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the what's left you stranded thread

mxracer624

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Hemet ca,
Well i havent seen a thread like this one before so, I figure what the hell. Ive got some funny stories and im sure everyone else does too! So lets see what you've got.

Ok well while wheelin in the snow i heard a thunk thought nothing of it, and kept going. when I went to put it in 4 low, shift lever wouldnt shift, so i thought i had broken the linkage. Well i was wrong.
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I stripped 3 out of the 4 bolts holding the crossmember on. Just as the fog started to roll in and the sun was almost gone with no cell service. So i walked up to where i had service and called some friends. I ended up saying screw it and going about 2 mph all the way back to the road. Parked it for the night and came back the next day to pick the damn thing up.
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ok come on people lets see what you've got..
 
Re: the what's left you straded thread

Stranded by the Heep? CPS. A failed rear pinion bearing didn't stop me on the road, I just pulled the rear d/s and ran in front wheel drive.
 
Re: the what's left you straded thread

nothings ever left me straded, but my 93 never left me stranded (except for getting stuck or the couple times i ran out of gas...lol) worst was losing the fuel pump somewhere on the utah border. bypassed the ballast resistor and the extra 2 volts were able to get me to a napa where i changed the fuel pump in the parking lot.
 
Re: the what's left you straded thread

I've had plenty of things break that would have left me straded if I didn't have the proper tools and spare parts. Nothing's ever left me straded to the point I couldn't fix it on the trail, or at least get back to civilization. But off the top of my head, problems I've had that could have left me straded:

Starter (CJ and XJ) (required a pull start from another jeep with the CJ)
Alternator Brushes (Had to have a friend drive me to the parts store from the trail head)
Flat Tires
Put a hole in the gas tank, while it was submerged
broken driveshafts (one time required a pull from another jeep)
Shorted out junction block
low coolant

And of course, getting stuck in mud/dirt/rocks/sand
 
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Re: the what's left you straded thread

Almost forgot, dead batteries because I've lights on inside the vehicles and the occasional coolant hoses. I did have to replace a fuel line in an auto parts store lot that was leaking right by the exhaust manifold and turbo on a Dodge Shadow I used to own. That car also had a flat spot on it's ring gear for the starter and I at first would used to turn it over with a ratchet with an extension and the right sized socket, until I discovered the compression was low enough (it was turbocharged and from the 80's after all) that I could do the same just by yanking on alternator belt a couple times.
 
Re: the what's left you straded thread

never technically left me stranded, but once on the way to a week long trip to the grand canyon, about 40 miles in the jeep started overheating. nothing obvious was wrong and we still had hundreds of miles to go, so since we were still somewhat close to home we ditched the XJ in a gas station parking lot where i threw my gear in my dads truck and started riding with him. my mom came and picked up the XJ later and drove it home. later on we figured it out to be the radiator.
 
Re: the what's left you straded thread

Had fuel pump stop working,several times,most times in the driveway at home.
Had a battery"just die" but was able to get a jump and drive home ...never letting the engine get below 2 grand......only about 10 miles
 
Re: the what's left you straded thread

Computer on a 1995 mitsubishi eclipse left me 90 miles west of Mckinney Tx.

The CPS on my wife's jeep caused a few stalls randomly as it was going bad, but was never stranded longer than an hour before it ran again.

An axle flange came off of my CJ5. It sat for a week while parts were on order. It might have left me a few other places as well, I remember the distributor cam gear wearing off, the starter going bad, the alternator going bad, the radiator springing a leak, and one day when the clutch wouldn't disengage, I crawled under it and 4 lug nuts had been welded to the linkage to increase it's length, presumably during the v-8 swap, then one day it threw a rod.



I'm really good at being able to get things going again, but there have been a few times when I just don't have enough duct tape and spit.
 
Re: the what's left you straded thread

Complete loss of steering doing 80 in a WJ. Luckily I had done a complete brake job with new calipers, rotors, and ceramic pads the weekend before. Failed in a set of tight turns in the mountains and had enough momentum to ride to the side and stop within a foot of the guard rail. The problem ended up being the pinch bolt that connects the column to the intermediate shaft came loose.
 
Re: the what's left you straded thread

Had a Rusty's trac bar snap at where the tubing adapter is welded, back in like 2005. Blown a few rear yokes and drive shafts thankfully always made it back home.
 
Re: the what's left you straded thread

Water pump shaft decided it didn't want to be a part of the water pump anymore when I went to pass someone on the freeway. I think this was about 2 years ago.

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Re: the what's left you straded thread

Ha, I'll have to take a picture of my waterpump.

The shaft is still in it but it's at a 45* angle and is locked down hard.


(3 Water pumps in the past month, 3 different Jeeps)
 
Re: the what's left you straded thread

Water pump shaft decided it didn't want to be a part of the water pump anymore when I went to pass someone on the freeway. I think this was about 2 years ago.

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I know that feeling.

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That happened 2,170 miles from home. Luckily I was 214 miles from my destination and AAA Premiere gives me one 200 mile tow a year. The annoying part was that was a brand new water pump, it had probably 2,400 miles on it; I had only replaced it because I didn't know how old the old one was.
 
Re: the what's left you straded thread

There's a reason my spare parts box includes a water pump. I've never had one fail like that, but enough other people have.

Had a Rusty's trac bar snap at where the tubing adapter is welded

I forgot about the time I broke a rusty's trac bar out in Moab. I still had a little steering cause I still had short arms, but it took me 7 hours to get off the trail.
 
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