ubercurtisb
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Chandler, AZ
As I crossed the border into Mexico this weekend, the Jeep shuttered, sputtered, and died. Literally a stone's throw from Gringo Pass in Sonoyta. As I murmur "Shh!!!!tttt....", my blonde hair, blued eyed girlfriend is sitting shotgun and a one-armed man with a cup of change approaches my door. This is not the vacation I had in mind. Luckily I was traveling with a couple other trucks, but they were still at the border, being searched since they're a tad more "kitted out". So I didn't feel like we were in immediate danger, being able to communicate with the radios.
I knew what had happened. It's happened before. The crankshaft positioning sensor overheated and crapped out temporarily. I had bought one while in Arizona, but I didn't know where it went, and I didn't have the wealth of knowledge in the internet, and I had it with me. *whew!* Still, that doesn't help me now. As I waited for the other guys, I propped the hood open and poured some water down the back of the engine bay to help speed the cooling process up. After a few minutes of cooling, we high-tailed it to Puerto Penasco with the heat on, the windows down, and the RPMs under 2,000.
When we finally got to the fish market in Rocky point (my breath was being held the whole way), I pulled into a parking spot and, yup, she croaked. I stepped out of the Jeep to a man on a second story balcony offering free margaritas with lunch. Hell, this can wait, I need a drink. As I ate this...:
...I asked the waiter if he knew where I could find a mechanic. "A metch-anic!? Yeah, I find you metch-anic!" He walked over to the same railing in which he called for me and shouted "Necesito un mechanico!", or the actual spanish for what I'm trying to say. We paid the bill and did some window shopping for about 15 minutes until the waiter ran up to us and a man with his toolbox following. "Here's a metch-anic." This is Mexico.
I walked the mechanic and his apprentice and his 8 year-old boy over tho the Jeep, and I popped the hood. Before I could even tell him what was wrong with my XJ, he had the air intake off and poured a mysterious orange liquid kept in an old Coke bottle into my throttle body:
To be continued....
I knew what had happened. It's happened before. The crankshaft positioning sensor overheated and crapped out temporarily. I had bought one while in Arizona, but I didn't know where it went, and I didn't have the wealth of knowledge in the internet, and I had it with me. *whew!* Still, that doesn't help me now. As I waited for the other guys, I propped the hood open and poured some water down the back of the engine bay to help speed the cooling process up. After a few minutes of cooling, we high-tailed it to Puerto Penasco with the heat on, the windows down, and the RPMs under 2,000.
When we finally got to the fish market in Rocky point (my breath was being held the whole way), I pulled into a parking spot and, yup, she croaked. I stepped out of the Jeep to a man on a second story balcony offering free margaritas with lunch. Hell, this can wait, I need a drink. As I ate this...:

...I asked the waiter if he knew where I could find a mechanic. "A metch-anic!? Yeah, I find you metch-anic!" He walked over to the same railing in which he called for me and shouted "Necesito un mechanico!", or the actual spanish for what I'm trying to say. We paid the bill and did some window shopping for about 15 minutes until the waiter ran up to us and a man with his toolbox following. "Here's a metch-anic." This is Mexico.
I walked the mechanic and his apprentice and his 8 year-old boy over tho the Jeep, and I popped the hood. Before I could even tell him what was wrong with my XJ, he had the air intake off and poured a mysterious orange liquid kept in an old Coke bottle into my throttle body:


To be continued....