Methods to covertly sabotage a car.

Hi
You could block the exhaust. You would be able to use things at hand , some torn up clothing or paper and mud should should do it . The car will start , but would not go very far , but a bit of poetic license will get you a bit further. The car would splutter to a stop , and who would think to examine the exhaust . It is also easily fixed , if you need to .

Lemonade in the fuel tank.

There are quite a lot of things that if put in the fuel tank will stop the car running and if it floats on the fuel it will take a while before it gets into the engine, as the car takes fuel from the base of the tank (otherwise it'd stop getting fuel before the tank's empty).

If it's a diesel engine, petrol (aka gasoline in the USA) floats on diesel and doesn't cause any issues right away. However it starts to mix with the diesel and when the diesel/petrol mixture gets into the engine, it'll start to cause big problems. The car would go a few miles before it stops working, especially if there was quite a lot of diesel in there before the petrol was put in there.

Apparently diesel doesn't do as much damage to petrol engines as vice versa, but personally I'm not about to try it and see!

Diesel in the gasoline tank. I was trying to beat the clock to work and filled my tank on purpose accidentally, while marveling at how much gas I was getting per gallon. Nine miles down I-985 the engine started boiling black smoke. Woops. Managed to get it in the emergency lane. My BIL came along and picked me up and laughed at me. Called in at work, and my boss laughed at me. Had to put it in the shop for an engine clean, and the mechanic laughed at me.

Sugar in the oil works. Loosen or pull the distributor cap. Pull a wire. Loosen a battery cable. Pull a fuse.

neandermagnon said:

Apparently diesel doesn't do as much damage to petrol engines as vice versa, but personally I'm not about to try it and see!

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Cindyt said:

Diesel in the gasoline tank. I was trying to beat the clock to work and filled my tank on purpose accidentally, while marveling at how much gas I was getting per gallon. Nine miles down I-985 the engine started boiling black smoke.

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Good job I never believed it that diesel doesn't do that much damage to a petrol engine...

I got the impression that you want the vehicle usable soon after it becomes disabled,, so that ruled out my first thought, sugar, because that is very difficult to clean out. Something quick, easy, and easily reversed would be pulling a wire; the wire from coil to distributor works quite nicely, and can be repaired in seconds, if one knows that it was done. There are various failsafe circuits these days that require that the key be in place and similar things (clutch start switch) they work as well as the coil wire, if one knows what they are. There's a long story about one car that my brother had, but that wouldn't fit this situation.

neandermagnon said:

Good job I never believed it that diesel doesn't do that much damage to a petrol engine...

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How much damage diesel does in a gasoline engine varies greatly form engine to engine. There are gasoline engines that can handle diesel; although not as many as in former times. A guy I worked with sometimes used diesel in a Ford Pinto (I think), and it worked for a whole tank.

King Neptune said:

How much damage diesel does in a gasoline engine varies greatly form engine to engine. There are gasoline engines that can handle diesel; although not as many as in former times. A guy I worked with sometimes used diesel in a Ford Pinto (I think), and it worked for a whole tank.

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Mine was a 1976 Cutlass Supreme.

If the car can totaled, loosening the oil filter should do it, but that could take a good amount of driving and the engine would be pretty much scrap (unless it's a saturn. Those cars burned so much oil that I knew people who drove them with nothing showing on the dipstick for ages.)

Pulling the tube from the power steering reservoir could make it undrivable ish (I mean you can but it's a lot harder). She could try to weaken the v belts or the serpentine (depending on the engine) but that is fixable technically with nylons or even just the right rope. You could leak out the brake fluid, but that gets dangerous on the stopping front, and technically you can still go forward.
You could try remiving the PCV valve (if it's available), it will run, but poorly. Or she could loosen the radiator cap and overheat it. If they run the engine hot (and it's a more modern aluminum engine block) you can melt the block. A hot engine will let out a LOT of steam through the radiator cap. It will have a sickly sweet smell when the antifreeze evaporates over the hot engine block. They can replace it with water, but if it's below freezing and they leave the engine to sit and cool down, water can freeze in the system. Or you could put a slash in one of the radiator hoses.

Who knew 14 months running a quick lube place would lead to so many potential sabotage ideas.

Brilliant and devious suggestions everyone!!! LOL! Maybe you can all weigh in on this, as I'm not sure, but loosening the drain on the radiator could slowly leak fluid and eventually overheat. Not as bad as the sugar . . . hee . . . but might last longer for drive, could be fixed, and thinking there is a drain, shouldn't be too hard to find and twist without a tool!

Good luck with your story!

^^^

Didn't see above when I put mine, but that too!

If you had the right wrench....simply loosen the oil drain plug so it becomes a steady drip, or hell, the oil filter.....usually both are under the vehicle (though, sometimes the filter is in the engine compartment). Once the oil has drained out, the engine will eventually seize up and the car comes to a stop. Though, you'd have to have the right wrench size (which varies from vehicle brand to brand) and have to hustle under the vehicle and loosen it up and then brush the dirt off yourself. All.....if the vehicle was just running....it'll be hot...sometimes scalding hot and very messy....so have rags or towel to quickly wipe up with.

You could always loosen a valve stem core...that little thingie that presses down as you put air into the tire, or even cut the rubber valve stem....a slow leak will take a while, if you have days and no tire sensor it might work and remain undetected.

Or, take something jagged and saw/fray into one of the engine belts....sometimes there are more than one.....to run the pumps, timing chains, etc. Over time, the running can cause it to seperate and engine goes....chug chug sputter.

If you had time....pop the hood, go to the battery....if you had a turkey baster.....open one of the fuel cells on it, suck out the fluid and squirt it away (which is a violation)...and fill it with water....or leave it empty or partially empty. That'll cause the batter to fail over time.

There are other mechanical failures you could do, but they take time, and tools. If your trying to do this on the "down-low" you have to make it look like an accident.

Heck...take water and pour it into the oil fill cap.....or the power steering brakes. It'd make the vehicle sluggish. Water in the oil will keep it from cooling properly and could overheat the engine. Water in the power steering could make the brakes soft to non-responsive. Maybe drive something sharply into the radiator if you can access it.....by damagine the cooling fins on it, that allows for less engine to be exhausted to the outside air, and could lead to an overheat.

Have your character keep an eye out for nails, tacks, pieces of wire. Hammer then into the side wall of the tire...most shops will not patch them...some will though. That would slow things down. When the vehicle is parked, place them under the tire so as the vehicle moves forwards, the weight of the vehicle drives it into the tire crown (top). New tires aren't cheap....and dismounting and mounting takes time....specially if you have no experience in it. It'll be a slow leak, but depending on how the travel time is, it might work.

And, it could help to know the type of car.....if it's a newer one, it'll have a CPU of some type. If you can crash that, it'll run them about $3,000 for a new one. Or go to the fusebox, and pull some out, smash lightly and replace. If it's a muscle car of older orgins, mess with the mass air flow, jam something into it. Take a hammer to the tie rod or control arms....but that would be noisy and take muscle.

Hope that helps.

Mixing linseed oil from a grocer's into the gas tank will shut it down, and if it's an older car that might not have a fuel filter, you can toss a ping-pong ball into the gas line. The car will run until the ball gets sucked in and blocks the line. The car will stop, then start... until it happens again, etc. If she can manage it, putting clear nail polish over any engine component with a connector can keep things from running (namely spark plugs, fuses, small stuff, etc)

DarienW said:

Brilliant and devious suggestions everyone!!! LOL! Maybe you can all weigh in on this, as I'm not sure, but loosening the drain on the radiator could slowly leak fluid and eventually overheat. Not as bad as the sugar . . . hee . . . but might last longer for drive, could be fixed, and thinking there is a drain, shouldn't be too hard to find and twist without a tool!

Good luck with your story!

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Damn, I hadn't thought about this, even I've seen it happen.....but it was with an oil cap on a Dodge Ram.....an oil cap was left off and over a few days the oil was "bounced" out causing the engine to seize. Good call DarienW.

Punch a hole in the oil pan. I did this by hitting a rut while going to pick up a cat. But you could use an instrument. The bigger the hole the faster the motor will sling a rod.

Do you want the vehicle permanently out of action, or would you like them to be able to use it within a few days or a week?

If you want it reparable, then pulling or cutting wires is the fastest and easiest way.

Don't overlook the very simple stuff that won't permanently incapacitate a gasoline/petrol powered vehicle--water in the fuel (your MC can find water anywhere). Simply adding a sufficient amount of water to the fuel tank will stall the vehicle out in fairly short order. The more water added, the sooner it'll stall. The fix is also simple (but time consuming); drain/flush/dry the entire fuel system, and refill with known fresh/good fuel. Water contaminated fuel doesn't usually do a great deal of damage to a vehicle; in fact, there are often traces of water in any fuel. However, if a sufficient percentage of the tank volume is water, the vehicle will stall out and not run again until repaired.

This also gives your MC plausible deniability--water contaminated fuel is pretty common, and is one of those things all gas stations have to deal with (think condensation, etc.). The vehicle in question could have taken on contaminated fuel at the last gas stop.

Most cars need a key, put the key in your pocket and the vehicle will not function. But, however, if it is a 'modern car' the thing might work anyway, even hidden right down the back of your underpants, I have tried. So probably leave the key under a significant stone.

Diesel offender [twice]

Akin to punching a hole in the oil pan, you could also make a pinhole in the gas tank (though that'd be more dangerous). Perhaps the brake fluid?

You could also loosen the oil plug or wrench the oil filter or air filter to make the thing...

A slow leak in the tires could look like they had run over something accidentally.

Give the keys to my son.

caw

neandermagnon said:

Good job I never believed it that diesel doesn't do that much damage to a petrol engine...

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I did it once accidentally as a stupid teen. Had to be towed to the garage, but was fixed fairly quickly. No lasting damage. You should have seen the smoke belching out and the car lurching down the highway within a few miles.

There was an episode of the TV show Dexter where the mc sabotaged the Trinity Killer's car by taking the oil cap from the engine block. This, while not halting the car, caused the engine to smoke as hot oil splashed up and out. I suppose if someone drove like this long enough the engine would eventually seize. You could get similar results with a little hole in the coolant hose but this would create a massive amount of white smoke in under a mile.