Helping Hand

[northboundcj5]

It was a first. Returning from a camping trip at Sly Park located just off highway 50 in Cali. My Cj started backfiring and ground to a halt just past placerville . Unable to get to a spot with any appreciable shoulder space My wife and I found ourselves in a somewhat precarious position with traffic flying by and me trying to figure. out what was wrong. Believing my self to be a fair but basically self taught mechanic I started checking all the basics. All this was further complicated by the combination of a really hot day and a hot engine to work on. Guys, I was getting stressed ! I determined that sufficient fuel was being delivered but also thought that possibly the carb could be flooding causing the engine. to choke out. (I had recently rebuild my carb) So I removed the horn off the carb only to find all was well. with the float level. Moveing on I checked to see if the spark was sufficient at the plugs. Also ok, Humm, now I'm looking for anything out of the ordinary that could cause such an immediate failure. Now the wife is more and more concerned with the traffic and rightfully so. Then I remembered that putting the rig in gear and cranking the starter would enable me to walk alittle farther off the road, so we managed to do that but it was still tight. Now I'm starting to realize that this is not going to be the simple repair I originally envisioned . I'm an hour and a half away from home my wife is scared and I don't have the technical. skills to get us back on the road. I carry alot of emergency stuff in my jeep, hoses-belts-tools - electrical - tire plugs-I mean alotta stuff and I'm just stuck... Just then some guy in af all things an Audi pulls over and asks if I I need help, he's a local and his name is John, never got his last name. Turns out he's a jeeper has a CJ5 and a M3a. He was going the opposite way on 50 and hooked around to help us. He also turned out to be a mechanic by trade. I thanked him for stopping and we proceeded to try and get my rig going.We walked through all the steps and still no dice. So John tells me to wait while he returns to his home gets his dodge dulely and soon he returns and tows us out of harms way to a shady spot near a NAPA auto store. We do a few further electrical checks but can find no defects in the system. (Luckily I have a tow bar on the Cj. Well I ended up haveing to bring the Cj home on a flat bed.(425.00) but I have to say, Wow! Thanks for the help John from Placerville !!!

 

[mtnwhlr]

Its good to hear that there are still a few people out there willing to help out a stranger it sure does't happen very often anymore. You said it started backfiring before it died that sound like timming. How many miles are on the engine? It could be the timming chain our the dissy. Glad to hear you and the wife are ok and hope you get it running real soon.

 

[northboundcj5]

Thanks for the info Mtnwhlr,Yea I was going to tear into the rig soon,sounds like you came up with the same conclusion as me. Im thinking timeing chain..and I have a high flow water pump I need to put on anyway..Thank God for good people, not a whole lotta people have the time or desire to reach out, you know I understand that...I'm just glad Someone was there for me and the little woman..Anyway I appreciate the response and I'll try and continue to post the results.....

 

[northboundcj5]

Mtnwhlr, you asked about the mileage its at 61k,doesn't seem like alot but I googled AMC 304 and one of the articles said that they. Need a rebuild at 60 to 70k, seems...well a bit low to me,untill yesterday it was running really good.

 

[TroyaCantrell]

Great story, there truly good people in he world.

Is there a list on the forum of who lives where? Or contact numbers or anything like that? That was less the 20 minutes from my house. Now I was out of town this weekend but would have been handy to find a list of folks willing to help and close at hand.

 

[mtnwhlr]

It's just as they get old the chain streches and I've seen where the break teeth of of the gear. And it can jump a tooth or more. I had a 403 in Buick that left me on the side of the highway because of the chain.

 

[northboundcj5]

I understand, just age I guess , Things break/ we fix em.. Ya know I don't mind working on my Cj, after all it's where my interest lies, and really for the most part this jeep has been reliable. Either way I've never looked at it as a disposable idem.

 

[northboundcj5]

Troyacantrell, I think thats a good idea, nothing more sickening than your rig crapping out along way from home. However its comforting to know all you guys are so supportive of each other, I'm a newbie to the community and frankly I'm impressed with the helpfulness I'm seeing...
I can see why you were out of town,lots going on this weekend,especially for jeepers..
Thanks for shareing maybe the site can get some kind of contact network together. I for one would add my info.......

 

[Tin Medic]

Great story, there truly good people in he world.

Is there a list on the forum of who lives where? Or contact numbers or anything like that? That was less the 20 minutes from my house. Now I was out of town this weekend but would have been handy to find a list of folks willing to help and close at hand.

So true. On my way to Pueblo for a doctors appt the oil pump in my Waggy decided to self destruct and take the dizzy with it. The backfire was so bad it cracked the exhaust manifolds and totally destroyed my exhaust. Anyways I jumped on the IFSJA forum ( a site like this but for FSJ's) and a guy from Pueblo who was a truck driver responded from where ever he was on the road and had his wife come out to where I was pick me up and bring me back to Ft Carson to pick up my truck so I could tow the Waggy back home. He even offered to hold it at his shop if I needed to. You don't find this much anymore, except from fellow jeepers.


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[Tin Medic]

I would volunteer my info for a list like that.


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[Turbogus]

I read this story with great interest. I've had similar situations in my life but luckily I've gotten through them by one means or another. The following may sound like "witnessing" but I swear this is what happened one day on my 'other' ride; a '78 Kawasaki Z1R-turbo.
Being down on my luck employment wise I lit out one day from Albany, OR at my Dad's place and headed south to Roseburg, OR (rougly 110 miles) to the home of my birth. Looking around at vaguley familiar sights from my childhood I stopped by our old home (1964) and there was a little old lady doing some yard wor and asked if she could help. I explained I was ust admiring how well the old family house had been kept whereupon she invited me in for a cold glass of lemonade as it was dam hot out (97+). A flood of memories ensued and I gratefully thanked the lady as I left for Crater Lake, OR. I was out on the lonely stretch of Hwy 22y near Tiller, OR when all at once I blew a main fuse. I pulled over and replaced the fuse in the fuse case and proceeded. Another 5 miles and it blew again. I new I must've had a dead short somewhere but without time or the proper tools to do a roadside investigation, I replaced that fuse again. another 10 miles or so and ~poof~ blew again. Now I'm on my last fuse and getting right concerned. Remembering well what me dear departed Mom had always told me growing up "Never underestimate the power of prayer." I was already on my knees and as best as I could remember offered up a deliverance prayer parashrased as it'd been many a moon since I'd been to Church.
Well, I finally made it to the rim drive of Crater Lake but with the sun going down now, and it being late in the fire season smoe had filled in the valleys and depressions around Crater Lake and the few small peaks were peeing up above the smoke. When the sun set it cast all of this smoke blood red and these peaks now looked like islands in a red sea. It looked like right out of a Chronicles of Narnia book, or your favorite surrealistic album cover of the '70's. Had I not spent time with all of those fuse failures I'd never had seen this tremendous sight!
The trip back to Albany (AMC 150 miles) was fraught with road construction along the Hwy 58 where road cres had gouged the asphault for a resurface the following morning. If you've ever ridden a street bike on rain grooves imaging them being 3-4 inches deep. This went on for about 30 miles and the bouncing and jostling couldn't have done that dead short any good. I finally got back to Albany near midnight. The next morning I pulled the fuse holder out and that fuse was black and brown and charred as was the fuse holder, but never blew. In daylight and with some more tools and time I was able to find the short and repaired it.
One can draw their own conclusions but as for me it had strengthened my faith.

 

[northboundcj5]

It is refreshing to hear another story of kindness shown by others, sometimes it comes from unexpected quarters.
In this nation today it has become popular to demonise anyone who actually expresses their faith. Sadly it is these very values that established our country and makes it the exception among the others.
Thanks for sharing your experience, I can look back and see times where I have received what I view as divine assistance.....

 

[Turbogus]

I read this story with great interest. I've had similar situations in my life but luckily I've gotten through them by one means or another. The following may sound like "witnessing" but I swear this is what happened one day on my 'other' ride; a '78 Kawasaki Z1R-turbo.
Being down on my luck employment wise I lit out one day from Albany, OR at my Dad's place and headed south to Roseburg, OR (rougly 110 miles) to the home of my birth. Looking around at vaguley familiar sights from my childhood I stopped by our old home (1964) and there was a little old lady doing some yard work and asked if she could help. I explained I was just admiring how well the old family house had been kept whereupon she invited me in for a cold glass of lemonade as it was dam hot out (97+). A flood of memories ensued and I gratefully thanked the lady as I left for Crater Lake, OR. I was out on the lonely stretch of Hwy 227 near Tiller, OR when all at once I blew a main fuse. I pulled over and replaced the fuse in the fuse case and proceeded. Another 5 miles and it blew again. I knew I must've had a dead short somewhere but without time or the proper tools to do a roadside investigation, I replaced that fuse again. another 10 miles or so and ~poof~ blew again. Now I'm on my last fuse and getting right concerned. Remembering well what my dear departed Mom had always told me growing up "Never underestimate the power of prayer." I was already on my knees and as best as I could remember offered up a deliverance prayer paraphrased as it'd been many a moon since I'd been to Church.
Well, I finally made it to the rim drive of Crater Lake but with the sun going down now, and it being late in the fire season smoe had filled in the valleys and depressions around Crater Lake and the few small peaks were peeking up above the smoke. When the sun set it cast all of this smoke blood red and these peaks now looked like islands in a red sea. It looked like right out of a Chronicles of Narnia book, or your favorite surrealistic album cover of the '70's. Had I not spent time with all of those fuse failures I'd never had seen this tremendous sight!
The trip back to Albany (AMC 150 miles) was fraught with road construction along the Hwy 58 where road crews had gouged the asphault for a resurface the following morning. If you've ever ridden a street bike on rain grooves imaging them being 3-4 inches deep. This went on for about 30 miles and the bouncing and jostling couldn't have done that dead short any good. I finally got back to Albany near midnight. The next morning I pulled the fuse holder out and that fuse was black and brown and charred as was the fuse holder, but never blew. In daylight and with some more tools and time I was able to find the short and repaired it.
One can draw their own conclusions but as for me it had strengthened my faith.

<~~Corrected spelling of the proceeding to avoid confusion

 

[azurevirus]

Yes a good deed by the dude..please pass it on if you get the chance

 

[TroyaCantrell]

Earn good karma when you can.

On the way to work this morning i saw a CJ7 on the right shoulder in the two lane metered freeway on ramp. Of course I was in the left lane so I had to get someone to let me over, man drivers are cranky at 6:45am. So I stopped to see if i could help. Turns out he had a small electrical fire at the headlight switch. Not too much damage but killed it. It turns out that AAA was already on their way so he was good to go and thanked me and sent me on my way.

Had to stop though.

 

[northboundcj5]

It's great to hear these stories..It shows the character of our members..
Good for you Troyacantrell!!

 

[mtnwhlr]

My wifes Cherokees Transmission coolant line broke and left her stranded on the side of the road so as she started to walk away from it because she left her cell phone at home and could not call me a very nice man stopped and ask if he could help. He ended up giving her a ride home and let her use his cell phone to call me and let me know what had happend. So there are still very nice people out there willing to help someone in need and I was very grateful for his willing to help. I'm on the road all day and are willing to help anybody in need I see and belive in karma. What goes around comes around.