Out of Hibernation first drive fiasco..

-
Woodys_Cuda

Woodys_Cuda

Ontario, Canada
Joined
Jul 18, 2007
Messages
909
Reaction score
439
Location
Ontario, Canada
So finally our weather turned nice here so I took the car out of storage. I think most of you guys in the colder climates must dread the first drive of the year too when the gremlins may come out Usually it's all good though.

Everything was going great so I decided to get on it. Was watching the RPMS climb and the motor roar then... I looked behind me and saw a big white cloud. Slowed down and stopped and the smoke was coming out from under the hood. The bypass hose from the manifold to water pump had come off. Luckily it didn't overheat. Called the wife and she brought antifreeze and water. When I put the manifold on last year I didn't put the hose clamp on right. lol.

Anybody else fear the the first cruise of the year?
 
Last edited:
I usually let it get warm in the garage and grab a screw driver and a couple wrenches and tighten everything.
 
thesiren74 said:
I usually let it get warm in the garage and grab a screw driver and a couple wrenches and tighten everything.
Click to expand...

I did warm it up and check it out but the fitting on the manifold is really short so I probably caught the edge of it. I drove it like that for months last year. Ah well...
 
I jumped in my 57 Ford after a 6 month deployment. Started right up and pulled out the parking lot...NO BRAKES!!! M/C was bone dry. Lucky for me the parking lot was on an incline and was pretty deserted so I just pointed her uphill and let her stop via the E-brake. Check your **** !
 
Woodys_Cuda said:
So finally our weather turned nice here so I took the car out of storage. I think most of you guys in the colder climates must dread the first drive of the year too when the gremlins may come out Usually it's all good though.

Everything was going great so I decided to get on it. Was watching the RPMS climb and the motor roar then... I looked behind me and saw a big white cloud. Slowed down and stopped and the smoke was coming out from under the hood. The bypass hose from the manifold to water pump had come off. Luckily it didn't overheat. Called the wife and she brought antifreeze and water. When I put the manifold on last year I didn't put the hose clamp on right. lol.

Anybody else fear the the first cruise of the year?
Click to expand...
I should be excited about taking it out for the first time this year. I put in new ball joints in last fall and it should drive a lot better now. But instead of taking it for a spin I started doing body work on it so I could put it off for a while more, lol
IMG_20220423_133905.jpg
 
I get nervous too.

Buddy of mine with a 72 charger with a 440 took his out. He felt comfortable enough to romp on it as his did so many other times. Throttle stuck wide open, he stabbed the throttle trying to unjam it while going for the key and hit the brakes. Apparently one of the calipers was bad pulled him into some parked cars. He totaled it. one of the cars he hit was a ford truck. Tweaked the chargers body so bad, shattered the back window.
 
The first shake down cruise after winter storage is always tense until I've driven a while. Never go far before heading back home to the garage. Park it, let it cool down, and then go over everything making sure all the gremlins have left the building. Sometime I get lucky and all is good. Other times something needs tweeking.
 
Mopar44134 said:
I get nervous too.

Buddy of mine with a 72 charger with a 440 took his out. He felt comfortable enough to romp on it as his did so many other times. Throttle stuck wide open, he stabbed the throttle trying to unjam it while going for the key and hit the brakes. Apparently one of the calipers was bad pulled him into some parked cars. He totaled it. one of the cars he hit was a ford truck. Tweaked the chargers body so bad, shattered the back window.
Click to expand...
Wow!
What a horror story!
Was anyone injured?
 
Whenever I take one of mine out of storage, I always warm it up completely after checking the fluids etc.
I also have the car on a battery tender over the winter.
Then for the first drive, I go slowly until I establish that the car is running, braking, and driving like it should.
A couple of years ago, I discovered it had a leaky axle seal from sitting.
I changed that and cleaned the brakes, and haven't had a problem since.

I look at it the same as if you bought a new car....
 
Last edited:
I've always just started and driven like I would any other day. I usually forget to check the fluids until after the first drive of the season, but I know my cars well enough to know who needs what.
 
I check oil, power steering fluid and coolant level before every trip. Usually check the manual trans and rear diff a few times per year
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top