Adventures in Road Tripping

[JR3]

Went out of town last weekend. We were supposed to leave Friday around 9 am. My brother didn't pick me up till after 4 pm. To top it off, I had a 30ish lb. dog that wanted to stand on my thighs the whole way and I ended up covered in dog hair.
This part was rattling for the whole 5 hour drive through the desert. I should have looked at it when I heard it but I was a little PO'd about leaving 7 hrs later than we were supposed to, it was a free ride, and not my truck.

Saturday morning I tell my brother, "let's go have a look under the hood". I did this repair. Remember, borrowed truck.
A belt tensioner and new belt cost just over $100 retail at Advance Auto in CA. One bolt to remove. A 3/8 drive ratchet and a 15 mm socket was all that was needed to R&R. It took about 20 min. doing in front of the house on the street.

This same repair done at the shop I work at would have been just over $400. We charge $175/hr, Using the exact same parts. This doesn't include the diag fee either.

Amazing we made it. At some point I think the belt was just sliding across the pulley. The pulley somehow stayed over the bearing hub and I think it may have been just spinning on melted plastic.
The part:

 

[Poena238]

Clean one owner..

 

[Coup d'etat]

I had a 2000 Chevy Cavalier with about 230,000 miles on it. Driving down south Durango Dr
I started to hear what sounded like a jet turbine unde the hood, then all of a sudden, bam, boom, clunk, and I saw something in my rear view mirror spinning behid me, flying across the street.
It was the tensioner.
The serpentine belt came off and all the warning lights came on. Turned around and drove it home before it overheated (no water pump).
Went to Pick A Part and got a used tensioner for $10 off a Pontiac or Buick I forget.
Still worked like a champ when I finally sold the car for $500.

 

[MAC702]

When I was driving my '96 Dodge Ram diesel as a daily driver, which includes all my trips across the country, I bought a "Boonie Box" from a place that specializes in selling parts to guys with Dodge/Cummins trucks. It had each hose, the belt, and other small parts that might go out that could leave you stranded if they did. Most were low-risk, but cheap enough to put in a package to have them all.

I remember starting up the engine one day in Denton, TX, and it made a new noise. We popped the hood, and the idler was bouncing all over the place, looking like it was waiting for you to open the hood so it could throw the belt in your face. My Texas pal is like: "No problem, we should be able to get one of those in town; we'll take my truck." I told him to gimme a minute, and went and got my Boonie Box and pulled out an idler pulley.

To this day, it was so worth the expression on his face and his: "Wait, what?! Who carries a f'ing spare idler pulley?"

 

[Gullwing]

Walking to my car at Luxor and this black car ran in front of me and a friend. Ok very strange for a black cat to be on the strip.
Get into my car and drive up to Palazzo. Spend a few hours there and then get into my Audi A4 2.8 v6 quattro and it sounds like a diesel.
Get onto the I15 and check engine light pops. Get home and check it the next day. Idler pulley destroyed... FOR THE TIMING CHAIN. Didn't damage anything else, no bent valves, but had to take apart half the car to get to it. After work it took me several months, because after working on cars all day do you want to then work on another at home? But once done I tried to blow up the transmission before finding a indy shop to replace it under aftermarket warranty and then gave it to my sister to trade in for something else.

 

[Coup d'etat]

Audi 2.8 V6. There's a chain behind three feet of sh*t and engine parts LOL.

 

[Coup d'etat]

Anyone here own the new Chevy/ GMC 3.0 liter turbo diesel straight six?
Guess where your timing chain is located?

The back of the engine, between the transmission and engine block. Good luck with that nightmare.

 

[Gullwing]

Audi 2.8 V6. There's a chain behind three feet of sh*t and engine parts LOL.

and the steering rack is above the transmission, the thermostat is behind the timing chain, torque tube not exposed driveshaft, Oh and don't put pressure to the system when bleeding the brakes, more than 5 psi and the reservoir blows up.

 

[flashpan]

I could fill volumes with stories of breaking down.

Best one I think was 1 mile from home in a Mitsubishi mity max pickup. Front ball joint retaining nut fell off. Wheels splayed out, stopped me in my tracks. I was out in desert at my normal shooting spot. Left phone at home, bc
had to search the road till I found it. This was at dusk. Finally found the nut . Jacked it up and used a S hook from a bungee cord to keep the castle nut in place. Drive it another 12 months and sold as is.

Then again? Getting stuck and coming back the next morning to a creek flowing through the cab of a Nissan? That one was good too...