Did my good deed

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Mar 30, 2014
Messages
7,730
Location
NJ
Driving home from work tonight and noticed a car broken down in the travel lane. Several women milling about and looking lost. Hood was up on the older Honda Civic. Cars were swerving around the car. The road was busy and there was a gas station about 200 feet away so figured it wasn't some set-up to kidnap whomever stopped to help. I pulled in front of the Honda and parked. Asked the ladies what was the problem. They said they thought it was over heated. Said they'd been there for about 15 minutes. I felt the upper radiator hose and it was not hot. It was 95°F so it couldn't have cooled off that quickly. Hose also felt empty when I squeezed it. Told them I thought they ran out of anti-freeze. They agreed and were on the phone with their father/husband but they couldn't figure out where to add the anti-freeze. They then produced a gallon of Auto Zone 50/50 universal anti-freeze from their car. I took an old shopping bag from my car and removed the radiator cap and poured in about 3 qts of anti-freeze. They started it up and I didn't see any leaks. Assured them it would make it 3 miles to their home and emphasized they needed to get it repaired. They knew there was a problem as most folks don't have a jug of anti-freeze just in case in the car.

They youngest woman, who said it was her car and was wearing what looked like nurse scrubs, asked if I could follow her to the repair shop and give her a ride home but her mother said that was too much imposition. I agreed. As I drove away two of them got into the car and drove ahead but the mother never got in the car and was standing on the side of the road for as long as I could see from my rear view mirror, which wasn't long. Maybe she was looking for a leak? Just seemed kind of weird.

Their radiator cap had a lot of reddish brown gunk under it and so did the filler neck of the radiator.
 
That was very kind of you!!
thumbsup2.gif
 
a) +1 on the "good guy" stuff. It's good to help people.
b) the old Honda never had a lick of maintenance ('cause they're the "best') and it finally ran dry.
c) the passenger who got out of the car was waiting for whomever she called to arrive.
 
The reddish, brown gunk was probably 'stop leak' ....most likely Barsleak or some other brand.
I usually stop to help a woman with a flat tire (3X that I can remember) because I would hope someone would do the same for my wife or daughters....I think most woman would have trouble changing a tire even though woman can do anything men can do.....cough, cough....
 
Originally Posted By: Kira
a) +1 on the "good guy" stuff. It's good to help people.
b) the old Honda never had a lick of maintenance ('cause they're the "best') and it finally ran dry.
c) the passenger who got out of the car was waiting for whomever she called to arrive.


Makes sense.

I was shocked how much the little radiator held.

Not to brag but I didn't spill a drop of anti-freeze!
 
That was very nice of you......I do think asking you for a ride is a little weird. But I am always suspicious of people. Especially after talking to their own dads or boyfriends or husbands.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
What year Civic ?

I agree it was probably the original coolant.


It was around a 2004 model year.
 
Good deed perhaps, but super risky.

You take your life in your hands getting out the car on busy roads in N.J. Call 911, let the cops handle it, Lord knows theres enough of them around.

A man was just killed July 4th on Rt. 80. Stopping to adjust his bicycle rack some 72 year old woman from Newark veered off the road, smashed into him severing his legs, right in front of his girlfriend, also outside the car but untouched.
 
2004 Civic, I have one myself. D17A1's and A2's are famous for blowing head gaskets for no apparent reason.

On the D17 it's usually a matter of when, and not If, for blowing head gaskets. The telltale sign is usually the recovery tank being filled up.
 
Originally Posted By: Rock_Hudstone

Good deed perhaps, but super risky.

You take your life in your hands getting out the car on busy roads in N.J. Call 911, let the cops handle it, Lord knows theres enough of them around.

A man was just killed July 4th on Rt. 80. Stopping to adjust his bicycle rack some 72 year old woman from Newark veered off the road, smashed into him severing his legs, right in front of his girlfriend, also outside the car but untouched.


I was positioned such that I couldn't get hit by a car but the Civic could have been rear-ended and pushed into me. Those thoughts were running through my mind the entire time I was filling up the radiator.
 
I'd be willing to bet it had some sort of stop leak in it as well, especially if they pulled out a jug of 50/50 antifreeze...seems like whomever they talked to already knew the potential and had them take a jug with them. But yeah, that particular vintage of Civic's have had head gasket problems.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top