Today I was driving to the Parts Heaven on 92 and right near the San Mateo Bridge toll plaza I saw a red S4 sitting on the side of the road with the a road crew truck behind it. I stopped to see what was going on and if I could help out. The guy said that the car was overheating and then just shut off. And they could start it no more - it would turn but not fire. I called around trying to get help (many thanks to Bill Ball!) and the guy ended up having it towed to DEVEK. I am still curious what was wrong with the car.

 

Hi Konstantin: That was very nice of you!!! Was it somebody we know?

Anyway, did you end up making it to PartsHeaven before the swap meet closed? I did not see you...

 

In the words of Jim Bailey, "Relay, relay, relay" until proven otherwise. Swap the horn relay for the fuel pump relay, etc.

Sorry I didn't make it to Parts Heaven.

 

No, I don't know the guy. His name was Marc, he and his son [?] were going to East Bay some place. I made it to Parts Heaven by about 2 pm and left pretty soon afterwards - they didn't have the stuff I wanted and couldn't help Marc the red S4 guy either.

 

Nicole:

Isn't it funny about Shmurzik? Whenever he says he is around, we have so much trouble seeing him? Or he will run off for awhile and disappear never to be seen again. Weird. I think he becomes invisible after swallowing some strange liquid or other substance.

 

Yah, funny.... Hey Shmurzik, whatever that stuff is, is it any good against radar, laser, etc?

 

No.. it's not working against all that Scheiße

 

Let's hope it's not TBF!

 

Seems that just about everyone saw that car! One of our employees was driving by and was too far over to the left to make the lane change in time to see if he could help...but the car ended up here anyway.

I will let the owner decide if he wants everyone to know what his problem(s) are, just glad he and his son made it here safe & sound yesterday!

Susan Thomas
DEVEK

 

O K going down the road ..overheating then suddenly stops running but motor cranks and cranks and cranks will not fire ........... sounds to me like the water pump froze , timing belt was being pulled over the now not turning pulley until it melts and breaks , Perhaps another example of why trying to make it ....off the freeway , home , to work , to the mechanic is not a good idea . It is one think to have the car let you down by failing , but quite another continuing to drive after the car tells you " I am having a problem " . The second , subsequent issues are NOT caused by the car , yet all too often people blame the car.

 

In general, it is NOT ADVISABLE to ever try and start an engine that has stopped running under an overheat condition....that includes swapping the relays and cranking again. Relay swapping and cranking will not solve an overheat condition. You do not want the responsibility that your telling him to replace the relay and crank crank, and that that last "crank" is the one that bent his valves!!


Regards,
Marc
DEVEK

 

LOL! He indeed appears to vaporize every now and then. Yes, it would be nice, if that was a way to elude the dreaded radars and lasers. Kind of like the Aston Martin in the last James Bond movie...

I think Shmurzik missed us by minutes - wasn't 2:00PM around the time when we left? I did not have my watch on, so I'm not sure.

I cross my fingers for the unknown Marc that his red 928 got away without any serious damage!!!

 

Marc ....... human nature being what it is , I have to believe that as soon as the car "died" the driver hit the key switch to try to start it , as he waited for the tow truck periodically he tried to start it , the tow truck driver when he arrived said " hit the key try to start it " .....Smurzick trying to help suggests switching relays and you now state that the "last crank" bent the valves . What do you have against Smurzick , Bill Ball ??? I sure wish I had your crystal ball , on second thought not ; that crystal ball has a mean spirit ........... I personally think the damage most likely happened very early on in this scenario and see no reason to chastise and accuse Smurzick of doing anything wrong . Had no one attempted to start the car it would have been best NOT to crank it but the damage was probably already done . I would also comment that what are the odds if the car had been towed to your shop with the history of " it was overheating a bit then stopped running " that you would have removed the dist caps rotors engine front covers A/C PS alT belt ps belt radiator fan shroud to confirm that the belt was still intact before anyone hit the key switch . That crystal ball has a mean spirit . All that can be accurately stated is that the belt melted to the water pump pulley and failed possibly on a subsequent attempt to start the car but " that that last "crank" is the one that bent his valves!!" ........ I think not .

 

In retrospect this thread is aptly titled..........

 

In all fairness to me, Mark the owner guy and the tow truck guy looked like they have been trying to start the car for quite a while by the time I stopped

I am still curious as to what happened to the car