I just coasted with my Tacoma in neutral for 31 miles. I was going from Kona to Puna via Saddle Road. I got to the Pohakuloa Training Area and bam sssssssss… steam from under the hood and the engine temperature gage zips up to hot. Turns out the plastic top of the radiator cracked and all of the water escaped as steam. So I let the engine cool, refilled the radiator with water I had on board and started out again. I was just a mile or so from the high point of the Saddle Rd at mile marker 31. At the high point I put ole Nellie Belle in neutral and coasted all of the way down to the 0 mile marker at sea level in Hilo. The high point is at elevation 6750 ft. above sea level. At one point I was going down hill at 80 mph.
So I stopped in the parking lot of a open-late grocery store and bought some locktite 5 minute epoxy. I (hopefully) sealed up the crack. Now I’m passing time waiting for the epoxy to harden and the engine to cool so I can filler back up with water and take her back to the barn. I’ve got 12 miles to go and it’s not down hill from here. Fingers crossed!
Had something very similar happen to me as I was heading home from the hospital to get some stuff for my wife as they were going to induce labor the next day. RPMs go BURRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrppp… zero. Luckily, I was already at the top of the big hill near me AND had a slow lane so I was able to coast the entire way home. Called the tow truck for a reservation the following morning but he never showed, so I borrowed a friend’s car to visit my wife, only to have the tow truck call as soon as I got there, saying that they were on there way, so I had to zoom back home (under the speed limit of course). Wouldn’t you know it, the only time I ever skipped a stop sign and there were the Gendarmes waiting for me. My French wasn’t so good at the time but I think they got the gist of 1. wife about to have a baby 2. car broke down 3. tow truck calling me constantly telling me that he’s leaving in 2 minutes WITHOUT the car if I don’t get there, etc etc.
The epoxy worked very well. Nellie Belle is in the barn, and I’m home safe. No tow truck needed. Yeah baby!
Shoulda been home at 9PM, got here at 1AM instead. This is what I love about living in Hawaii; even when things go wrong it is an adventure. We have a saying here, “Lucky ting we live Hawaii, ya?”
Guess who gets to perfom a radiator-ectomy later today…
The closest I’ve come is when my radiator blew on the way to Dante’s View in Death Valley. I walked to the top (I was nearly there) and enjoyed the view while it cooled off. Then I coasted backwards down the hill about 50 yards to where they had a water tank for just that reason. I filled my radiator from that using a little styrofoam cup I had in the truck, all the while telling every person who stopped that I was fine, didn’t need any help. It was shortly after the last person had left, after sunset, when I realized that the fan belt had broken. Good thing I had tools and a spare belt in the truck :) Changed it out with the flashlight in my mouth, found the campground at the bottom of DV and the bar across the street . . . Sam Adams never tasted so good ;D
Glad you got it worked out - I imagine a replacement radiator there has a similar markup to everything else that has to get shipped to the islands? The price of paradise
You got me beat. The best I ever did was coasting into a town from 3 miles out with a broken timing belt. I had just crested the hill outside of this little town in Nebraska and the engine stopped, all the dash warning lights came on and I was going 60 MPH. I dropped it into neutral and start coasting. Hit 2 green lights on the way in and rolled to a stop in front of a service station. Very lucky.
No record but about 5 years ago the intake manifold on my Grand Marquis blew in the middle of nowhere and I didn’t realize it until I was a couple miles out after passing through Big Lake (Tx). Ding Ding Ding… Temp gauge maxed.
Whipped her around and just made it back to the little town. It was a Saturday afternoon but I still managed to find a mechanic. We put the vehicle on a trailer and for $100 he hauled me the 120 miles back to my folks place.
I had a radiator hose burst & coat the rear tire in a 115-120mph dog-leg turn, Well I coasted for 60ft+/- like superman before hitting the ground like a sack of potatoes with another 50ft slide/tumble/slide with smoke coming off my leathers, it didn’t smell like bacon.
Many decades ago I blew the seal around the heater valve in a Ford van. I got going again by bypassing the heater with the radiator hose.
Trouble is that it was 20F outside and sleeting. That means no defroster to the windshield and no heat in the van and a 2 hour drive to go, stopping every 10 or 15 miles to deice the wipers and windshield.
