was I sabotaged?

[Brother in Arms]

This is sort of a wierd post but i thought it fit into stragies and tactics as someone may attempt to render you imobile, so its something to take into consideration.

The other day I took my girlfreind and her freind to get some piercings and we drove to a town about 30 minutes away. When we arrived where unable to park at the tatoo/piercing studio so we parked across the street at a drug store. We went inside and we where at the studio for several hours as they where very busy and my girlfreind got a piercing and her freind got two. After they where finished left the studio and we went to the car and when I tried to start my car it wouldnt start, there was no juice at all so I figured the battery had died. But I hoped it might take a charge. We where the last customers at the studio so I went back inside and I asked the fellow who worked there if he had jumper cables and he did so he gave me a jump which worked. I drove my car for a while and it seemed to have charged back up so I turned it off and it started with no trouble. So I went out with my girl friend and her friend and then we drove home. We had no problems on the way way and that night the car sat out in the parking lot so i figured the next day it might start it might not. But I figured I would try to start it in the morning and when I attempted it, the battery was dead again. Initially I was tempted to buy a new battery as my car battery is 5 years old. But I held off and asked a freind who is a mechanic to take a look at it. He checked the battery with a volt meter and it was charged so he started looking at the connections and the nut on the negative terminal had been loosened all the way. He said that someone had to have loosened it intentionally with a wrench. I looked at it and the way it attaches it isnt something that could come loose on it own. This of course set off the paranoya meter. So now im wondering who would do that.

The only thing I can think of is my girl freinds, freind who went with us to get piercings had a stalker about a year ago and the other day when we where driving down the road she said she saw his vehicle going the other way. She was sitting in the passenger seat at the time as we where on the way to pick up my girlfreind at work. I did see anyone following us.

Anyway something to consider.

Brother in arms

 

[Working Man]

I had a similar thing happen with my truck. It would start then it wouldn't
start. It would cut out on turns sometimes only when it had just started up
so I thought there was a short in the steering column that was some how
affecting the system. Tried all sorts of stuff. Then I noticed the ground had
loosened up. I tightened it and that was that.

Were your doors locked? Can your hood be open from the outside?

 

[wally]

Things vibrate loose. If someone was trying to steal your battery they'd have cut the cables and been off with it. If they didn't want you to be able to drive away, they'd have slashed two tires.

The battery clamps are very prone to "creep" which would tend to help the nut or screw loosen, but usually corrosion prevents this while causing other problems of its own.

--wally.

 

[BFWE]

Battery terminals can become loosen over time. Side-mount bolt type terminals are the worst about loosening up just enough so a full charge cannot be fed into the battery from the alternator -- resulting in a slowly dying battery.

Of course a heightened alert condition is never a bad thing.

 

[Working Man]

Things vibrate loose.

That's exactly what I was trying to say.... sorta came across as if I was
saying it was sabotage. Mind slightly muddled... not being clear today.

 

[tegemu]

Why the heck would someone just randomly pick a car and open the hood and loosen one cable???????? There is a substantial risk of serious trouble with that sort of activity,

 

[WT]

Some mechanics take the negative cable off the battery when they work on a car. Maybe it happened in the past and the mechanic failed to adequately tighten the cable lug.

 

[dev_null]

And this has what to do with guns?

 

[ready4shtf]

If someone was going to sabatoge you they would have taken all your lug nuts.

 

[Thefabulousfink]

Unavailable for comment.

In all seriousness, it probably vibrated loose. There are many, much easier and more damaging ways to sabotage a car.

 

[rustymaggot]

vibration or somthing. there are much easier ways to disable a car with less risk of being seen. pair of garden shears will take off a valve stem pretty easy. why take the time to get under the hood.

 

[buzz_knox]

And this has what to do with guns?

Well, the description of Strategies and Tactics is as follows:

Training and mindset for staying safe. Class and range reports.

I think a question as to whether or not a vehicle was sabotaged and what to do about it falls with "mindset for staying safe." Don't you?

 

[AJAX22]

I agree that it is 99.99 percent probably not someone messing with you.

a nut would require a tool in hand, and it isn't exactly hard to detect and fix, everyone knows about plug wires. partially disconecting one or more, or just swaping two plugs can cause some real nasty problems and can be done with hand tools.

I agree with rustymaggot, if they wanted to mess with you, they probably wouldn't have gone under your hood. (although using a valve stem wrench to create a slow leak would probably be nastyer as it would insure a flat miles down the road and probably chew the tire pretty well.

and if they do get under the hood, there are alot more things they could do other than loosening your nut. if your car doesn't start its one of the first things you look at is the battery.

If it wasn't just naturally loosened, my money is on the absent minded mechanic. you wouldn't believe the things that some of those guys forget to tighten.

that being said. if she really does have a stalker, stay vigilant, keep your eyes open and do a walk around before getting into your car.

just my 2c

 

[dev_null]

I think a question as to whether or not a vehicle was sabotaged and what to do about it falls with "mindset for staying safe." Don't you?

Sure, if this was a car forum. But then, I don't make the rules here, I just make smartalec comments.

 

[buzz_knox]

Nothing wrong with a smart alec comment. But if we really want to get prissy about the "what does this have to do with guns" thing, then we can dump half the legitimate questions out there, as many strategic or tactical questions aren't dealt with via a gun, but with feet and common sense.

 

[Azrael256]

If I had a nickel for every "dead battery" that was actually a loose and corroded battery cable, I would've made WAY more than $7/hr at the shop. EVERY car that came in had *something* that had worked its way loose. The only cars that didn't have something wrong with them were brand new, and even some of them had something loose.

If you'd found a puddle of brake fluid and a razor blade, I'd be concerned. A loose battery cable is far too common a problem to believe it was sabotage. Never attribute to malice what can easily be explained by stupidity. Somebody worked on it, and forgot to adequately tighten it. That somebody may well have been at the factory.

 

[rustymaggot]

you cant cut brake lines with a razorblade can you? brakes rely on pressure and hose expands. trans fluid return line from the cooler yes, or radiator hose cut, but steel brake lines take dykes. or, if your really wanting to sabotage them just crush the brake line without severing it and block the fluid movement. only do that on one side and brakes feek normal during slower driving but freeway speeds cause the one wheel that does brake to lurch to the side. its hard to keep a car on the road when only one side of the brakes works.

 

[ready4shtf]

The part that goes to the caliper is just rubber hose......

 

[Zundfolge]

I'd say more likely than a bad or loose cable (since it seems to be working now) is a light left on ... maybe the headlights? A door not completely closed and the interior light running down the battery?


A friend of mine in high school had a beat up old bug that the battery kept dying on ... apparently there was a short in the wiring that kept discharging the battery and once he replaced the wiring harness behind the dash it fixed the problem.

 

[AJAX22]

Not that this is a good discussion to really be having, but yes you can cut brake lines (provided they are not steel braided) if you do it between the caliper and the hard line, I only know this because I had a line that got knicked on my dart one time (not sure how, looked like something got kicked up under the car)

whats worse is to just loosen the banjo bolt slightly, or knick the brake line without severing it.

the idea being to have it hold pressure when its sitting there in the parking lot, but under any kind of braking force it will squirt fluid out.

on modern cars with twin master cylinders, you would have to knick both front and rear lines to have a meaningfull effect, but only one front and one back.

I was late for school once after I installed a disc brake conversion on my car, the rubber lines were slightly too short and they pulled on the banjo bolts loosening them. I made it to work alright, but the brake hit the floor as I tried to leave the parking lot. with NO stopping power.

crushing the hard line on one side would have the same effect as installing a proportioning valve on one side of the car, making it swerve violently to one side when the brakes were pushed. you probably wouldn't notice it untill you were going 40-50 minimum.

I'm only mentioning these things so you know what to look for when checking out your own car if you think its been tampered.

for checking the valves, spit on your fingers and place it on the valve, if its leaking little bubbles will come out.

one thing that can be nasty, is the insertion of a low amperage self reseting automotive circut breaker inline with the ignition. (there's a better name for it but I can't remember)

I had one in my dart (previous redneck owner had installed for whatever reason) and it would cause the car to stall out, headlights cutting compleatly off whenever it would get wet at night when I had the lights on. but it would be compleatly ok if it sat for 10 min. really frustrating, and dangerous, especially in a rainstorm at night on a hill.

check the wires going to the alternator as well, disconnecting them can cause a problem miles down road.

so if you suspect sabbotage, check for non factory additions, and make sure the things that are attached are supposed to be attached.

and pump the brakes a few times with the motor ideling, turn the steering wheel all the way left and right, then get out and check for dripps, knicking the high pressure line on the power steering pump can cause the pump to run dry, sieze and overheat your motor.

given 5 min unobserved someone could really ruin your day, possibly put your life in peril, so if you think it might have happened, play it safe and check things out.

 

[Azrael256]

previous redneck owner had installed for whatever reason

I know why. It was to keep that frappin' ignition module from burning out every three days. I had one too.

But anyway, I wouldn't go after a brake line with a razor blade. The couple of times I've had to actually cut one, I've used something with more hoss. It's just an example.

A quick walkaround on your car every time you crank it up isn't a bad idea for a whole host of reasons. You may have a slow leak in a tire that is just barely noticible now, but when the pressure goes up in 6 miles, you could lose it in a sudden and rather dangerous manner. Lots of stuff can go wrong (sabotage or not), and much of it will be noticed if you'll just take a quick look.

 

[Barbara]

Why the heck would someone just randomly pick a car and open the hood and loosen one cable???????? There is a substantial risk of serious trouble with that sort of activity,

Don't be so certain. I ran into an auto parts store once and came out and someone had let the air out of my tire. The tires were only about a month old and after being pumped back up, I never had a problem, so there's really no other explanation. Strange.

 

[BHPshooter]

There are many, much easier and more damaging ways to sabotage a car.

There are also many more subtle, less obvious ways to do so.

May I ask what you drive? I'm curious, because unless you drive an older/classic car, the hood shouldn't be able to be opened (easily) unless they have access to the passenger cabin. Also, was the car locked? If so, were there windows open, or any signs of "foul play?"

I wouldn't have too much trouble believing that sabotage was possible, but I also wouldn't have much trouble believing that the connection could have come loose from vibration... both can happen.

Wes

 

[rustymaggot]

barbara, there are explanations to that. sometimes a bit o dirt gets stuck in the seal of the valve stem, and when you air it up again it blows it into the tire clearing the leak. thats the reason for valve stem caps. to keep the valve inlet clean so it doesnt leak.

 

[AJAX22]

I agree, its unlikely that someone would sit there with a tool on the stem long enough for it to go flat.

Its loud, realy realy obvious, and takes a Long time, even with the valve compleatly removed. there is alot of air volume in a tire.

A dirty valve is a much more plausable occurance.