Any car mechanics out there?

[rmncwrtr]

My current manuscript has a character who is a car mechanic. I have some questions (not too detailed since this is a romance) and also need ideas on what could break on an engine that would be easy to fix in the middle of a parade without a toolbox handy. If you wouldn't mind helping, please let me know. I'm under the gun here with a 5/31 deadline. Thanks!

 

Mel

[pu]

Blown Fuses, Flat Tire.

[mkporwit]

If it is an older English car, then anything electrical really... just look up Joseph Lucas, the "Prince of Darkness", the (accidental) inventor of the intermittent wiper

[Bronco]

ran outa gas?

[rmncwrtr]

I need something only a mechanic would be able to figure out looking under the hood and fix without any tools or materials that wouldn't be in, say, a woman's purse or the glovebox. Would a blown fuse cause a car to just stop?

[rbw1966]

My car didnt technically die but it stopped moving. The throttle linkage to the carburator broke, thus ending all forward progression. I was wearing wire-rimmed glasses at the time and broke off one of the ear pieces to thread through the linkage and twist together to get me back moving again. This was 3 a.m. in downtown portland.

[rmncwrtr]

My car didnt technically die but it stopped moving. The throttle linkage to the carburator broke, thus ending all forward progression. I was wearing wire-rimmed glasses at the time and broke off one of the ear pieces to thread through the linkage and twist together to get me back moving again. This was 3 a.m. in downtown portland.

 

Something like this is what I was looking for. Thanks!

[mkporwit]

When you use that, make sure that the car actually has carburators. The last US car with them was the 1988 Grand Wagoneer, and the last car sold with them in the US period was an Isuzu Pickup in 1990, IIRC. So anything using a carburator would have to be pretty damn old...

[rmncwrtr]

Oh, thanks for that mkporwit. It takes place in a Balkan country known for being out-dated and following antiquated traditions/etc. I won't put a brand on the vehicle and just say it's old truck pulling a float. I'll also have the heroine mention that cars with carburators hadn't been sold in the US for twenty years, but they still worked on them every now and then!

[rbw1966]

Be sure and mention me in the credits. ;-)

 

I've been to a few countries in the Balkans if you need any info.

[Recycled]

You could also have a loose or wet ignition coil wire connection. Maybe the vehicle went through a puddle and died. Would be fixable with no tools and would apply to any gasoline vehicle (but not a diesel). You could work in some backfires and shudders, being unable to start, and then a miracle fix by mr. or mrs. studly. Woohoo!

[rmncwrtr]

Thanks, Recycled!

[bstach]

Piston broke (pissed and broke)...classic pun...sadly requires tools to repair

[snoboy]

Classic is a fan belt that breaks and the heroine can donate her stockings to temporarily replace it... maybe doesn't fit the "only a mechanic can figure it out" requirement though. Wouldn't cause the car to stop immediately, but it would overheat, and the battery wouldn't be charging anymore so it would die eventually.

 

 

 

 

[rmncwrtr]

Thanks! This one has been turned in and I'm on to the next one! Next up, I'll be tackling the world of sailing before hopefully heading back to Mount Hood for book 3 of my mountain rescuer series!