Just had a fun time getting home after the RX-7 exploded slightly. Nothing serious but definitely get out and push mode without some moderate MacGyvering.
Just had a fun time getting home after the RX-7 exploded slightly. Nothing serious but definitely get out and push mode without some moderate MacGyvering.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:....after the RX-7 exploded slightly.
Can you flesh this part out with a little more detail, please?
Edit: Aren't roadside emergencies just the best? I had my boat trailer fall apart some time back, at speed on a secondary highway close to a metro area. Luckily I didn't take anybody out. Fortunately had a lot of smart teenagers to serve as muscle, and enough McGyvering skills to put it back together. Lost a total of about 1 hour. Got to the lake and had a great time.
My favorite roadside fix was mainly because of how useful it was after. I almost didn't want to fix it correctly, or to figure some way to temporarily leave it as it was.
It was high school so I was driving Susie, I was driving from Dad's place to my best friend's, a solid 45 minutes at least. Shortly into the drive the throttle return spring snapped. I shifted into neutral and wiggled the pedal up with my toe and coasted to the side. I poked around in all the crap I had in the backseat and the trunk and finally found a roll of speaker wire. Wrapped a length around the pedal shaft and then just pulled back when I needed to slow down.
It was a poor man's cruise control and I loved that aspect of it. I didn't fix it for a week.
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
On top, what is left of the alternator belt.
Driving home late last night, close to dusk, about 75mph, I hear a thump and the instrument cluster went Christmas Tree. Lost the alternator belt. (It was very old) Kept going, now realigning my priorities to getting to the garage instead of home. Shoukd be able to make it, it is about 20 miles away and just light enough that I won't need headlights. Just to be safe, kept an eye on the temp gauge.
About a mile later, the gauge started climbing. When it got to what I know is 230F I shut it down and coasted on the berm until I got to a bridge to stop under in case it started raining again. The alternator belt did not "break", it just lost most of its rubber, and after a little while it removed the air pump belt, causing the water pump to stop turning.
Spent about ten minutes trying to un-Mobieus the air pump belt, then trying to wedge the belt on enough to be able to crank the engine and pop it on the rest of the way. Zero success, some a-hole made the belt really tight "so the water pump won't slip" (whudda weenie!!) Getting darker out. Went for a walk a hundred yards or so in each direction, maybe the Wrench Fairy left a 12mm on the side of the road?
What I did find was component B in the photo, a chunk of ratchet strap. I got the belt over the crank and water pump pulleys, looped the strap behind the belt, and used two hands/arms/shoulders to force the belt on and around the air pump pulley.
Made it to the garage with battery to spare, and only a few people flashing their lights at me.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Well done, sir!
I remember driving home at dusk from the dragstrip with the Turbo II many years ago, and the alternator died a few miles from home. I was lucky enough to get most of the way, and my wife was trailing me with the kids in another vehicle. The RX-7 expended the battery--I remember the headlights getting really dim and running the last little bit on just the parking lights, trying to save some juice--and it died and I rolled to a stop maybe a mile from home. Knocked on the door of a house nearby, explained my situation to the nice fella, and he helped me push it off the road into his driveway. Caught a ride with my wife and was back a short time later with a battery. Swapped it out and drove it home and put an alternator on it the next day.
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