I've just come back from a Pep Boys and have never realized so many limp-home temporary quick fix products around.
I saw coolant hose repair tape along with a better alternative to it that included a section of plastic with two hose clamps and some rubber cement(If I remember right) that could be used to fix a hose for awhile. In a pinch I helped my buddy out and used duct tape on a hose that sprung a leak with duct tape once just to get him home as all of the auto parts places were closed.
I've seen the fix-a-flat products, which have worked for me twice already with slow leaks that would cause a tire to lose half of its pressure over a week or so, which I was surprised that it fixed them permanently, I'm lucky I guess.
I saw an emergency temporary one-size-fits-all fan belt that was a thin v-belt that could be cut to length and then had holes in it to attach a metal piece to join the cable so that you could get home. This one seemed to be very hard to believe would actually work, at least not on these serpentine style systems with more than three pulleys involved.
Muffler repair tape, muffler repair metal patches, muffler tape adhesives. I think I saw three or four types of these things in many different auto parts stores.
I'm curious as to what measures people had to go to for quick fixes on the road to keep things going and if these products have worked to bring you home or if there were any spur of the moment fixes with what was on hand to get where you needed to go.
The reason I ask is that I drive long distances away from home and would like to have a way to deal with problems on the road. The question is also one of curiousity, if not more of curiosity than the actual attempt at increase my knowledge of roadside repair. Keep in mind I take care of my belts and hoses and perform routine maintenance but there are always those things like a sudden belt snap or coolant rupture that happen when we don't expect it.
What sort of experiences have you folks had?
I saw coolant hose repair tape along with a better alternative to it that included a section of plastic with two hose clamps and some rubber cement(If I remember right) that could be used to fix a hose for awhile. In a pinch I helped my buddy out and used duct tape on a hose that sprung a leak with duct tape once just to get him home as all of the auto parts places were closed.
I've seen the fix-a-flat products, which have worked for me twice already with slow leaks that would cause a tire to lose half of its pressure over a week or so, which I was surprised that it fixed them permanently, I'm lucky I guess.
I saw an emergency temporary one-size-fits-all fan belt that was a thin v-belt that could be cut to length and then had holes in it to attach a metal piece to join the cable so that you could get home. This one seemed to be very hard to believe would actually work, at least not on these serpentine style systems with more than three pulleys involved.
Muffler repair tape, muffler repair metal patches, muffler tape adhesives. I think I saw three or four types of these things in many different auto parts stores.
I'm curious as to what measures people had to go to for quick fixes on the road to keep things going and if these products have worked to bring you home or if there were any spur of the moment fixes with what was on hand to get where you needed to go.
The reason I ask is that I drive long distances away from home and would like to have a way to deal with problems on the road. The question is also one of curiousity, if not more of curiosity than the actual attempt at increase my knowledge of roadside repair. Keep in mind I take care of my belts and hoses and perform routine maintenance but there are always those things like a sudden belt snap or coolant rupture that happen when we don't expect it.
What sort of experiences have you folks had?