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RnR
Senior Nomad
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Registered: 5-1-2010
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Quote: Originally posted by defrag4  | Was out in Scorpion bay for New years, noticed I was overheating a bit when I arrived, once we got to the beach I started investigating and found that
the rutted roads had cracked my upper radiator neck where the hose attached to the radiator, it was a hairline crack but enough to leak under
pressure.
I JBwelded it at the beach and kept on partying, a few days later we were headed back to Loreto, over the same rutted roads.
well my JBweld held for a bit, but eventually let loose and the crack got even bigger, dumping coolant out at an alarming rate
Luckily i was in the RV with plenty of water onboard so just kept pulling over every 5 minutes and dumping another gallon of water down in here to
keep her cool. Each time I was pulled over with the hood popped, every single car that passed by would stop and ask if I was OK.
Limped her into Cid Insurgentes and stopped at the local auto parts store who directed me to Don Jose, the radiator man, tracked him down in a local
neighborhood. Pulled up and explained the situation.
Jose crawled under the truck and pulled the lower rad hose before I had a chance to say lets grab a bucket! dumping coolant all over the street,
luckily by this point it was mostly water anyway.
He had the rad pulled out in 5 minutes and took into his dirt floor workshop, he took a giant torch and started blasting the rad with flames, melting
down the solder that connects the rad neck to the rad itself, he got the neck popped off and used some sand paper to clean up both pieces, then he
grabbed a random blob of solder, dropped it into an old corrugated piece of siding, heated it up with the torch until it melted and ran down the
corrugation, then let it cool into a nice thin bar of solder
grabbed his new bar of solder and a smaller torch, holding the filler neck back onto the rad, he methodically worked melted the bar of solder all
around the rad neck, firmly affixing it back to the rad
splashed it all with some cool water, took it out back of the shop where he had a cement pila full of water, he had 2 old pieces of rad hose that had
been capped off with what looked like old pieces of rubber boot, he capped one end had a schrader valved worked into it. he capped off both ends of
the rad with these homemade caps
he dropped the rad into the water tank, grabbed an old bicycle pump and pumped the rad up with air, checking for any bubbles
no bubbles! no leaks!
Had the radiator put back in the truck in another 5 minutes, filled it back up with water and away we went.
total time less than 30 minutes from start to finish!
total cost: $5!!! |
Right back at ya. GREAT STORY!
(Followed your blog a few years ago down the PanAmerican hwy. Great stories there, too.)
[Edited on 8-15-2019 by RnR]
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MMc
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Many years ago, we had taken a Chevy Caprice south of Erendira for a long weekend. As we rolled around the wheat fields I missed seeing a hole and
went into it. There was a big bump and we keep going. A few minutes later the check "Eng. Light" flickered. About 2 mins. later the light comes on
solid. I stop and get out a see a trail of something behind the car. I start to look around under the car and see the oil pan is leaking oil. AHHH
CRAP!
I wonder down to the water line and found a piece of wood, and start in on it with my knife. The wood is sized to about the same a as the hole in the
pan. The hole is cleaned with white gas and than the plug is beat into the hole. After I inspect the fit and think it's ok, it's siliconed up.
We watch the hole as we pour the first Qt of oil. We're good! put in the other 3 Qts we had, and parked on a bluff with a pan under the pan.
Monday we head north, picked up some more oil as soon as we can. We drove the car with the plug in it for 2 weeks before I had the pan replaced.
I have had alternators fail, burned up clutches, had water in gas, one trip, I put holes in all 5 tires. I just consider it all part of the adventure.
nice thread.
"Never teach a pig to sing it frustrates you and annoys the pig" - W.C.Fields
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64856
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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MMc, that reminded me of an incident in 1974, on my first Baja trip without parents (at 16). My high school friend and I were driving my Myers Manx
dune buggy on an Easter Break trip down one side and back then other. Between Gonzaga and Puertecitos, I smelled gasoline.
An inspection revealed that the steering tie rod or stabilizer had made a crack in the fuel tank. Thank goodness, I remembered the Baja fix described
in Mike McMahan's book, 'There it is: Baja!': Rub a bar of soap over the crack! It worked!
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3718
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Mood: muy amable
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Driving across dry lake Chapala, heading home from yet another prerun, the tired old F150 prerunner coughed and quit.
Gas gauge showing 1/2, but after checking fuel pump, lines, filters, etc it seemed we were out of gas
Dumped in 5 gallons and it fired right up and away we go
Later, same thing, cough and quit,
Dump in another can and good to go
Got home and pulled the gas tank, it was upright behind the seats in those days.
The constant vibration of years of pre runs, coupled with my rather thrifty partner who never bothered to top off his tank, meant that the pickup line
had gotten dried out and snapped about 1/3 of the way down.
Easy fix, at home, not so easy at Chapala.
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Bajazly
Super Nomad
Posts: 1013
Registered: 6-4-2015
Location: Goodbye Cali and Hello San Felipe
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Mood: More Relaxed Everyday
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| Quote: Originally posted by MMc | Many years ago, we had taken a Chevy Caprice south of Erendira for a long weekend. As we rolled around the wheat fields I missed seeing a hole and
went into it. There was a big bump and we keep going. A few minutes later the check "Eng. Light" flickered. About 2 mins. later the light comes on
solid. I stop and get out a see a trail of something behind the car. I start to look around under the car and see the oil pan is leaking oil. AHHH
CRAP!
I wonder down to the water line and found a piece of wood, and start in on it with my knife. The wood is sized to about the same a as the hole in the
pan. The hole is cleaned with white gas and than the plug is beat into the hole. After I inspect the fit and think it's ok, it's siliconed up.
We watch the hole as we pour the first Qt of oil. We're good! put in the other 3 Qts we had, and parked on a bluff with a pan under the pan.
Monday we head north, picked up some more oil as soon as we can. We drove the car with the plug in it for 2 weeks before I had the pan replaced.
I have had alternators fail, burned up clutches, had water in gas, one trip, I put holes in all 5 tires. I just consider it all part of the adventure.
nice thread.
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Only thing that would have made this story better is that if it were a rental car, it got returned and somehow sometime later you had discovered the
fix was still working. That is what I was expecting but good job none the less.
Believing is religion - Knowing is science
Harald Pietschmann
"Get off the beaten path and memories, friends and new techniques are developed"
Bajazly, August 2019
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3718
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Mood: muy amable
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| Quote: Originally posted by Bajazly | | Quote: Originally posted by MMc | Many years ago, we had taken a Chevy Caprice south of Erendira for a long weekend. As we rolled around the wheat fields I missed seeing a hole and
went into it. There was a big bump and we keep going. A few minutes later the check "Eng. Light" flickered. About 2 mins. later the light comes on
solid. I stop and get out a see a trail of something behind the car. I start to look around under the car and see the oil pan is leaking oil. AHHH
CRAP!
I wonder down to the water line and found a piece of wood, and start in on it with my knife. The wood is sized to about the same a as the hole in the
pan. The hole is cleaned with white gas and than the plug is beat into the hole. After I inspect the fit and think it's ok, it's siliconed up.
We watch the hole as we pour the first Qt of oil. We're good! put in the other 3 Qts we had, and parked on a bluff with a pan under the pan.
Monday we head north, picked up some more oil as soon as we can. We drove the car with the plug in it for 2 weeks before I had the pan replaced.
I have had alternators fail, burned up clutches, had water in gas, one trip, I put holes in all 5 tires. I just consider it all part of the adventure.
nice thread.
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Only thing that would have made this story better is that if it were a rental car, it got returned and somehow sometime later you had discovered the
fix was still working. That is what I was expecting but good job none the less. |
We had some local yokels from Escalon that decided to race the 1000 many years ago. They went to the local Ford store, leased a new pickup,
reinforced some places and slapped in a roll cage and ran several races. No idea how they ever turned it back in, but it was the talk of the pits way
back then.
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Bajazly
Super Nomad
Posts: 1013
Registered: 6-4-2015
Location: Goodbye Cali and Hello San Felipe
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Mood: More Relaxed Everyday
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| Quote: Originally posted by thebajarunner | | Quote: Originally posted by Bajazly | | Quote: Originally posted by MMc | Many years ago, we had taken a Chevy Caprice south of Erendira for a long weekend. As we rolled around the wheat fields I missed seeing a hole and
went into it. There was a big bump and we keep going. A few minutes later the check "Eng. Light" flickered. About 2 mins. later the light comes on
solid. I stop and get out a see a trail of something behind the car. I start to look around under the car and see the oil pan is leaking oil. AHHH
CRAP!
I wonder down to the water line and found a piece of wood, and start in on it with my knife. The wood is sized to about the same a as the hole in the
pan. The hole is cleaned with white gas and than the plug is beat into the hole. After I inspect the fit and think it's ok, it's siliconed up.
We watch the hole as we pour the first Qt of oil. We're good! put in the other 3 Qts we had, and parked on a bluff with a pan under the pan.
Monday we head north, picked up some more oil as soon as we can. We drove the car with the plug in it for 2 weeks before I had the pan replaced.
I have had alternators fail, burned up clutches, had water in gas, one trip, I put holes in all 5 tires. I just consider it all part of the adventure.
nice thread.
|
Only thing that would have made this story better is that if it were a rental car, it got returned and somehow sometime later you had discovered the
fix was still working. That is what I was expecting but good job none the less. |
We had some local yokels from Escalon that decided to race the 1000 many years ago. They went to the local Ford store, leased a new pickup,
reinforced some places and slapped in a roll cage and ran several races. No idea how they ever turned it back in, but it was the talk of the pits way
back then. |
Guessing they lost their security deposit on that one
Believing is religion - Knowing is science
Harald Pietschmann
"Get off the beaten path and memories, friends and new techniques are developed"
Bajazly, August 2019
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larryC
Super Nomad
Posts: 1495
Registered: 8-11-2008
Location: BoLA
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I have broken down many times in Baja usually something out of the ordinary causes it not from lack of maintenance. One incident I remember from a few
years ago I was camped at Agua Verde and was coming up the big hill on the dirt road to go to Loreto to spend the night when my truck just lost power.
It is a 2000 Ford F350 diesel. Right away I figured it was a fuel filter so I limped to the top of the hill and pulled over to change the filter. That
took about 10 minutes started up and everything seemed fine, got onto the pavement heading north on Hwy 1 and about 5 miles down the road the truck
lost power again. I didn’t want to start down the grade with the truck crapping out like that so I pulled over and my friend stopped and we took his
truck in to Loreto to find a tow and a mechanic. Found both no problem and got the truck towed to the mechanic. Now it is late afternoon so he said he
would check the truck in the morning and let me know what it needed. I went by the next day and he found that the fuel pump wasn’t putting out
enough pressure he didn’t have a new one but had a used one for a gas engine that he said would work so I let him install it and later that
afternoon we headed north. About 30 miles up the road the truck loses power again so I limp into Santa Rosalia and spend the night at the El Moro.
Next morning I go looking for a parts house and find a new fuel pump but it is also for a gas engine but the guy says his dad has a diesel truck the
same as mine and the gas pump works fine on his truck so I buy it and he refers me to a guy to install it. Luckily the pumps on these trucks are frame
mounted and not in the tank. So I get it installed for 300 pesos and head back to the hotel to head north but the truck doesn’t even make it that
far and craps out again. Now I’m getting angry. I’m stuck at a stop sign and the truck won’t start. A guy comes by and asks if I need help and
that he is a mechanic and he can tow me to his shop. I take him up on that and when we get to his shop I tell him the whole story so far. He thinks
the gas fuel pump won’t work on a diesel but he can call Ensenada and have one sent down on the bus tomorrow and have it by 11 am. The new pump is
about $300 US. By now I am desperate and have no choice I tell him to do it and go back to the hotel to lay around the pool with my wife. The next day
I go back to the shop at 11 am and no pump. He gets on the phone and calls Bajapak and they claim they sent it but then they figure out that the pump
is supposed to go to Santa Rosalia but they sent it to San Quentin. They get the next bus to stop and pick it up and drag it down to SR. No problem
the pump arrives about 3 in the afternoon, the mechanic is ready and throws the pump in and off we go. We make it about half way up the big windy road
and the truck loses power again but keeps running and I figure as long as the truck is running I’m going to keep going. Once to the top of the hill
I ‘m able to baby the truck and keep it moving at about 50 mph, but after a little while I can only get 45mph then 35 then 25 and finally I’m down
to 20 mph but now I am almost in GN. I finally limp in to the Malarimo and we spend the night there, have a nice dinner and my friend and I discuss
the problem and decide that it can’t be a bad pump and has to be a fuel tank problem so in the morning we find a mechanic and take the truck to him
tell him the whole story and he agrees the problem must be in the tank. He drops the tank while I’m there and sure enough there are a thousand
little tiny pieces of plastic in the tank. Evidently what happened is that Ford in their infinite wisdom made the fuel pickup screen/funnel out of a
type of plastic that gets brittle with age. The mechanic cleaned out the tank and added a short piece of fuel line to extend the pick up to the bottom
of the tank and we left there and made it back to BoLA no more problems. After getting to BoLA I dropped the tank and made a new pickup funnel out of
aluminum (I have a metal lathe in my garage) and haven’t had another problem with the tank since. I do have several spare fuel pumps if anybody ever
needs one. The whole ordeal took about 5 days but was quite an adventure. No hardships most of the places where we spent the nights had swimming pools
and good restaurants.
Off grid, 12-190 watt evergreen solar panels on solar trackers, 2-3648 stacked Outback inverters, 610ah LiFePo4 48v battery bank, FM 60 and MX60
Outback charge controllers, X-240 Outback transformer for 240v from inverters, 6500 watt Kubota diesel generator.
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3718
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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There apparently are not too many old pre-runner dudes on this board, cuz in 15 years of doing so I have enough break down stories to fill ten
pages...
Ok, one more.
Going through the forest well past Ojos Negros we are running about 60 and the right front spindle shears off. Kept it straight, and came to a
pretty rapid stop, long gouge in the trail behind.
Three of us on board, so along comes another pre-runner who is headed back to Ensenada and we talk them into taking our mechanic back. Since all we
drive are Ford F150 types the swap should be easy.
Told him to go to the motel, inform my wife (the previous edition) that he is taking the right front wheel off the tow truck and removing parts, bring
back the fresh spindle and we can motor on.
Good plan, except that when they dog legged back to the highway to return to Ensenada he noted that right at that junction there was one of those road
signs with the picture of a steer with horns, so all he needs to do is find that sign, make a left and there we will be.
Meanwhile we are stuck in the middle of the race road, so we build some big warning piles of brush in each direction, break out the cooler and hunker
down for a long afternoon. Afternoon turns into evening, and night and we have plenty of cool brews but no food, and it gets chilly up there at
night. We end up sleeping in the front seat, sitting up, and about 4 a.m. old Joe finally appears.
Seems that there are more than one bovine warning sign on the highway past Ojos Negros and, this being his first ever pre-run, made a number of false
starts before he found the right one.
15 minutes later we are on the road to Ensenada for a bit of shut eye, sending Joe to the Yonke to find another spindle, and after swapping all the
spindles around back on the road again.
Just another little detour on the roads of Baja.
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3718
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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This was a fun thread
And I have lots more stories
But not going to be the only one to contribute
(And no, we don't need another post from the guy who has never had a breakdown...… probably cuz he has never ventured past Rosarito Beach)
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SFandH
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7084
Registered: 8-5-2011
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Then there was the time my old '67 Chevy 1/2 ton stalled in the middle of a rainstorm caused stream behind Punta Arena. Took me a wet while to figure
out the distributor had gotten wet. Remember points and rotor?
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AKgringo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6030
Registered: 9-20-2014
Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
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I was hoping that by now I would have a fresh, 2019 break down or self rescue to report on, but my Kia jumped the gun and broke down in Nevada, not
Baja!!
I will try again when I figure out what I am going to drive.
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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Finchaser2020
Junior Nomad
Posts: 40
Registered: 12-10-2012
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stuck
I got stuck once 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13VXI9F3VTk
[Edited on 8-18-2019 by BajaNomad]
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BornFisher
Super Nomad
Posts: 2107
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Location: K-38 Santa Martha/Encinitas
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Finchaser-- Terrible thing that happened, but one of the best videos ever! This is what I had in mind when I mentioned the clan shell quicksand. Hope
you and amigo are still hitting it!!
[Edited on 8-18-2019 by BajaNomad]
"When you catch a fish, you open the door of happiness."
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Paco Facullo
Super Nomad
Posts: 1301
Registered: 1-21-2017
Location: Here now
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Mood: Abiding ..........
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Now THAT'S a Baja adventure of the totally gnarly kind.
And I don't believe any insurance policy covers that sort of thing ....
I'd sure like to know what ended up happening with the truck ?
How did it get back to the US and how much did it cost ?
Did it get fixed>? Parted out ? Total loss ?
[Edited on 8-17-2019 by Paco Facullo]
Since I've given up all hope, I feel much better
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SFandH
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7084
Registered: 8-5-2011
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Then on the washboard road back from a multi-day surf session at 9 palms, when few knew the break, before the Inet surf websites, my driver's side
hand crank window regulator broke - '98 Chevy 1/2 ton. The window ended 1/2 way down and all crookered. I was able to fix it back at the San Pedrito
campsite, but what a pain, working through the access holes in the door panel. Those things are tricky even with full access.
[Edited on 8-17-2019 by SFandH]
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TMW
Select Nomad
Posts: 10659
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
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| Quote: Originally posted by lencho |
Serpentine belts are convenient, but they make me nervous having everything hanging on one potential failure point. |
Always carry a spare.
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TMW
Select Nomad
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Location: Bakersfield, CA
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Salt water in a vehicle is never good. The corrosion it can cause weeks, months and years afterward will drive you nuts chasing them down.
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Paco Facullo
Super Nomad
Posts: 1301
Registered: 1-21-2017
Location: Here now
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Mood: Abiding ..........
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Same kind of thing with vehicles that have been to Burning Man.
The playa is a fine alkali powder and gets into EVERYTHING, you and your vehicle are NEVER the same .....
Although I'll admit saltwater is much MORE corrosive...
[Edited on 8-18-2019 by Paco Facullo]
Since I've given up all hope, I feel much better
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Finchaser2020
Junior Nomad
Posts: 40
Registered: 12-10-2012
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| Quote: Originally posted by Paco Facullo | Now THAT'S a Baja adventure of the totally gnarly kind.
And I don't believe any insurance policy covers that sort of thing ....
I'd sure like to know what ended up happening with the truck ?
How did it get back to the US and how much did it cost ?
Did it get fixed>? Parted out ? Total loss ?
[Edited on 8-17-2019 by Paco Facullo] |
Sold the truck to a friend in El Socorro and it was used there for a few years. I heard that it ended up in Ensenada. It was the source of many
stories about mechanical problems......go figure.....lol
Amazing it ran at all after spending two high tides on the beach...
And yes, insurance did not cover getting it stuck in the ocean
The most difficult part of the adventure was trying to explain how it all went down to the wife!
We are headed back down this November!
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