My car's starter died & stranded me--in a remote area without cell signal!
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- I do a LOT of wheeling around in remote parts of the mountains, but this was one of my more memorable breakdowns. My starter died while we were way out in the woods.
It was a long walk on Oregon Highway 58 to reach an inkling of cell signal or the nearest town. I was farther from town than my insurance would've covered the tow bill for. And of course, it was going to get dark in a few hours. Tough times! Lucky for us, a friend was available to come help rescue us with his flatbed trailer and some ratchet straps once we reached cell signal about 11 miles up the hill near Willamette Pass.
Feel free to share your own stranded stories in the comments ;P
Glad you made it thru the tunnel and to to snow park. What a pain!
@@ebroskie 😅🙌 good ol' Gold Lake Sno Park. I was very appreciative to know from past experience that I could definitely pick up a bar of cell signal there, lol
If you had a hammer you can tap the starter sometimes that will work
@@kennethquackenbush8450 we tried that and there's a high possibility we just didn't whack it hard enough or in the right spot. In hindsight I'm curious if it could've worked. I had no warning signs at all before the starter went caput that day. In past times, I was a bit more lucky to have a few fakeouts/warning times where the ignition finally worked after a few tries, therefore had time to fix it before being super stranded. Womp womp
Welcome to van life! Our solution was that our key was really dull. That'll give you an engine stall , hard start or no start. A new key ignition from Autozone for $60 did the trick.
@@CHICOandtheVAN thanks for sharing! It's nice when it turns out to be something not expensive at least! I've actually been SUV/truck living for 9 years straight, but I've been fairly lucky in past mechanical breakdowns to have cell signal, or have what I needed to keep limping, etc. This was bound to happen someday though. Probably won't be the last time either 😆 It's an inherent risk we take with remote travels (sorry mom, lol)
Hey Kayla! Love the channel! Subbing for sure. Keep up the good work! You'll be at 1k in no time!
@@TrailStrider909 hi, thank you so much!! Really appreciate the encouragement! :]
@@kayla_sulak Anytime! Full support for another explorer! 🤗🤗🤗🤗
Sometimes you can lightly tap on the starter solenoid with a hammer or wrench and that might make it work temporarily. That depends if the celenois is locked up.
We tested it hooked up to a battery, the solenoid was still firing slowly and not locked up. I think it was just toast. Tapping on it didn't help us out there, unless we were doing it wrong 🤷♀️
Been there, done that. Walked many a mile due to circumstances beyond my control. Mostly related to automotive failure. Its a major bummer. Hang in there 😎🤪😉😁😂🌹
sounds like an amazing adventure 🤗 you'll remember.
@@joshthalheimer I'll definitely remember that one. Gonna have flashbacks every time I drive that highway now 😂
With a car that has a standard transmission it is possible to start the car with both a bad starter and a bad battery. It is especially easy to do that if you have stopped on a hill facing in the downwards direction. It is conceivable to continue in that way indefinitely if the alternator is still providing power for spark and lights. Diesel power and a standard transmission is even better because diesel does not use spark plugs for combustion, using the heat of compression instead. Standard transmission is also much cheaper and easier to repair. Happy trails.
@@BradCarman yeaaa. Would have been real nice in that moment, but it's not a manual transmission so push starting wasn't an option
Car broke down 120 or so miles from home and I called a tow truck. Costed me over 1100 dollars to tow home!
Ouch. That's honestly less expensive than I would have expected for that many miles, but still, a ton of money to cough up before you've even gotten to the repair portion of things
This is why I think it's always good to carry a bicycle or two, if you can........ they are a life saver. Just thinking about an 11 mile walk already have me out of breath.
@@tonykartracer8032 totally agree! I would have been so happy to have a bicycle with me in that moment, haha
Yeah, it's a nightmare to get stranded without cell signal. SPOT has what they call SOV (Save Our Vehicle). You can press the button on you SPOT satellite messenger, and they'll dispatch a tow truck, supposedly. In reality, it takes hours before anybody come out, if they come out at all. It got me out of a tight spot a couple of times though. I'm now getting a satellite-enabled phone as a backup. If you can afford, Starlink would come in handy too.
@@TKSung thanks for commenting! I totally thought starlink satellite wifi would have been amazing in that moment, lol. Calling a tow truck was going to be my very last resort, after A) phoning a few buddies for help or B) trying to hitchhike to get parts and fix it in the woods ourselves.
My SPOT beacon only has pre-programmed message options to tell a family member where I am, ask them to call me a tow truck, or to activate the 911 SOS signal, which isn't really helpful when I'm simply trying to hurry up and get my starter fixed remotely and for cheap, and said family member has no way of knowing that, lol. At the least, a GPS beacon with the custom texting feature seems wayy more useful.
Looks like a fun adventure. 😉
@@michaelsadventures4261 you gotta love going on an impromptu 11 mile hike uphill! 😂🫠
@@kayla_sulak Wouldn't have been my 1st rodeo. I've been stuck before.
Yeah for friends with a trailer.
@@sandollarj504 seriously 😂🙏🙏🙏
Get a beacon...you could have sent text messages instead of leaving your only shelter.
@@plants4thewin I have an emergency beacon although the subscription isn't active, *but* it doesn't have custom texting, and I couldn't afford a professional tow truck for that distance back to town so, I'm genuinely not sure it would have helped much in that instance to call for emergency services... as opposed to being injured or lost, especially on foot in the backcountry, etc, which is what I normally would keep it handy for (...obviously it's of zero use for-sure when the subscription isn't active, lol)
@@kayla_sulak no a text to your friend...not the tow, but if you dont have the subscription it doesnt matter. Mine has it so that I can text friends. Glad it worked out. Sounds like you were prepared to hunker down if needed. All the best
@@plants4thewin to clarify, my SPOT beacon only has 4 pre-programmed message options (and you have to set the designated recipients online ahead of time; can't change it in the backcountry without internet connection) and the messages were set to text a few family members "I'm okay," "I'm mildly ill or injured but I'll send an okay message when I'm back at car," "call a tow truck to my GPS coordinates" and the 4th option being the activation of the SOS 911 button.
None of those pre-programmed messages were really designed to get the help I was actually needing/wanting in that particular moment.
I'd love to get the Garmin beacon with actual texting (custom messages, not pre-programmed) when I can afford it! Seems much more useful for unique circumstances, compared to the current beacon I have.
You keep on saying we we we. We only see you.Are you referring to yourself as we?
@@skonstas4683 uhh you mean aside from several scenes showing my boyfriend when we were walking, and saying his and my friend's names several times? Or did you not actually watch the video
@@skonstas4683 "we" is my boyfriend and I. He doesn't love having a camera pointed at him unless he's fishing or hunting, or holding a big fish or something he hunted... 😂 although he still ends up in my videos sometimes