Writer looking for quick fix engine problem

[haber]

I'm a writer and the main character in my novel is a mechanically minded guy with a crummy old car. I'm a non-mechically minded woman who keeps fairly new cars so I don't have to deal with mechanical breakdowns.

I need a fix he can do on the fly while a bad guy is closing in on him. I've got another character who can start the car while he's under the hood if necessary.

The best would be if it's something that happens a lot but he can't afford the parts to formally fix it so this is his usual work-around.

Thanks for your help!

[MagicRat]

Welcome to Automotive Forums.

So let's see, you are a female Canadian fiction writer...... your first name is Margaret, right??



(Okay, that's an old, old joke, and our readers would probably have to be Canadian to get it.......)




Are you going to tell the reader exactly the make, model and year of the car.... just so we can state an accurate failure which is consistent with the equipment that car would have?

If not, here are a couple of chronic problems which would prevent a car from starting, yet can be fixed in seconds.

My first choice is that he has to whack the starter motor with a metal rod (perhaps a lug wrench he keeps under the hood for such a purpose) while his buddy is actually turning the key....... This is a real, valid temporary fix for some worn-out starters. Sometimes, if they have a sticky Bendix drive or work commutator or brushes, they simply will do nothing at all when the key is turned, unless they receive a sharp jolt.

This would apply to virtually all cars, except post-1995 Cadillacs and the Oldsmobile Aurora (possibly others, too)..... you simply cannot reach their starters to whack them.


The next failure is a damaged battery terminal. Sometimes, if the terminals are a little loose due to stripped threads on the terminal, corrosion can build up, creating a poor electrical contact. This means when you turn the key to start, nothing happens, or you get a clicking/groaning sound. One can wiggle a loose terminal for a couple of seconds to temporarily improve the connection, allowing the engine to start.

Please note, this would be good for most older cars. But a few cars, like Audis, have the battery under the back seat, not under the hood. Also, a few, like late-90's Chryslers (Concorde, Intrepid) have no easy access to the battery terminals.

[shorod]

I guess the initial request doesn't specify that it needs to be something that prevents the car from starting, so if you're looking for something that may cause the car to stall while driving, you might consider a modern car with an electric fuel pump in the early stages of failure which is in the gas tank. Like a starter motor, these can sometimes be coerced to work again with a well-placed whack with a broom stick, etc. They are not necessarily an inexpensive fix, and on domestic cars, usually require removing the fuel tank to replace, so they could easily be put off of there is a work around. Electric fuel pumps in the early stages of failing also will often work after given time to cool, so it could be something where the car stalls, the character runs into the woods to get a stick, then comes back to his car and it starts.

You could also consider something like an intermittant connection on a speed sensor that would cause a modern car to go into "limp home" mode. In limp home mode, the vehicle usually locks into 2nd gear so the top speed is limited to somewhere around 45 mph. If the intermittant connection became good again, the car MAY come out of limp home on its own, otherwise shutting the car off and restarting it would likely allow normal operation again.

-Rod

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by shorod

I guess the initial request doesn't specify that it needs to be something that prevents the car from starting, so if you're looking for something that may cause the car to stall while driving,

Good point. We need some clarification on if the car was being driven and stopped running...... or if the good guys are simply trying to start a non-running car.

Originally Posted by shorod

you might consider a modern car with an electric fuel pump in the early stages of failure which is in the gas tank. Like a starter motor, these can sometimes be coerced to work again with a well-placed whack with a broom stick, etc. They are not necessarily an inexpensive fix, and on domestic cars, usually require removing the fuel tank to replace, so they could easily be put off of there is a work around. Electric fuel pumps in the early stages of failing also will often work after given time to cool, so it could be something where the car stalls, the character runs into the woods to get a stick, then comes back to his car and it starts.

You could also consider something like an intermittant connection on a speed sensor that would cause a modern car to go into "limp home" mode. In limp home mode, the vehicle usually locks into 2nd gear so the top speed is limited to somewhere around 45 mph. If the intermittant connection became good again, the car MAY come out of limp home on its own, otherwise shutting the car off and restarting it would likely allow normal operation again.

-Rod

FWIW, I like these suggestions, but would not apply to many older cars. I think the original poster should indicate a specific make, model and year of car, if the novel's plot requires it.

The original poster should note than "crummy old cars" may have been made in the days before electric fuel pumps and electronic engine controls were common.

Your typical American car made before the early to mid-1980's had a mechanical fuel pump, no speed sensors and mostly mechanical engine controls, so such failures would not apply.

If the crummy old car was being driven, and then just died....... one could say the ignition coil wire had fallen off. This is the fat wire in the center of the distributor cap.
The driver could simply dive under the hood, hook the wire back up again and take off. This would apply to most (but not all) older cars. Also, its less likely with General Motors cars made after 1974, due to the design of the cap.

[haber]

I wish my name was Margaret. My bank account would like it, too.

I like the idea of whacking something with a metal pipe to get it to work. Very Fonzi-like. :-) Although it could be too good to be true. Readers might just think I made it up. Getting rid of corrosion on a battery terminal sounds more technical. Hmm, food for thought.

And Shorod, no, the car didn't stall out on them. It had probably been sitting there a couple days and they can't get it started in the first place.

Make and model? Well, so far my place holder is an '87 Chevy. Not very specific, I know. It's old, but not so old as to be classic and it's American. That's all I know. But my character is the type to specify the model so I do need to figure it out. Any advice on an older model American car that could be considered a chick car? He didn't buy it himself. And I can call it a chick car since I am one. :-)

[Blt2Lst]

Since it is a fiction piece, just make up the breakdown.
As for repairs on the fly, I have used a coat hanger (wire), Duct tape, and chewing gum to make repairs on the fly.
BTW, the chewing gum was used to hold a spring in place on the horn button on my 57 chevy back in 1979 and it is still there. Believe it or not.

[Selectron]

Since it is a fiction piece, just make up the breakdown.

Just because it's fiction, that doesn't mean that one shouldn't strive for accuracy. Also, you're failing to think ahead, because I'm already considering the movie version and I see Christian Bale in the lead role. Christian leaping from the driver's seat, lug wrench in hand, and whacking the starter motor has a manly and heroic quality to it. If Christian takes a piece of soggy chewing gum and sticks it under the horn button then he's going to look a bit of a wimp, eh; a wuss. For that reason, I go with whacking the starter motor, and it won't be too technical for the reader to follow, because what's the first thing most people do when the TV set or the radio quits working? They whack the case, maybe on the top and if that doesn't bring it to life then they whack the side, and as MagicRat explained, there are valid technical reasons why hitting a starter motor will bring it back to life.

This has been the most entertaining thread we've had in the Engineering & Technical section for a long time, and it gets my nomination as thread of the year, so far.

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by haber

I wish my name was Margaret. My bank account would like it, too.

I like the idea of whacking something with a metal pipe to get it to work. Very Fonzi-like. :-) Although it could be too good to be true. Readers might just think I made it up. Getting rid of corrosion on a battery terminal sounds more technical. Hmm, food for thought.

And Shorod, no, the car didn't stall out on them. It had probably been sitting there a couple days and they can't get it started in the first place.

Make and model? Well, so far my place holder is an '87 Chevy. Not very specific, I know. It's old, but not so old as to be classic and it's American. That's all I know. But my character is the type to specify the model so I do need to figure it out. Any advice on an older model American car that could be considered a chick car? He didn't buy it himself. And I can call it a chick car since I am one. :-)

First of all, because you drive newer, probably reliable vehicles, you have never needed to call a tow truck driver, or roadside-assistance.

Any good tow truck driver, or assistance staffer will, when faced with a no-start condition AND a good battery will whack the starter and then try to start the car. My buddy towed for CAA for years, and it was usually required procedure for CAA to try this, if the staffer deemed it appropriate. So, lots of people are exposed to this particular remedy.

Besides, a Fonzie-esque touch, especially if true-to-life, is a great detail (and you are making up the plot anyways, right?)

Chick cars....... the quintessential '80's chick car is the Volkswagen Cabriolet (Rabbit convertible).

If it HAS to be American.... how about an AMC/Renault Alliance convertible, like the black or the blue ones pictured here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_Alliance

That would be old, crummy, completely obscure, girlish and with ZERO appeal for any man. Also, note although they had Renault in the name, they were built in Kenosha, Wisconsin..... making them American.

This might be too obscure. Lots of people have forgotten AMC (American Motors Corp) ever existed. Most people under 30 think AMC is just a movie theatre

So, a more mainstream example is a 4 cyl Mustang convertible, or a Chevy Cavalier convertible........

BTW the original American chick car was the 1955 Dodge La Femme. This was a pink chrome-encrusted sedan, with a make-up kit in the glove box and roses on the seats, marketed exclusively towards women. It's a classic now, but it would be an interesting reference in your novel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_La_Femme

[haber]

Blt2lst: I believe it about the chewing gum. I have some on the bottom of a desk drawer that is never coming off. I originally had him re-attaching a muffler with a coat hanger until I decided it would be more exciting as a chase scene.

Selectron: lol! Glad I could provide such entertainment.

MagicRat: I've done a little more research and I'm rethinking the chick car thing since chick cars are usually defined as cute and reliable. I definitely don't want reliable. And I wanted American since they're usually cheaper but most cars labelled chick cars are imports. So not a chick car...more a cheap, nasty, non-manly car from the mid-80's.

And can someone explain why whacking the starter motor actually works?

Thanks for all your help so far!

[shorod]

Originally Posted by haber

And I wanted American since they're usually cheaper but most cars labelled chick cars are imports. So not a chick car...more a cheap, nasty, non-manly car from the mid-80's.

And can someone explain why whacking the starter motor actually works?

Thanks for all your help so far!

Hmmm, sounds like a mid-80's Chevy Celebrity Eurosport. The engine would be transverse, and I think the starter motor would be on the front side of the engine, relatively easy to access with a metal pipe/lug wrench/umbrella/broom handle.

As starter motors wear, one way which they can fail is the carbon brushes wear down. The carbon brushes are how the electrical current gets from the solenoid to the starter motor commutator/armature, and are common to DC motors (like the electric fuel pump). As the brushes wear, they get shorter. They are spring loaded, but as they get shorter, they become less likely to make good, reliable contact with the commutator. Tapping the starter motor with a blunt object can coerce the brush springs to push the brushes just enough closes to make good contact.

Heat can play a factor in starter motors not working reliably too. The heat will cause the brushes to expand and, as they get shorter, the brush springs may not apply as much linear force to the brushes and not have enough force to overcome the added friction from the hot brushes. This can become a factor when the starter is in close proximity to headers or the exhaust manifold. This really would be so much the case in a car in stock form.

You can also have a starter solenoid that makes intermittent electrical contact once carbon begins to build up on the contacts over time.

If you went with a mid-80's Ford product, you could work in a tripped fuel pump inertia cutoff during an aggressive drive. During significant shocks, the fuel pump cutoff will open the circuit to the electric fuel pump and kill the engine and won't allow the car to restart until the driver gets out, walks to the trunk/hatch, reaches through a small access panel and resets the cutoff switch by pressing the button down (similar to resetting a circuit breaker). The purpose of this device is to shut off the fuel pump in the case of an accident so the fuel pump won't feed a fire. Fords were one of the few manufacturers that used this device though, so it would be a less familiar issue than a bad starter motor would be.

-Rod

[haber]

Thanks for the starter brush details. I think I can work with that. And that Eurosport looks good and boxy. :-)

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by haber

MagicRat: I've done a little more research and I'm rethinking the chick car thing since chick cars are usually defined as cute and reliable. I definitely don't want reliable. And I wanted American since they're usually cheaper but most cars labelled chick cars are imports. So not a chick car...more a cheap, nasty, non-manly car from the mid-80's.
!

The AMC Concorde or Chrysler K car (Dodge Aries or Plymouth Reliant) would fit your requirements to a T.

Both were slow, dull, boring cars. They were practical, but had exactly the cheap, nasty grandma image I think you are looking for.

Compared to them, the Eurosport is a Ferrari.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_Concord
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_K_platform

[CaseyJones797]

Here are a couple of suggestions that would apply to almost any vehicle from the mid-seventies back and all cars from the sixties and back, especially ones that had not been driven in a while or were in various states of disrepair.

If the car had not been started in some time but the battery will still let you grind the engine, the float in the carburetor might be stuck. My old Pontiac did that occasionally (usually at the worst possible time like driving rain, leaving the local Lover's Lane when my girl had to be home NOW, you get the idea) and I would have to get out and tap, peck, beat on the carb to get fuel going to the engine again while she turned the key until it finally started.

Another common problem for cars of that era is in the ignition system. The points in the distributor would glaze or get burned enough that the car would not start. Depending on the vehicle, a pocket knife and a matchbook cover could get things going in a few minutes. Use the pocket knife to loosen the screws that hold down the distributor cap (two screws) and to loosen the points (one screw there, too) and the matchbook cover to deglaze the points and to set the gap. Again, it just takes a minute to get things going again.

The starter problem mentioned earlier is also a common problem for older cars that have been sitting for a while.