at one time started collecting Corvettes, the most I had at one time here was 5. I had to end that one though, the older one I wanted was $50,000 USD at the time and the newer one was almost $100,000 USD!

[TomP]

1997 ford ranger. Was out drinking in barrhead with some friends and girlfriend was driving me back to Edmonton middle of the night. Alternator died...we slept in the truck that night in the middle of nowhere. Luckily it was summer...

[dicknormal]

Having a multitude of Fords since 1978 except for two deviations to GM for a Dually and a Safari van in the 90's I've had only 1 stoppage on the road. I blew a u-joint and dropped the driveshaft off a 94 F150. Hitch hiked to town for a visit to Canuck rubber. Bought a few tools and a u-joint and was back on the road within the hour.

[Taco]

In the last 30 yrs? All of the Big 3 makes of light trucks have make me walk, everything from blown engines and transmissions to stuffin' moose and deer into the engine compartment. I drive too much, over 2 million km of mostly rural driving.

[Arty]

Originally Posted by Taco

In the last 30 yrs? All of the Big 3 makes of light trucks have make me walk, everything from blown engines and transmissions to stuffin' moose and deer into the engine compartment. I drive too much, over 2 million km of mostly rural driving.

Hmm, come to think about it I do remember an episode with a dim-witted big deer near midnight. Weird how your mind can block out bad experiences.

Just about everything was removed off the front of my truck by the square-on direct hit, and there was gore and fur everywhere. Rad was curved in. Transmission was immobilized after the oil cooler tore off. Power steering dead too when those hoses went. A/c was pooched. Lord knows what else the body shop found. I've since replaced a lot of the parts they installed.

Another time in a borrowed car, an old-time 4-bladed steel fan shredded itself and drove one blade deep into the rad dumping coolant all down the highway. Never thought a vehicle that size could vibrate so bad.

[darren32]

2011 F350 .... more than once. Memorable vacation tho

[tool]

A few more spring to mind, 1995 F350 Dually, the "emissions pump" (I think it's official name is a Doohickey) caught fire and did a bunch of damage, rendering truck immobile, again while hauling a load of cattle.

1999 F350 Dually, the right rear drive wheels, ummmm fell off.... Also while hauling a load of cattle into a pasture at thank goodness, very low speed, a friend and neighbour had his fly off hauling cattle at 110 km/h down #1 either just before or just after this incident.


2007 Dodge 2500 diesel, tie rod end breaks off while hauling 24' cattle trailer down narrow road west of Didsbury, not too much steering!

To Be Continued.....

[jstubbs]

Only time I’ve been stranded from a break down was I had a high pressure fuel pump grenade on me in my 2006 Chevy 2500 diesel. Happened right as I drove onto the high level bridge in Edmonton. Problem was the WIF sensor wasn’t properly plugged into the filter, and had just fuelled up a tank of watery diesel from Canadian Tire. Water got into the pump, froze and blew the freeze plug out.

[Positrac]

I had a 2000 Nissan Xterra that died while out in the bush. The computer was under the passenger seat and usually ended up getting wet at some point. Pretty widely known problem with the early Xterras. It was still a decent rig though.

[boonedocks]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

A Dodge 1/2 ton slant 6- rectifier issue
Cat

1984 dodge “ power ram?” with a slant six under the hood. This truck was in absolutely mint condition ( body, paint,interior, not a leak anywhere) when I bought it in about 1993. I carried a glove box full of ballist resistors everywhere I went. After a dozen or so alternators and new batteries I swore off Dodge FOREVER. That truck had more miles “ on the hook”, than off.

[does it ALL outdoors]

Originally Posted by jpohlic

1999 Jeep TJ, spent the weekend off roading at Waiparous, buried it up to the hood in a mud hole, spent an hour winching it out and cleaning the mud out from under the hood.

We sunk a buddy's K5 out there almost completely at about midnight on a week night. 2 tow trucks and a few hours later & $800 they couldn't even get to the Blazer, they took turns getting stuck & pulling each other out.

The tow trucks took all 4 of us back to Cochrane where we managed to bum a ride back to Calgary.

'84 Tempo is the only vehicle that left me truly stranded. That thing was a colossal POS. The few Fords I have owned have been relatively good to me, except that car. I would fix one problem and 3 more things would break

[HyperMOA]

2012 F-550

I can't even count how many times this lemon has left me stranded. You would be hard pressed finding me a tow truck with 9000KG capacity, in central Alberta, I haven't seen the inside of.

Junk.

[Fifth Wheel]

1968 Chrysler Newport Custom, 383 cu. in. V8, pulling my dad's heavy old '59 Shasta travel trailer. A connecting rod went through the block just out of Chiliwack, B.C. and we returned to my sister's place in Vancouver for a week waiting for the rebuilt to be installed at a local shop.

My personal vehicles? Never been stranded, if you don't count a few "bush fixes" like adding water to a leaky cooling system or sticking the duct tape in just the right spot to get down the road.

Commercial trucks? Never a tractor, if you don't count changing a few frozen fuel filters in "minus-I-don't-wanna-be-laying-here-with-diesel-running-down-my-arm" (but we always carried a spare one), clamping off an air leak or getting a tire fixed. A trailer once that I can remember, but that didn't really leave me stranded, though I had to wait at a local motel for parts and roadside repairs.

Mostly, I've been pretty lucky I guess.

[JohninAB]

One other, 1972 Chev half ton in 1984 while a university student. Went hunting by Fawcett/Flatbush with the one roommate when my truck just died. Caught a ride to a phone, called the other roommate who came up with tools and money and we went to Westlock and owner of the auto parts store met us there and we got a new fuel pump as the old mechanical fuel pump had broke in two. Got home late that night and next morning we went and worked security at the Grey Cup game in Edmonton. Fun times.

[tool]

How could I forget the 2004 experience of loosing a set of duals off a van trailer while crossing a bridge on an interstate in New York!