Once when I was in high school back in the 50’s the rear U-joint started clanking on my '52 Ford. A new U-joint was about $8 which I didn’t have. In the U-joint caps, 2 had good needle bearings and 2 had just needle bearing dust. I took all the needle bearings from the 2 good caps and divided the bearings into 4. Then each cap got one fourth of the needle bearings and a lot of grease. Worked fine and was still going fine when I sold the car 2 years later.
Wasn’t there one about using an egg to stop a radiator leak that I heard about on Car Talk?
I think the alcohol allows the water to sort of mix with the gas, an emulsification maybe, rather than separating into layers where the water layer ends up at the bottom of the tank, where the fuel pump intake is located. One time I was a passenger in a small 4 seater airplane and my job prior to boarding at each airport was to push on this little spring loaded gadget on the wing and smell what came out. It was attached to the bottom of the gas tank, and if it didn’t smell like 100% gasoline, no takeoff allowed.
I was wondering – as pertains to this thread – what a home remedy would be if you didn’t have any anti-freeze on hand? like if you were camping and a radiator leak forced you to fill your cooling system w/water, and then you heard on the radio freezing temperatures were predicted. Any ideas?
Get in the car and drive to town and buy some antifreeze.
Or drain the system completely before you go in the tent.
Or leave the car running all night. 
3 Likes
Drain the radiator and engine block. Refill the next day. If you had no water – well the body makes a liquid 
Reminds me of the time the temp dropped below freezing and I didn’t have money for antifreeze, so I drained my radiator. The next morning I filled the radiator and took off for work. Well with the radiator full, the thermostat closed, no water moving, the freezing wind passing by the radiator froze it solid. When the thermostat opened the water/ice didn’t move. I saw the temp gauge quickly heading to hot and realized what had happened.
Another freezing night and I drained the water from the radiator. The next morning it was so cold I didn’t want to stand and add water to the radiator so I just took off without any water in the radiator. Got close to work, the engine was making a lot of noise, so I parked it and walked a few blocks to work. Got off work that afternoon, walked back to my car, drove to a gas station, filled the radiator, and drove home. When you don’t have money you will improvise.
Improvise? That type of activity does not fit my definition of “improvise.” That more closely matches my definition of neglect or avoid (or a couple of other choice words that I’ll refrain from using). 
CSA
I wouldn’t say it makes it, but it does dispose of it. You don’t buy beer/coffee/tea/water, you rent it.
1 Like
Yep, show #9339, replayed in #1420, and also on the Best of Car Talk album
You could get a charcoal canister from a junkyard and rig a way to vent into that.
Would be better than nothing.
I am thinking a hole in the gasket, so with the vent knob closed it will still seal while sitting in the woodshed, and will not get hot and expand and build pressure from sitting in the sun. Not totally green but more green that raw gas dripping out the outlet of the tank I think
I would definitely call that the kind of improvising one does when the resources (usually money) aren’t available. I did many similar things like that in my younger years, and I know I’m in good company.
Well I’m not sure of everyone’s definition but if you have ever been poor, dirt poor, you will “do without” or “improvise” or do a “work-around”. The main thing is to “get the job done” in an emergency. And in the end if there is no damage and the job was completed then I say the decision was a good one 
1 Like
Used tea bags can work to seal water or coolant leakage. Get used tea bags rip them open and pour into coolant tank allow to run all leakages will be sealed off. You can use new tea bags if you cannot get used bags. 15 to 20 bags will do depending on your car
1 Like
I don’t drink tea, but I have another home remedy for coolant leaks. Using the proper tools, replace any leaking components with new ones for a reliable, lasting remedy. I would never trust my cooling system to an herb, but that’s just me.
CSA
2 Likes
That’s just crazy talk, I tell ya.
1 Like
CSA
I once used a small can of black pepper, poured the contents in my radiator while the engine was running and it sealed up a leak. I drove the car to Grand Canyon and back, app 5,000 miles, and never had to add any water to the radiator. When I turned on the heater I could smell the pepper. When you’re poor you learn a lot of short cuts.
I use the other Herb on my car. He does a great job.
Long ago I heard that water from a pot of boiled rice would plug a coolant leak but never tired it. My grandfather was a mechanic in a Ford dealership in the 1920s and swore by that as an emergency repair. He also insisted that Model T transmission bands could be re lined with cotton sheet strips and work well for quite a while. And as for airplane patch ups I saw a man buy fuel injection rubber hose and clamps to replace a brake caliper hose on an ultralight. He swore it worked.
I’m wondering at what temperature an easily available body fluid freezes at?