80'sAudiguy
11-14-2001, 07:35 PM
A previous post reminded me of just how fun travel can be.
Three years ago I was driving from a gig in Washington DC to my home in Charleston, SC. It was the day after New Year's Eve.
Traffic on I-95 was nearly unbearable. Just south of the North Carolina border my '87 4000s started acting a little funny. There was a momentary lapse of power to my radio that happened two or three times in about a 60 minute period.
Suddenly, an extremely loud squeal came from the engine, so I made the quick dash from the left lane to the right shoulder.
I lifted up the hood and was greeted by the sweet, choking smell of burnt rubber. The alternator belt seemed to be the primary culprit, so I did some roadside investigating -- not a fun thing on the coldest day of the year.
I de-tensioned the alternator belt and discovered that my alternator was competely frozen -- destroyed bearing or something. There was nothing I could do at this point but wave down a car for assistance. (I had no cell phone at this time).
Three hours later, someone finally stopped and let me use their phone to call AAA.
I tried everything during those long, cold three hourse to get some help -- I jumped up and down, waved my hat, ran my flashers, waved a flashlight, and I flipped people off as they passed me -- sometimes with both hands. The way I figured, I may have gotten my ass kicked for doing that, but at least I could plead my case between punches.
Close to 5000 cars and trucks passed me during those three hours while I was on the side of the road, freezing my butt off and frantically waving people down. Believe me, I counted every G.D. one of those cars.
Had I been a woman, I estimate that I would have waited, oh, less than two seconds before someone would have pulled over to help.
Anyway, being the busiest day of the year, It took the AAA guy over an hour and a half to reach me. We're talking 8:30 or 9:00 in the evening by now. I had the gold membership, so we were trucking down south as fast as possible.
I thought that Fayetteville, NC (about 60 mi from where I broke down) would provide the greatest chance for me to get going early the next morning, so off we went.
On thing to keep in mind, with it being an extremely busy travel day, Hotels filled up mighty quick! It seems that most senior citizens don't like to drive at night, so the hotels started filling up 3 or 4 hours before I even left the side of the road!
We stopped at 10 hotels off the interstate near Fayetteville, and every one of them was full. Still blessed with 40 or so free miles, we headed south to Lumberton, NC. Six hotels later, I had found a room for the night.
The next morning, I made several frantic calls to AutoZone, Advanced and nearly every other parts store in the phone book. Not only did I need an alternator, but I needed a cheap one that could be delivered to my motel. You'd be surprised at how few parts stores are willing to fulfill those kinds of requirements.
by 8:45 AM I had my broken alternator off, and I was in possession of a $75, rebuilt, lifetime-warranteed alternator from AutoZone.
Of course, this is not the end of the story. For, in my joy to receive the alternator, I failed to open the box. Had I done that, I would have immediately noticed that the new alternator did not come with a pulley for the belt. This presented a problem, as I didn't travel with a socket that would fit the pulley nut. Foiled again, was I.
The Autozone guy came back with an electric impact wrench to change out the pulley, and I was on my way 45 minutes later.
The total cost, besides my time, energy, dignity and patience was less than $120, $75 of which went towards an alternator that needed to be replaced anyway, so I figure that I was very lucky to escape that cheaply.
Since then, I always travel with a cell-phone, a portable CB radio and a wig and makeup -- just in case I need to flag a car down again.
-- Tom
'83 4ks (parts dispersed throughout the universe)
'87 4ks (donated to a brother even more wayward than me)
'85 4ksq (sold to enjoy the winters in Pittsburgh, PA)
'88 80q (anxiously awaiting a journey north to snow country)
Three years ago I was driving from a gig in Washington DC to my home in Charleston, SC. It was the day after New Year's Eve.
Traffic on I-95 was nearly unbearable. Just south of the North Carolina border my '87 4000s started acting a little funny. There was a momentary lapse of power to my radio that happened two or three times in about a 60 minute period.
Suddenly, an extremely loud squeal came from the engine, so I made the quick dash from the left lane to the right shoulder.
I lifted up the hood and was greeted by the sweet, choking smell of burnt rubber. The alternator belt seemed to be the primary culprit, so I did some roadside investigating -- not a fun thing on the coldest day of the year.
I de-tensioned the alternator belt and discovered that my alternator was competely frozen -- destroyed bearing or something. There was nothing I could do at this point but wave down a car for assistance. (I had no cell phone at this time).
Three hours later, someone finally stopped and let me use their phone to call AAA.
I tried everything during those long, cold three hourse to get some help -- I jumped up and down, waved my hat, ran my flashers, waved a flashlight, and I flipped people off as they passed me -- sometimes with both hands. The way I figured, I may have gotten my ass kicked for doing that, but at least I could plead my case between punches.
Close to 5000 cars and trucks passed me during those three hours while I was on the side of the road, freezing my butt off and frantically waving people down. Believe me, I counted every G.D. one of those cars.
Had I been a woman, I estimate that I would have waited, oh, less than two seconds before someone would have pulled over to help.
Anyway, being the busiest day of the year, It took the AAA guy over an hour and a half to reach me. We're talking 8:30 or 9:00 in the evening by now. I had the gold membership, so we were trucking down south as fast as possible.
I thought that Fayetteville, NC (about 60 mi from where I broke down) would provide the greatest chance for me to get going early the next morning, so off we went.
On thing to keep in mind, with it being an extremely busy travel day, Hotels filled up mighty quick! It seems that most senior citizens don't like to drive at night, so the hotels started filling up 3 or 4 hours before I even left the side of the road!
We stopped at 10 hotels off the interstate near Fayetteville, and every one of them was full. Still blessed with 40 or so free miles, we headed south to Lumberton, NC. Six hotels later, I had found a room for the night.
The next morning, I made several frantic calls to AutoZone, Advanced and nearly every other parts store in the phone book. Not only did I need an alternator, but I needed a cheap one that could be delivered to my motel. You'd be surprised at how few parts stores are willing to fulfill those kinds of requirements.
by 8:45 AM I had my broken alternator off, and I was in possession of a $75, rebuilt, lifetime-warranteed alternator from AutoZone.
Of course, this is not the end of the story. For, in my joy to receive the alternator, I failed to open the box. Had I done that, I would have immediately noticed that the new alternator did not come with a pulley for the belt. This presented a problem, as I didn't travel with a socket that would fit the pulley nut. Foiled again, was I.
The Autozone guy came back with an electric impact wrench to change out the pulley, and I was on my way 45 minutes later.
The total cost, besides my time, energy, dignity and patience was less than $120, $75 of which went towards an alternator that needed to be replaced anyway, so I figure that I was very lucky to escape that cheaply.
Since then, I always travel with a cell-phone, a portable CB radio and a wig and makeup -- just in case I need to flag a car down again.
-- Tom
'83 4ks (parts dispersed throughout the universe)
'87 4ks (donated to a brother even more wayward than me)
'85 4ksq (sold to enjoy the winters in Pittsburgh, PA)
'88 80q (anxiously awaiting a journey north to snow country)