Temporary Fixes and Jerry-Rigged Repairs. Whats your best/worst? - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

JamesDean · #16 01-08-2010, 01:48 AM

i like the ingenuity with the fan.

I have another one sort-of...

I was working on my dad's one 300SD (the work car) trying to diagnose a charging system issue (theres a thread in the diesel discussion forum) and I was going out to check some voltages and get something to do drink. I walked out of my house into the garage, checked the voltage grabbed my beverage and then found out that the door had locked.

I had no keys, no phone or anything else to get back in...my parents's bedroom is right above the garage and I usually get yelled at pretty good for making noise in the garage at night..so I figure some horn action from the van would wake them up and let me in.. that didn't work.

Next I found some oranges/grapefruit. I figured the classic "throw stuff at the window" trick would work. I re-examined this and decided I would aim for the siding rather than the glass. I don't want to break the glass. That failed and as an added bonus there is now around a pound of fruit on the roof.

My next plan was ingenious, but flawed. I knew I could startup the SD and potentially drive it to my grandma's house (she sleeps at odd hours and would be awake) and then phone home to get the door open. I got the engine running and was all set...however I couldn't bypass the steering lockout and driving in a straight line was not going to work.

Finally I was able to use a combination of long horn honking and beating the ceiling with a 4' lead pipe (which consequently cut the garage door wires--which I had to fix) that finally woke someone upstairs.

30 minutes later...

That really doesn't qualify as jerry-rigged but it was interesting and worth sharing lol

Hopefully some on gets a laugh out of it.

73Elsinore · #17 01-08-2010, 04:44 PM

Right on, good thread. I once saw a guy use a car battery to weld an alternator bracket that had broken off the lug where it mounted to the engine block. This was in a jeep and we were off-roading umpteen miles out in the middle of BFE in the Calif desert. The bracket had broken and the weight of the alt was causing it to hang just enough sideways to cause it to get into the fan. He used jumper cables as the welding leads and some baling wire as the electrode and kind of looked away as he struck the arc. Obviously this was in an old jeep that did not have a PCM or anything electronic. When you're off-road and stuff breaks, you get pretty creative... It wasn't pretty but it dang sure worked. I had always heard that you could use a battery to weld with but had never actually seen it done.

mpolli · #18 01-08-2010, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73Elsinore

Right on, good thread. I once saw a guy use a car battery to weld an alternator bracket that had broken off the lug where it mounted to the engine block. This was in a jeep and we were off-roading umpteen miles out in the middle of BFE in the Calif desert. The bracket had broken and the weight of the alt was causing it to hang just enough sideways to cause it to get into the fan. He used jumper cables as the welding leads and some baling wire as the electrode and kind of looked away as he struck the arc. Obviously this was in an old jeep that did not have a PCM or anything electronic. When you're off-road and stuff breaks, you get pretty creative... It wasn't pretty but it dang sure worked. I had always heard that you could use a battery to weld with but had never actually seen it done.

http://www.4x4wire.com/isuzu/minutemods/welder/

PanzerSD · #19 01-08-2010, 06:53 PM

the off-road industry actually sells components to allow you to use the alternator as a power supply for welding.

PATLESS · #20 01-08-2010, 09:28 PM

Back in the late 60's, early 70's I worked with a great group of guys. We built and raced oval track modifeds. The cars weighed about 2000lbs with big block chevys. Anyway, one year on the last race of the season, we were in the hunt for the point championship, during warmups we discovered water in the oil. We were ready to pack it in when ole Franky (About 80 yo) says hold on a second. He went to the refreshment stand an came back with two pepper shakers. He proceededd to pour the pepper into the radiator. We changed the oil, ran the engine, changed the oil again and off we went to race. Finished 3rd in the main and won the point championship.

JamesDean · #21 01-08-2010, 09:58 PM

Another story:

A few years ago my buddy started getting interested in w126 Mercedes and I knew my mechanic had a few cars sitting out back that he'd been using for parts.

One of them was a 260k 90' 300SE. White exterior. blue interior. He said the owner just told him to keep it. It was having fuel system issues. When the tow truck dropped it off, they literally dropped it and cracked the oil pan, near the drain plug.

So my buddy bought it for around $800. The interior was real nice and clean. The engine had been taken care of all its life. So when we JB welded the oil pan crack. It actually worked pretty well. It held oil and only lost small amount of oil. (He eventually replaced the pan) Then we decided to tackle the fuel system issue.

Turned out that some acorn nut on the fuel pump package had rusted/rotted away and the system couldnt maintain fuel pressure. We found a temporary fix at the local hardware store (which was a pain in itself as they didnt carry much in the way of metric nuts).

The car had been sitting for around a year. We charged up the battery. Topped off the oil and it started right up. So for around $830 he had a working, running 300SE.

raymond~ · #22 01-08-2010, 10:33 PM

{there was a similar thread some time back..so mine is a repost.}

truck broken into. ignition in steering column was busted. steering lock is
spring loaded, hardened steel pin which mates into the steering column.

next morning, late for work, I find the perfect socket out of the toolbox to
jamb the spring piece open. steering is now unlocked and I tape socket to
keep the spring pin from locking the steering column. cool, i get to work on
time. 8 hrs later, I am off work and jump back in the truck. heading home on
Interstate 5. warm day. duct tape loosens and the socket pops out....
releasing the pin.....which then locks the steering at 55mph.

steering is locked off center and I'm heading towards the jersey barrier. I'm
trying to steer, find the socket, flip the turn signal, keep from panicking and
slamming on the brakes.....while my heart and head are speeding at 200mph.
car horns are blaring as I cut across 3 lanes of traffic like a dunkard.

i hit the guard rail at just the perfect angle. there was a wide base on the
jersey barrier and my tire's sidewall took most of the impact. truck unscratched.
i fond the socket and hold it in the recess to keep steering unlocked...and
am able to steer the truck to the nearest offramp.

get out to inspect damage. no sheet metal damage at all! tire sidewall had
scuffed white lettering and missing some letters.

managed to limp home....another miracle as I had my eyes closed and prayed
the rest of the way that I was still alive. parked the truck and left it for a
week untouched. natch, i fixed it proper after a visit to the auto wrecking
yard.

============
same truck. had gone to the summit of Mt St Helens to look into the steaming
crater. back down and heading back to seattle on a Sunday evening.
just outside of Couger, WA, i had a flat tire. the bottle nose jack on a 4x4
truck just isn't going to raise the truck enough to raise the tire off the
ground. no service stations within easy reach; no cell phone service.

buddy and i grumbled that it was ironic that we had thousands of dollars
worth of climbing equipment and stuck with a simple flat tire. determined
to mcgyver this, we maneuvered the truck over to a soft shoulder just off
the road. raised the jack as high as we could beneath the leaf suspension/
axle. then, using our ice axes, we removed dirt from beneath the tire which
allowed us to remove and replace the blown tire with the spare. yes, we
replaced and excavated dirt and stomped on it as firmly as we could.

t walgamuth · #23 01-08-2010, 11:56 PM

You know those pieces of rubber in the throttle linkages on a 617 diesel? The ones that go away on an old car and the throttle linkage gets all wobbly and wants to come apart?

ON my 83 dd it went south and I fixed it with short odd sections of rubber hose and clamps. I did this several times and it would work half a$$ed and come loose again.....

Well, last time I had some binder twine lying around and I decided to wrap it tightly around and woven through the joint. Its been like that for about ayear. I would like to get the correct rubber part for it but have had zero luck findiing it new.....well, don't worry, I will find the right part and in the mean time the binder twine is just temporary.....

unless it works!

(I am not kidding).

PanzerSD · #24 01-09-2010, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

You know those pieces of rubber in the throttle linkages on a 617 diesel? The ones that go away on an old car and the throttle linkage gets all wobbly and wants to come apart?

On my SEL when I did the intake seals and such, I had to disconnect the throttle linkage, and the nylon bushing ball that the rear end of the longitudinal shaft sat in totally crumbled in my hand when I removed it, so I went on with my repair, and in the mean time, I came across a set of polyurethane sway bar bushings, I guess from a small chevy truck of some sort, and it fit in the socket and the shaft nestled nicely in the hole and worked AWESOME. I'd recomment this repair as a cheap alternative to hunting down that part new or even used.
Poly and Skateboard wheels can be machined to make anything

I'm thinking of having some sway bar (front) bushings produced from skateboard wheels.

curtis61387 · #25 01-09-2010, 02:09 AM

I've got a pretty good one that involves my 1992 190E. I had just purchased the car while in Northern Michigan for a wedding, I bought the car knowing it had "a slow coolant leak". Well when it came time to head back home to South Carolina that small leak turned into a big one about an hour into my trip. I had to pull off the road every 30 miles and refill the coolant resevoir. Its a good thing I bought four 2 gallon refills before I left. I made it to a local auto parts store and after close inspection I found the problem to be a cracked thermostat housing. (These parts used to be metal, why did Mercedes switched to plastic!?)

No place within 150 miles had the part and I had to be in SC in 24hrs. I topped off the coolant and drove down to the nearest gas station and walked in and bought a fistfull of the 35 cent packs of Wrigleys Double Mint bubble gum. After about 15 mins of chewing I had enough gum to fill the cracks on the housing. Well I made it about another 50 miles, thats when the 180 degree coolant turned the gum into mush. At another gas station now I walked in and bought a roll of duct tape, cleaned the housing off and wrapped it in half a roll of tape.

I was able to make it another 100 miles to my dads house on that fix.There I took the housing off, cleaned it up nice and good on the dinner table and mixed me up a batter of JB WELD(the guy at the parts store told me this would never work becuase of the high temp of the coolant) I filled the cracks in very carefully and made the part look brand new...put it back on and guess what no leak! In fact I drove the car that day to a guy who parts out Mercedes and was able to get the replacement part...this time a metal housing off an 80's 190E. But out of pure laziness or just to see if my Macgyver fix would hold I kept my JB Weld fix on the car and drove all the way to SC with out a problem. In fact later that Winter I drove the car to Key West,FL and back, (2000 miles roundtrip) on the very same temp fix. Soon after the housing blew and I replaced it with the metal one I had waiting in the trunk.

196,000 miles and running strong! The things a Tank!

Larry Delor · #26 01-09-2010, 12:28 PM

Drove a 500SEL back from the other coast to my house (fellow member bought on ebay, and I picked it up for him). On the way over, a bridge joint was rather large, and the bump was rather harsh - moments later the rear end sagged so much the tires rubbed the fenders and let off smoke. I thought I had blown both tires at first.
Turns out the linkage for the self leveling suspension (ball & socket) had popped off.
I foraged around in the trunk of the car that drove me over (my 300D) and found a unused spool of speaker wire that still had the rubberband around it (it kept the wire from unspooling). I used said rubber band to keep the linkage from falling apart again if I were to hit another bump in the road. This "repair" was good for at least 150 miles and several days - it received new parts at that point and time.

Benz Mondi · #27 01-10-2010, 01:23 PM

OK, I've got to give credit to my younger brother. His MacGyver ways continue to this day!

During our days of youth and warm summer days, first cars are always about getting things fixed with no money to spend. On his way home from working at the piano and organ store where I was a salesman, he ran into trouble. While tooling along his front right wheel began to wobble terribly. Just 1 mile from home, he had to pull over. He got to the wheel just in time to watch all but the last wheel stud snap off. What to do now? No money for a tow. Walking home for help isn't help. He need's to get the car home. After thinking for a minute, he realized the solution in his trunk.

He took the jack out of the trunk and proceeded to remove the wobbly wheel. He then lowered the wheel assembly onto his solution, fired it up, turned a few corners and got his way home.

You see. He delivered what I sold. He still had a piano dolly in his trunk. His spare became the four-wheeled dolly. I wish I could have seen the look on, what later became my brother-in-law's face when he happened to be stopped at an intersection when my brother drove up and made a right turn in front of him.

Today my brother works on robots. He always gets them to work... just don't ask how.

(His car was an MGB which stayed with him for 25 years!)

wbain5280 · #28 01-10-2010, 07:28 PM

OK, not an MB, but the '85 F150 PU I boughjt for my son is pretty much all a botched repair job. It's getting fixed little by little. I do carry some MB parts in the back though.

Biggest screwed up repair on my 220S was the cyl head, as in the head bolts were not properly torqued on cyls 4 thru 6.

pawoSD · #29 01-10-2010, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

You know those pieces of rubber in the throttle linkages on a 617 diesel? The ones that go away on an old car and the throttle linkage gets all wobbly and wants to come apart?

ON my 83 dd it went south and I fixed it with short odd sections of rubber hose and clamps. I did this several times and it would work half a$$ed and come loose again.....

Well, last time I had some binder twine lying around and I decided to wrap it tightly around and woven through the joint. Its been like that for about ayear. I would like to get the correct rubber part for it but have had zero luck findiing it new.....well, don't worry, I will find the right part and in the mean time the binder twine is just temporary.....

unless it works!

(I am not kidding).

Those are only on the W123....the W126 has a different throttle linkage setup with no piece of rubber.