Does your car have a certain fear factor, when driven on long journeys?

[dseretakis]

I've taken my pagoda on several long trips without any problems. That being said, I have had serious breakdowns both of which were my fault. The first occured about ten years ago as I was driving on the highway on a local trip. The temperature gauge had not been working on the car and I was too busy in medical school to keep my car properly tuned and serviced. Anyway, the car suddendly puffed out some coolant from under the hood and into the passenger compartment. Basically, I was running with low cooant and the car overheated. I had no idea as the temp gauge wasn't working. I ended up warping the head necessitating replacement. $3K later I was back on the road. The second incident occured two summers ago. I was driving from DC to Boston and noticed a sudden drop in oil pressure. I pulled over and found oil spurting out of the oil pressure gauge line! The car lost about 3 quarts of oil in a matter of a few minutes but not enough to damage the engine! Funny thing is that a few days prior a friend noticed that the line had a rather ratty looking patch repair. Stupidly, I didn't heed his warning! Bottom line is both breakdowns could have been avoided so keep your car tuned and serviced and stay on top of any known problems.

[dorian]

Long trips are just what we need to really shake down the car and make any lurking issues spring forward.

On three out of three trips from Seattle to Vancouver with my wife, my 280sl has broken down.

First one was on our 10th wedding anniversary.  The right kingpin broke free and the wheel flipped sideways halfway to Vancouver, sending us skidding across an intersection.  That trip was completed in a rental car.

Second time, the car would intermittently refuse to upshift out of 2nd gear.  Luckily we were already in Vancouver and limped it across the Lions Gate bridge to the German Car show in North Van, where 3 Pagoda lovers instantly had the hood up and helped find that the potentionmeter that measures throttle position at the air intake has shaken loose. It fell off when one guy touched it.  Easy fix.

Third time, the car stalled at the border crossing into Canada and then died on the hill up to downtown.  The MB dealer in Vancouver couldn't fix it, so I had it shipped back to the states where my mech discovered the throttle linkage had gone badly out of alignment. 

The car isn't used daily, so any of these might have come to light closer to home.  The moral of the story is to drive it often!

I second Alf's praise for the electronic ignition.  I'm very happy with mine and don't miss fiddling with points.

[Benz Dr.]

Longer trips are only part of the story.

 I make sure that I test drive everything under all sorts of conditions. Most shops only test drive during the day, and only for a few miles, because that's when they're open for business. I test drive at night when things such as lights, windshield washers, heater, wipers, and blower motor could be needed. What I'm trying to do is to use the car under real, every day, or night,  driving conditions. Stop and go traffic, high speed, loafing around town, panic stops - the whole nine yards.

 When you get it back, everything works, or you know what isn't working. No blower motor or working heater - don't drive it at night in the rain. 

[pj]

Today, 2012-02-04, I drove my 230SL away from Dan's "SL Barn." Despite the season, there's no snow or slush on the roads, the Sun peeked out between light clouds, and the temperature was above freezing, albeit just. A glorious day for a modestly long journey! 115km back to London (Ontario), and narry a hiccup the whole way. I had my cell phone, battery pack, extra sweaters . . . just to fight the fear factor. When all is said and done, I realized that the best antidote for the fear factor was having Dan work on the car until he said it was ready.