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| Finding really dumb broken down people along the road.; Had one yesterday. | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 14 2015, 01:44 PM (551 Views) | |
| cwatkin | Jun 14 2015, 01:44 PM Post #1 |
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I don't know how many of you have come across really dumb broken down people alongside the road but I cam across a dandy yesterday. I mean the people who have no concept of figuring out what might be wrong and don't seem to have a clue about things in general. It was a toothless woman with a whole bunch of kids in a van in an isolated area so I stopped. She said the van had overheated and died. I asked how hot it got and she said the gauge showed normal but that all the water blew out the radiator cap when she removed it so she knew it was overheated. I told her that was normal and to never open the cap when hot as it was naturally a pressurized system. She made note of a strange sound when she tried to restart it. I told her to try and it was obvious the starter was spinning but the solenoid wasn't engaging the flywheel. She said she had someone replace it already and it had done this before but it sounded like a fly by night deal. I banged on the starter to see if that would get it to restart and happened to notice the manufacturer date was like 8 years ago so I knew it wasn't a new starter. I had her turn on the lights and they were still nice and bright. Then I happened to notice that the belt for the alternator and AC was missing and I could see it hung up in the engine bay. I assumed it was broken at first but it was fine. The tensioner idler hadn't been properly tightened so the belt came loose and it fell off the pulleys. I began to wonder if the battery simply got so low with a non-functional alternator it wouldn't engage the starter but I don't think that was it. I got the belt back on and the tensioner tightened and added a bottle of water to her radiator in case someone was able to get her started. I told her that I was suspect of the starter and that it wasn't new. You could tell she wasn't the smartest around. I kept asking her if she wanted me to drive to the top of the hill and call someone where there was cell phone signal and she said "Someone will come along." I was thinking that someone was me and that this was in the middle of nowhere. She kept telling her kids if they didn't get the van started, they would be spending the night there. Then some people who lived in the area came by. One was a woman in a truck and she said she would get her husband and return. I decided to go at this point as I didn't have my jumper cables with me but told the woman the van might start if jumped as I was unsure what the exact issue was and that the alternator hadn't been working so the battery might have been low. Anyway, the people were gone but the van was still there when I was on my way back so I guess the starter was dead. I had another one not too far from where this one happened a few years ago. It was a guy just sitting in his car in a storm. One of the front wheels was all folded up in the wheel well so it appeared a ball joint and/or tie rod had let go. He said he had just been sitting there for hours and didn't know what to do. I told him I could call someone from wherever I found cell service and he kinda acted like that would be a good idea and gave me a number to call. How many people here have run across something similar where a broken down driver has no idea of how to proceed at all when you run across them? Conor |
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| 2000Firefly1.3L | Jun 14 2015, 02:15 PM Post #2 |
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they should just be left there. darwin award |
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| 2000Firefly1.3L | Jun 14 2015, 02:16 PM Post #3 |
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i will come to fix up my friends who are on the side but if i don't know you then ill never stop and don't really care either. buy a damn AAA membership |
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| Car Nut | Jun 14 2015, 02:57 PM Post #4 |
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Nice, hopefully your karma doesnt leave you abandoned on the side of a deserted road with a hungry grizzly bear looking in your window. |
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| Car Nut | Jun 14 2015, 03:02 PM Post #5 |
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Cwatkin, very nice of you to stop & help. I'm sure it will come back to you some day.
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| Dundo Duction | Jun 14 2015, 04:26 PM Post #6 |
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New Member
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You can't always know why you've been chosen to help a fellow traveller, but it's probably because you were deemed trustworthy to help keep someone alive or safe for a time until it could be handled by someone else - which it was, apparently. |
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| 68custom | Jun 14 2015, 06:06 PM Post #7 |
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it depends on the situation but I do stop sometimes and try to help people, even the dumb ones! good on you CW! |
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| ZXTjato | Jun 14 2015, 07:59 PM Post #8 |
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bass heads
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break downs and car fires are a popular past time around here ![]() |
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| Old Man | Jun 14 2015, 11:15 PM Post #9 |
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I quit stopping to help people who are stranded on the side of the road. Several years ago I stopped to help and the guy tried to jack my car. Stuck my weapon in his face and he decided it would be OK if I drove away---Sure glad he didn't have a pistol, would have hated to have to shoot him. I don't stop any more.............. |
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| cwatkin | Jun 15 2015, 07:58 AM Post #10 |
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I figured this one wasn't a setup to be robbed. I once had one where it was a fake out on a desolate stretch of road and took off just as other cars were trying to block my path. IT was one of those situations where something just didn't feel right. A toothless woman with a bunch of kids on the way to the river in swimsuits didn't seem like one of those. With my luck, I always worry someone is going to blame me for the failure by touching their car. I see this a lot with working on computers. This one had several things wrong. I did check the oil out of habit and it looked like tar too. Unfortunately if they get it repaired, it probably won't last much longer with these people driving it. It was giving them problems and they just kept on running it. They probably just get a new $300 car every few months. At least I did my good deed and someone else got them to leave so they wouldn't be stuck in the middle of nowhere all night in the dark. These people were just not thinking about their car or much else for that matter at all. Anyway, I haven't seen a ton of car fires myself but have heard they are one of the more common types of fires. I have watched some videos and they are impressive. There is a lot of stuff that burns and explodes on a single car. Then they spray water on it and various hot metals like magnesium catch fire and burn. I guess they are pretty spectacular. What gets me is it is like half of them are just parked cars that decide to combust. Look up "car fire" on Youtube and there are some impressive ones! I think it was a Chevy "Blazer". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMw3tlgTvkM That one was impressive. Several people had a bad day because of this one. It looks to have taken out several other cars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUKko_G7otU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUcGsNfxArw It certainly looks like these were pretty well done by the time it was over. Conor |
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| solerpower | Jun 15 2015, 11:51 AM Post #11 |
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I always try to stop and help. I was going through Seattle on I-5 and a ladies car died out right in front of me. I put my hazards on and pulled to the right has far as I could, but there wasn't much of a curb; full traffic situation. A big line of cars behind me and most of them honking and yelling. I looked ahead up the hill and saw a spot where I could get her vehicle off the freeway. I had her steer and pushed her car up the hill by myself as the other forty cars continued to honk and yell. I got her securely off the road and went back and pulled off I-5. She didn't have a cell phone so I let her borrow mine to call for help. I can't remember what was wrong with her car, but it wasn't something that was going to be fixed there. I made sure she got a hold of the tow truck and a ETA. I still can't believe no one else got out to help, and on top of it all were complete A holes. There are people who will try to take advantage, and I have run into a few of them, but mostly people who just need a little help. |
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| nwgeo | Jun 15 2015, 11:52 AM Post #12 |
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I used to have older cars and not much $. I remember my wife's car breaking down on the freeway and two preschoolers with her. No cell phone. No one stopped to help. It took me 6 hours to find her. Alternator went out. It was rainy, cold and wet. She stayed with the car..... it was several miles to the next exit and she would have had to hike uphill and through a barb wire fence to get to a side road. I pretty much always try to stop and see if people need help. The poor(Those with the oldest junkiest cars) and non mechanical folks, I feel for the most and want especially to help. |
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| metroschultz | Jun 16 2015, 09:12 AM Post #13 |
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Please just call me; "Schultz"
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I stop quite often. I have knowledge they need or maybe just a phone to call a wrecker. My grandson was with me once when we stopped to help an elderly lady. After we got her husband on the phone and a wrecker on the way, we waited for the wrecker with her. I called my wife to let her know why we would be late. as we left Branden asked; "Why did you stop? You knew it would make us late." I replied;"Would you want someone to stop and help your gramma?" I did stop once for a young urban kid on the side of the road with steam coming from under the hood. Older car, brand new 'bling' rims & rubber. Opened the hood to see coolant from the timing cover. Told him it looked like he had a bad water pump. He said;"Yeah, that's what the gas station guy said. He also informed me that he ran the car hot till it quit. let it cool, ran it again till it quit, let it cool, ran it to where he was then. Now, it was the middle of summer, temp around 100* humidity around 100%. we are on the side of 10 lanes of blacktop. I'm just a little tweaked at the kid, so I said; "Well , let me get this straight, you knew you needed a water pump, probably around $250. So---- you went and spent $1000 on rims, then drove till the engine quit. You'll probably need a new engine now. Sucks to be you." Then I left him. My wife says I'm gonna get shot again one day. |
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| idmetro | Jun 16 2015, 10:06 AM Post #14 |
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| cwatkin | Jun 16 2015, 11:37 AM Post #15 |
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Yeah, if an old woman or something, I won't expect to get robbed. I came across a "Bling" SUV that had broken down relatively recently. I know it hadn't been sitting too terribly long as the wheel spinners were still rotating. The people in it didn't look too good so I went on my way without stopping after the first analysis. I have a tendency to be a magnet for some real crazies so I try to avoid situations that look risky right up front. Conor |
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