Perhaps an improperly tightened outer bearing. Happened to me too.
My 240 blew a thrust bearing.
Both expensive strandings.

shredded front rotor caused my only tow in 55k.

Ignition locked up once, but since the car was in the driveway and I had another car, that doesn't really count as "stranded."

Battery also gave up the ghost in the driveway, but I jumped her and drove over to the McParts for a new one.

Closest to "stranded" I ever got was when the fuel sender jammed at 1/8 tank (unbeknown to me) and I ran out of fuel on the way to work. I had a spare couple of gallons in the trunk, so there was no actual stranding.

glowplug fuse cracked once while me wife had the 77 300d parked at work. SLS high pressure hose broke on my 85TD after driving thru about 40 steep dry washes on a remote dirt road in the Utah desert heavily loaded and pulling a trailer. Glow plug was a simple fix in the parking lot. Could have fixed the hose beside the road if I knew then what I know now.

87 300D 280k -

starter died = AAA

ignition lock stuck = AAA

injector line broke = big mess but made it home (prob my fault from GP repl)

throttle linkage popped off and jammed into head leaving engine at damn near WOT = burned front brakes, but made it home (always repl w/123 metal ball ends!)

numerous fuel, oil, trans, wvo leaks = made it home but messy

Glows failed - probably contributed to starter dying

But for all Ive put it through (40k miles on WVO, mostly at 80-90 mph) it is pretty damn reliable!

Neutral saftey switch one night in the RR station parking lot.

After no start at 10 degrees finding out that 3 dead glow plugs really compromise the chances of starting- but that was in the driveway

One of the rear axel joints started making a little noise after I totally unloaded the suspension in MD going over the top of a hill at speed with the trunk car fully packed and full of passengers (I looked at the rubber covers, didnt see any cracks and drove it for over a year locally with a cracked joint cover) A year later it was howling and vibrating so much (while on vacation, full trunk I finally poked at the covers and found one totally split open in a fold and the joint bone dry) I decided to rent a car to get back home. Could not put the wife and kids through a 30 mph drive home- 30 mph being the 'sweet spot' where the joint made no noise.

Fixed it by swapping out the entire rear axel for a '85 one I had...

My 240D stranded me for about an hour when the ignition key would not turn all the way to the start position. I tried everything but could not get the car started. Finally got a few guys from the autoparts store (where I was stranded) and they gave me a push start. I was able to fix the tumbler without buying a new one.

My 300D stranded me for for a day when it failed to start after a bunch of WOT 0-60 runs. I'd get the dash lights, the starter just clicked but bendix won't engage. With the help of a DVM, I diagnosed the problem to be a loosened ground strap bolt. The stress from the WOT runs loosened the bolt enough to give the starter motor a bad ground to the battery. In the process, I also found missing as well as other loose bell housing bolts. That was kinda freaky. I have receipts of a transmission rebuild from the PO so this was likely the quality work of the shop that did the rebuild. :rolleyes:

A poorly secured oil cooler line left me stranded on the start of my first road trip with Ol' Turbo. I don't blame the car, rather my procrastination and the previous owner.

Luckily I caught it before damage was done. As you can see, it leaked most of the oil out as I was coming to a stop.

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC01450.jpg

My alternator left me at work on the 85 a few months back within the first 1000 miles of driving it, and it had sat for two years prior. Got a jump from a coworker, and drove home with no power.

My 82 developed a bad axle (first long trip on a rebuild) after 300 miles on a 330 mile trip to PA. It banged, whined and made awful, awful noises till I got to PA. Drove home on it - not a peep till I was 30 miles from home.

So no flatbeds....yet.

dd

Well that oil, not a hard fix, but a HUGE mess. My dad's friend who works on racecars told me that catastrophic failure is usually rare, I suppose like my transmission, but mostly problems that I will encounter will have to do with either coolant or oil. Has anyone had a water or oil pump fail on them without any previous warning?

Radiator neck burst..
Seized steering pump...
Seized AC compressor...
Dead alt...

But I've never been permanently stranded by these things...Thank God as He's instilled in me the knowledge and experience to carry out the necessary procedures for getting me on my way when need be.

You just have to expect this. These cars are OLD. Expect things to fail. That's why places like this are a huge asset for guys like me.

I have had my water pump go on the road - except I was doing a citric acid coolant flush so I dont count it as a breakdown. I went for a drive with the citric solution in the system. As i got home the heat went and when I popped the hood I saw water coming from the weep hole.

Replacing water pump with citric acid for coolant = fun :-)

dd

just once........thus far --- Coda
 

The fuel guage is a bit "touchy" and I ran out of fuel while in the garage. I was stranded because I did not have another vehicle to take the kids to school or go to work. Wife had to come pick us up.

Hmm, fun memories. Out of a bit over 100K on the SD, my alternator seized and chewed up one of the belts while on the road about 200 miles from home. It was daylight, so I drove back with no problem, just watched the temperature and didn't cut the engine off when I fueled up. More than once while tinkering I had one of the "throttle" rods pop off, resulting in the engine dropping to idle. I ended up swapping the suspect ball cup to one of the horizontal rods instead of on the IP. Since then (about 80K) ago, no problems that have affected me on the road without warning. And I figure, if the car warns me and I don't fix it, its really my own fault...

I have never been stranded. I have had several problems but was able to get home.The worst case was last Jan when my B2 piston died 130 miles from home in Maine. I was able to get home w/o much 1st & 2nd gear. It was tricky not being able to stop but I made it .