Hot Rod Farmer: Mysterious mechanical happenings I have experienced.
April 19, 2023Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:14:33 — 136.5MB)
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Maybe not in the same league as a UFO sighting from the 1960s… some of the mechanical events we experience can be just as unidentifiable. In this episode, Ray shares ten unexplainable phenomena with no answers.
Ray,
The mechanical mystery episode was terrific. My mystery involved a VW Rabbit from the 80’s. I needed a car for work so I bought the Rabbit cheap because it was hit hard in the drivers door but otherwise mechanically sound with low miles. I drove it home with zero issues, pre-pulled the damage between 2 trees at home, installed a used door and quarter panel, painted the car 70 Chevelle blue, put on new tires and got it registered. Once on the road it developed positive crankcase pressure to the point where I had to run the breather into a big soda bottle so I could pour the oil back into the crankcase. With compressed air I isolated the leak to cylinder #3. I pulled the head and carefully examined the valves and head and found nothing. Then I dropped the piston expecting a broken ring land but the piston and rings were fine. Finding nothing I reassembled the motor and the problem persisted. I grew to hate this car and sold it at a loss to a friend who was a very competent mechanic and VW fan. I asked him some time later what he found and he laughed, saying after what I went through he put a used engine in and junked that engine without attempting any repairs. That was 30 years ago and it still bugs me.