About a year ago I was on the highway and blew the heater hose from the radiator, which would cause the car to leak major coolant whenever the engine was running.
As soon as it happpened I saw the steam and pulled off the road, thinking it was smoke and a sign of a forthcoming explosion or fire I retreated to a safe distance. After the steam susbsided I opened the hood, saw the problem, and thought "No big deal, this is why I keep tools in my car." Problem is, this was not my car. I was unwilling to drive anywhere because the engine would get very hot very fast.
This was before I got into knives, but I did have my Micra with me. I decided that rather than waiting for a tow truck, it was worth a shot to try and fix it.
Luckily the hose had burst right up by the heater core next to the worm clamp. Because of this I was able to use the Micra's flat driver to undo the clamp, cut off the burst portion with the scissors, and have *just* enough slack to reconnect the hose to the stud with a bit of stretching. This was all much harder than it sounds, and took about an hour in moderately cold weather. Especially getting the clamp off, as it was tight with thermal expansion and road grime; and the Micra is not really a high-torque tool. It was in a very awkward place too, right next to the firewall.
I made up the lost coolant with some melted snow, crossed my fingers, and fired it up. It ran just fine with no leaks and no steam until I could get a real repair done.
