Jump to content

Stranded on the side of the road.


Ronnie

Recommended Posts

Sputtered to a stop. No spark. Assuming cps failed. AAA contacted. ETA 2 hours... maybe. We have shade,lawn chairs and water.

 

20220529_191019.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 miles. Right out in the middle of nowhere with nothing in walking distance. Here is what I see in both directions. 

 

20220529_195218.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you have with you the ignition module/coil pack I sent you? If so give that a try.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just finished changing Icm and coils. Still no spark.  ETA on tow is 9,06.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finally got dropped off the rollback at home at 12:05. Been a long evening waiting for tow trucks. Hard to get one who wants to come out on a holiday weekend.

 

tow truck.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yesterday evening I saw an MG B on a tow truck. Looked like a really clean example being towed down the road. Glad you got your Reatta home Ronnie. 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Glad you made it back Ronnie.

 Having been stranded myself by the side of the road 3 times [water pump pully, coil pack/ignition module, fuel pump] here is what I learned. Your towing insurance carrier is calling the cheapest places that they have a contract with and when they find one that will take the rate out they come. The proof is in the question they ask "Are you in a safe place"?  

 I no longer call the insurance company's towing service. I google tow companies near me and start calling tow companies. The guy comes out promptly, picks up your car, you pay by charge card and turn the bill in to your insurance agent to forward to the insurance company and they will pay. Never had a problem.

 If it would have been an a crash the officer never asks you for your insurance card to call the towing service, he just calls the tow companies that police department deals with and out they come. The insurance company always pays them. This is no different other then there is no damage, but your car has to be off the road.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ronnie, very sorry to read of your dilemma.  Have you had a chance to check out what caused the problem?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, DAVES89 said:

Your towing insurance carrier is calling the cheapest places that they have a contract with and when they find one that will take the rate out they come. The proof is in the question they ask "Are you in a safe place"?  

 I no longer call the insurance company's towing service. I google tow companies near me and start calling tow companies. The guy comes out promptly, picks up your car, you pay by charge card and turn the bill in to your insurance agent to forward to the insurance company and they will pay. Never had a problem.

You are exactly right Dave. My daughter has AAA and she contacted them first. She has free towing for 100 miles. She was initially told it would be about 30-60 minutes before someone would be out. They told her she could track the status online, which she did with her cellphone. It showed we were 24 miles away from home. Shortly thereafter the status for us to get a tow jumped to 117 minutes. We pulled the foldup chairs out of the trunk and sat in the shade and waited. Luckily it was in a cool spot and I had several bottles of water in the trunk.

 

We never heard anything for two hours so Heather called them again. This time they said they couldn't find anyone in our area that would come out. They told her to try to find someone on her own and they would reimburse her. She started searching the internet to find someone who would come out. The first person she called said he was AAA's guy in that area but he was about 150 miles away from home watching a dirt track race. He gave her the name of a friend that would come out and get us. She called that guy and he said he would come get us in about 30 minutes.

 

While Heather was talking to AAA, and searching for someone to give us a ride home. I contacted my Hagerty insurance. They answered promptly and told me they could get someone out in about 30 minutes. Not knowing for sure Heather's guy would show up or not, I told them to send someone out. I only have free towing for 20 miles with them so I would be charged $49 for the additional distance. I gave them my credit card number. They said I could cancel anytime before the tow truck got there and my credit card wouldn't be charged. I was very happy with the way they handled the whole process.

 

By this time it was pitch black and there was not a light anywhere to be seen accept for an occasional car passing. I already had called Kat and had her on the way with my Ruger 380 just in case I had to spend the night there with the Reatta if I couldn't get a tow. Then things started happening. By this time it was about 11 o'clock. A guy from Hagert's tow company called and said he was heading my way and would be there in about 20 minutes. I explained that Heather had a tow truck on the way. I asked him if he could hold off for about 15 minutes to see if Heather's guy showed up. He was very nice and said that was no problem. He said if the other guy didn't show up I could call back and he would be right out. Again, great service from Hagert's people.

 

In about 10 minutes Heather's tow truck showed up with a big four-door rollback and took my Reatta home. He charged $175. Heather paid so the receipt would be in her name if AAA wants a copy to reimburse her. On the way home I called and  canceled Hagerty's tow service without any problems and didn't get charged the $49.

 

The moral of this long story is DON'T depend on AAA to get you a tow when you really need it. They don't care about you being stranded on the side of the road. Do as Dave said. Get your own tow truck and then hope AAA will reimburse you for the charge. Hagerty was easy to contact and very good at finding me a tow truck in a timely manner. When my insurance comes due with them I will be paying a little extra to get 100 mile free towing they offer. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ronnie, love that you were going to protect your car if you had to!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, ship said:

Ronnie, very sorry to read of your dilemma.  Have you had a chance to check out what caused the problem?

 

It was an ordeal. You might could say it was the perfect storm. It was a holiday weekend when tow truck drivers didn't want to work, and it quit in the worst possible spot. Only good thing was the shoulder of the road was wide and I could get the Reatta out of the road.

 

I talked to a friend this morning and told him my story. He is a retired nuclear plant operator. He said where the Reatta quit is just across the river in the nuclear plant's "exclusion zone" where there is nothing allowed for a few miles around the plant but fields to grow corn for the deer to eat. I was wondering why I could see red flashing lights in the distance once it got dark. 🙂  Below is a photo Heather took of what we could see when we looked behind where we were sitting.

 

I've not done anything this morning to find out what is really wrong. It will probably be tomorrow before I do. It has no spark at the coils.  I replaced the ICM/Coils (thanks Daves89) with some I had in the trunk right there in the side of the road and it didn't help. I'm guessing the crank position sensor is bad. I hope it is that simple to fix.

 

tow truck2.jpg

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, BlakesReatta said:

Ronnie, love that you were going to protect your car if you had to!!!

I had a decision to make. Stay with the car and watch it or hope the insurance would pay for the car after is was stripped or stolen. It was in the perfect place for thieves. There were lots of people slowing down and eyeing the Reatta as they went by. There were three people who stopped to see fi the could help. My wife was coming to get my daughter and take her home anyway so I told her to bring my pistol. It's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. There was very little traffic by 11:00pm and I think I could have slept pretty good for a few hours in the passenger seat.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last summer, the local area I live in had a big issue with catalytic converters being stolen from cars. There’s a used car place here in my town that always has a lot of cars they bring back from auction and they got hit pretty hard. The car lot is across the street from a little ball field that has some bleachers. The thief had cut some converters off some cars and then went to hide under the bleachers. Mind you these bleachers are the little metal kind you see at soccer fields. Maybe five risers high. You can see right thru them and he was caught as soon as the police came down there. 
 

I'm curious to see as inflation gets worse if the catalytic converter issue comes back up but it seems like it hasn’t been as big a deal this year as it was last year, at least in my local area.  I’d think thieves would start stealing tires and rims too if they can get away with it. One good thing about living further north is that for half the year it’s too cold for thieves to steal much. But during summer they do come out to steal and strip. I keep my Reatta in the garage along with two Lesabres. My 2012 Honda Accord stays outside along with a 1990 parts Reatta.
 

I’m glad you got your car home safe all things considered! 

Edited by BlakesReatta
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Glad you made it home okay Ronnie. As you know I have spent a few hours in a "reclined position" taking a nap so I am sure that would have worked for you.

 I'm sure if it wasn't the ignition module it will be the CPS. Is the original one since you've owned the car?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, it's the original CPS so it's way over due. I'll do my tests in the how-to guides to confirm but I'm pretty sure it's the CPS. It spluttered and spit back through the intake a few times when it died. I tried to restart and hit a time or two and that was it. From then on it would just spin over with no spark.

 

I may be asking for help in getting the CPS adjusted correctly. It's been a long time since I replaced one. Never on a Reatta but I replaced the balancer back when I first got the car. Wish now I had replaced the CPS too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you have replaced the harmonic balancer in the past it should be easy. After you get the balancer off loosen the bolt holding the CPS in place. Be carful separating the "arms" and slide the CPS out. Take a business card and cut it in a "T" so the vertical fits the bracket. Fold over at the top of the vertical so it doesn't drop through. Slide the CPS to the card and tighten the bolt.  Replace the harmonic balancer. 

Once I gave up on removing the CPS bracket I did it in about 20 minutes. {After the car was in the air, wheel off,  plastic shroud and harmonic balancer off].

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I ave AAA Premier (250 miles towing) and while only needed a few times, the wait has never been long. May just live in a more populated area (wasn't when I moved here, is now. Getting 104 TV channels on a $35 antenna, some in English).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I feel for yah. We just did the CPS on my sons car and we were able to get the harmonic off without removing the front wheel. You won't have that little shock thing in the way either, same as ours. Crank the steering wheel hard right and lock the column in that position, remove the plastic splash shield and you can access the bolt with an impact wrench. Good luck👍

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

43 minutes ago, 2seater said:

I feel for yah. We just did the CPS on my sons car and we were able to get the harmonic off without removing the front wheel. You won't have that little shock thing in the way either, same as ours. Crank the steering wheel hard right and lock the column in that position, remove the plastic splash shield and you can access the bolt with an impact wrench. Good luck👍

Good ideas, only thing I did different was the breaker bar battery trick. I only have battery powered tools so I don't think my battery impact had enough guts...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...