3-400 Miles From Home Rear Main Gave It Up. Help?

[GirsMJ86]

Sooo... anyone near mifflinville, pa able to come lend a hand? Could also have aaa tow it 100 miles to about Clearfield. I've got the rear main here somewhere in these parts but no tools or oil. Help would be greatly welcome since we are 400 miles from home and to have it towed home is going to be more than I paid for the truck. Nearest garage wants to drop the tranny and make a two day deal out of it. Or we'd gladly pay if you can trailer it home. Give me a text 740 725 4421

[Pete M]

that sucks man. :( 

 

buy lots of oil.  :yes:  that's how I got home when mine blew.  though I was much closer. 

[Oyaji]

If at all possible, rig up a catch pan and stop frequently to recycle your lost oil. A cheap electric fuel pump (5 psi for use with a carb), some hose,  and a home-made filter at the delivery end wouldn't take long to cobble together and would get you home.

.

Alternately see if you cannot beg  a few jugs of used/drain oil from a shop nearby - some of those oil change shops should be open today, no?.         

[jimoshel]

Wondering if he's serious? Or just pulling somebodies leg. I had the rear main seal go out on a '90 MJ a month back. Was only 30 miles from home so no biggy. The wind blew the dripping oil onto the exhaust and burned it.Was leaving a trail of blue smoke so thick a car couldn't get behind me for a 1/2 mile.

If at all possible, rig up a catch pan and stop frequently to recycle your lost oil. A cheap electric fuel pump (5 psi for use with a carb), some hose,  and a home-made filter at the delivery end wouldn't take long to cobble together and would get you home.

[airspeed]

 

Wondering if he's serious? Or just pulling somebodies leg.

If at all possible, rig up a catch pan and stop frequently to recycle your lost oil. A cheap electric fuel pump (5 psi for use with a carb), some hose,  and a home-made filter at the delivery end wouldn't take long to cobble together and would get you home.

That would be an external open air oil cooler!!

[Oyaji]

 

Wondering if he's serious? Or just pulling somebodies leg.

If at all possible, rig up a catch pan and stop frequently to recycle your lost oil. A cheap electric fuel pump (5 psi for use with a carb), some hose,  and a home-made filter at the delivery end wouldn't take long to cobble together and would get you home.

.

You of all people I thought would appreciate an unorthodox solution. Salvaging lost oil is a well-known tactic touted for breakdowns in the Alaskan bush. When you are out there, you do what it takes to get home, or else you accept the alternative. I've heard of stuffing rags into a hole in the block caused by a thrown rod, then  catching all the oil possible and sopping up any you can off the ground, dropping the oil pan, unbolting the offending rod and the one opposite it in the firing order, jamming them up into their cylinders with wadding,  and buttoning back up as best you can - then driving the rig home hundreds of miles, using whatever you can scrounge up for the lubricant you lose (including  wringing out lost oil drippings from catch rags, and when that runs out, substituting cooking oil  or dish soap - ANYTHING that will lubricate better than dry metal-on-metal). When you are on your @$$ you do what  it takes to keep going, or else your leave your rig (and maybe your bones) to decorate the wilderness.

.

When I was a farm kid  I broke down  often,  sometimes hundreds of miles from home. I  drove cheap crap  (my first car I got at age 14 - an abandoned non-running 1963 Dodge Dart I got for $32 at auction - Dad bid for me but I paid for it, and I had it  running 2 days later) that broke down all the time, but never resorted to shops and  never abandoned a vehicle (couldn't afford either alternative).   Here is one example: when my fuel pump crapped out one night, I  made the 2-hour drive home with a 2.5 gallon Round-Up (herbicide) jug of gasoline strapped to my roof  with baling twine and a siphon hose running from it to the carb of my 1967 Dodge Coronet V-8 flivver. Had to stop for gas several times - you should have seen the stares at the gas stations... *lol*

.

Bottom line is, when you are stuck, you do what  you can afford and whatever it takes to get home.

[GirsMJ86]

Well after exhausting everything we could think of we are back on the road doing what we should have done from the get go. We drove back to where we picked the truck up and rented a uhaul truck and trailer. Which is an idea we originally tossed around before we left home yesterday.

 

Ah well. What's the old saying? Something like "always look smarter in hindsight" or along those lines.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions but we were very limited where it decided to break down.

[jimoshel]

 

 

Wondering if he's serious? Or just pulling somebodies leg.

If at all possible, rig up a catch pan and stop frequently to recycle your lost oil. A cheap electric fuel pump (5 psi for use with a carb), some hose,  and a home-made filter at the delivery end wouldn't take long to cobble together and would get you home.

.

You of all people I thought would appreciate an unorthodox solution. Salvaging lost oil is a well-known tactic touted for breakdowns in the Alaskan bush. When you are out there, you do what it takes to get home, or else you accept the alternative. I've heard of stuffing rags into a hole in the block caused by a thrown rod, then  catching all the oil possible and sopping up any you can off the ground, dropping the oil pan, unbolting the offending rod and the one opposite it in the firing order, jamming them up into their cylinders with wadding,  and buttoning back up as best you can - then driving the rig home hundreds of miles, using whatever you can scrounge up for the lubricant you lose (including  wringing out lost oil drippings from catch rags, and when that runs out, substituting cooking oil  or dish soap - ANYTHING that will lubricate better than dry metal-on-metal). When you are on your @$$ you do what  it takes to keep going, or else your leave your rig (and maybe your bones) to decorate the wilderness.

.

When I was a farm kid  I broke down  often,  sometimes hundreds of miles from home. I  drove cheap crap  (my first car I got at age 14 - an abandoned non-running 1963 Dodge Dart I got for $32 at auction - Dad bid for me but I paid for it, and I had it  running 2 days later) that broke down all the time, but never resorted to shops and  never abandoned a vehicle (couldn't afford either alternative).   Here is one example: when my fuel pump crapped out one night, I  made the 2-hour drive home with a 2.5 gallon Round-Up (herbicide) jug of gasoline strapped to my roof  with baling twine and a siphon hose running from it to the carb of my 1967 Dodge Coronet V-8 flivver. Had to stop for gas several times - you should have seen the stares at the gas stations... *lol*

.

Bottom line is, when you are stuck, you do what  you can afford and whatever it takes to get home.

Upon rereading my response I can see why you castigated me. I did appreciate your solution and thought it was novel and original. And I have experienced break downs at the most inconvenient times requiring novel solutions. In 1951 I was driving a 1934 Chevy from LaVeta to Pueblo when a rod went thru the side of the block. Cut a piece of wire off a fence and wired the end of the rod up so it would clear the crank. Cut up a blanket and stuffed it into the hole to keep what oil I had left in. Drove it a little over 45 miles that way. Altho it didn't require any innovative thinking, in 1961 while flying a Bucker Jungmann from Barcelona to Irun I had a engine failure and landed in a rocky pasture bending a landing gear leg. A sheep herder saw me land and came over to see what was going on. His total tool box consisted of a axe, saw, pair of pliers, flat blade screw driver and a draw knife. Using the pliers, and totally rounding off the nuts in the process I got the fuel line off, confirming my suspicion. Clogged fuel line. Got that fixed. Got the herder to lift one wing enough for me to straighten the gear and wired it half assed together hoping it would hold well enough to get off. It did. We then spent two hours moving rocks to get a little smooth ground for take off. Gave the guy 100 Pesetas for his help, said a short prayer, I'm not a religous guy, and went for it. Obviously I made it since I'm here now talking about it. Although I may make sarcastic remarks, because I'm basically a sarcastic guy, I do appreciate innovation and originality.

[airspeed]

I drove my 67 bug with a broken throttle cable.  Ran a string out the window and around the rear bumper and up to the throttle.  The hand foot coordination was quite a learning experience.

[Oyaji]

 

 

 

Wondering if he's serious? Or just pulling somebodies leg.

If at all possible, rig up a catch pan and stop frequently to recycle your lost oil. A cheap electric fuel pump (5 psi for use with a carb), some hose,  and a home-made filter at the delivery end wouldn't take long to cobble together and would get you home.

.

You of all people I thought would appreciate an unorthodox solution. Salvaging lost oil is a well-known tactic touted for breakdowns in the Alaskan bush. When you are out there, you do what it takes to get home, or else you accept the alternative. I've heard of stuffing rags into a hole in the block caused by a thrown rod, then  catching all the oil possible and sopping up any you can off the ground, dropping the oil pan, unbolting the offending rod and the one opposite it in the firing order, jamming them up into their cylinders with wadding,  and buttoning back up as best you can - then driving the rig home hundreds of miles, using whatever you can scrounge up for the lubricant you lose (including  wringing out lost oil drippings from catch rags, and when that runs out, substituting cooking oil  or dish soap - ANYTHING that will lubricate better than dry metal-on-metal). When you are on your @$$ you do what  it takes to keep going, or else your leave your rig (and maybe your bones) to decorate the wilderness.

.

When I was a farm kid  I broke down  often,  sometimes hundreds of miles from home. I  drove cheap crap  (my first car I got at age 14 - an abandoned non-running 1963 Dodge Dart I got for $32 at auction - Dad bid for me but I paid for it, and I had it  running 2 days later) that broke down all the time, but never resorted to shops and  never abandoned a vehicle (couldn't afford either alternative).   Here is one example: when my fuel pump crapped out one night, I  made the 2-hour drive home with a 2.5 gallon Round-Up (herbicide) jug of gasoline strapped to my roof  with baling twine and a siphon hose running from it to the carb of my 1967 Dodge Coronet V-8 flivver. Had to stop for gas several times - you should have seen the stares at the gas stations... *lol*

.

Bottom line is, when you are stuck, you do what  you can afford and whatever it takes to get home.

Upon rereading my response I can see why you castigated me. I did appreciate your solution and thought it was novel and original. And I have experienced break downs at the most inconvenient times requiring novel solutions. In 1951 I was driving a 1934 Chevy from LaVeta to Pueblo when a rod went thru the side of the block. Cut a piece of wire off a fence and wired the end of the rod up so it would clear the crank. Cut up a blanket and stuffed it into the hole to keep what oil I had left in. Drove it a little over 45 miles that way. Altho it didn't require any innovative thinking, in 1961 while flying a Bucker Jungmann from Barcelona to Irun I had a engine failure and landed in a rocky pasture bending a landing gear leg. A sheep herder saw me land and came over to see what was going on. His total tool box consisted of a axe, saw, pair of pliers, flat blade screw driver and a draw knife. Using the pliers, and totally rounding off the nuts in the process I got the fuel line off, confirming my suspicion. Clogged fuel line. Got that fixed. Got the herder to lift one wing enough for me to straighten the gear and wired it half assed together hoping it would hold well enough to get off. It did. We then spent two hours moving rocks to get a little smooth ground for take off. Gave the guy 100 Pesetas for his help, said a short prayer, I'm not a religous guy, and went for it. Obviously I made it since I'm here now talking about it. Although I may make sarcastic remarks, because I'm basically a sarcastic guy, I do appreciate innovation and originality.

 LOL - now that is more like it!

.

If I ever make it out to Colorado, I'd like to look you up and swap yarns... though I have some good ones, I have a feeling you will have me beat. Either way, it should make for an interesting time, to be sure. :)       

[92tanMJ]

One of my fears about driving my truck the 500 miles school and back is breaking down..but so far so good. Thankfully. I do keep all of my tools with me and an extra set of fluids for everything. Lol everyone questions me on it but I would rather have it and not need it, than not have it and need it.

[Oyaji]

One of my fears about driving my truck the 500 miles school and back is breaking down..but so far so good. Thankfully. I do keep all of my tools with me and an extra set of fluids for everything. Lol everyone questions me on it but I would rather have it and not need it, than not have it and need it.

.

Your post reminded me of something I haven't thought about for a long, long while.

.

I remember an advertisement for Deutz tractors  in Progressive Farmer magazine back in the 70s that mentioned that 80% of agricultural equipment breakdowns were due to cooling system failures. They used that as a selling point for their air-cooled diesel engine offerings.

.

Engines have come a long way since then, and is in large part due to the narrow temperature range control afforded by liquid cooling that can be exploited by digital engine management... but I still am nostalgic for the old air-cooled engines available in the past  - in part due to the robustness afforded by not being subject to the cooling system failures of liquid-cooled engines.

.

Maybe I should see if any of the old air-cooled diesels are available and suitable for a swap? Now that would be a horse of a different color!