Back on the road again- NOT!!!
Submitted: Saturday, May 02, 2009 at 12:41
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Member - Josh (VIC)
Morning all,
Well, as I mentioned about 2 weeks ago the old cruiser needed a rebuild. When I booked it in they said it would take a week. Well we got the car back yesterday at 3 o'clock, 2 and a half weeks and a lot of dollars later. Not sure why it took 2 and a half weeks apart from the fact they ordered wrong parts etc. We headed off to Byron Bay finally. We got to
Grafton and pulled over for fuel. I head a noise under the bonnet so had a look. one fan belt had come off the alternator and the 2nd one was about to shred it self. Yes these are the ones the run the water pump, you know the thing that stops the engine blowing up lol. So we got the car towed back to coffs thanks to RACV and are now sitting in a motel room again thanks to RACV. Anyone travelling I would highly roadside coverage through your local organisation.
Anyway we are now waiting for the Repo repairer in Coffs habour to open on Monday so we can get it fixed and try again to head off on the rest of our trip. The worst thing is the fishing has been average because of the rain they have had here.
Its been an interesting couple of weeks. Worst part is not knowing when we will be back on the road. The girls are so over us saying it will be another couple of days.
We are just really glad that this did not happen really remote somewhere.
Hope things are going better for all you folk out there.
Josh
Reply By: Member - Stephen L (Clare SA) - Saturday, May 02, 2009 at 13:18
Saturday, May 02, 2009 at 13:18
Hi Josh,
All the best and I know what your thoughts would be. I hope that you give the repairer a good serving.
A number of years ago, while preparing for one of our Simpson Adventures, I thought I would do the right thing and have the alternator serviced, as we had seen a couple of water crossing prior to the trip. All was well, and about half way across the desert, the belts were starting to make a noise. As I had new belts fitted at the same time, I thought, that is alright, the new belts may need adjusting, so out with the tools, open the bonnet - the bolt that holds the alternator in place, missing. I will not tell you my thoughts at the time, but after going through the vehicles to find a correct size bolt to use, we finally were able to get a correct size bolt as a make shift affair. Try to get the correct bolt at Mount Dare, but no luck. Me made it
home, but makes you loose faith when you try to do the right thing in the first place to ovoid problems when in remote
places.
Cheers
Stephen
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Reply By: Member - Matt & Caz H (QLD) - Saturday, May 02, 2009 at 13:48
Saturday, May 02, 2009 at 13:48
Hi Guy's
So sorry you are having such a drama of things........................... we joined RACQ (will full coverage before leaving QLD). At least you have a nice motel to stay in!!!
We are currently near
Geelong (we catch the Spirit over on Sunday night) we are in a real dodgy CP at the moment, we don't really want to stay another night, however we don't want to travel into Melb either!!! We have finally dried the girls beds out and the rest of the van.
Hope you are all sorted Monday PM (should be).
Take Care
Matt, Caz & Kids
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Reply By: fisho64 - Sunday, May 03, 2009 at 03:20
Sunday, May 03, 2009 at 03:20
UMM Im sure I must be missing something-but you got the car towed and booked a motel cos the
"fan belt had come off the alternator and the 2nd one was about to shred it self"??
Forgive me if I am missing something or you are actually a very old decrepit lady with the screen name "Josh", but PLEASE dont try any desert crossings etc!
Have to say also though that 1 week seems pretty ambitious for a proper rebuild?
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Follow Up By: Member -Dodger - Sunday, May 03, 2009 at 08:05
Sunday, May 03, 2009 at 08:05
I was thinking along these lines as well.
Most well prepared 4b drivers carry spare belts and know how to replace them.
But then again some people are not physically able to do this.
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Follow Up By: Member - Josh (VIC) - Sunday, May 03, 2009 at 11:47
Sunday, May 03, 2009 at 11:47
Yes I carry spares and have helped many a fellow traveller on the side of the road but after just having spent $7000 on the engine rebuild I expected to get further than 1hr up the road. I replace the belts and something happens and the engine blows up that then gives them a way out of the warranty. If I was just driving yes I would fix it myself ( I have changed axles on the side of the road before but I am not giving these guys a reason to get out of a warranty claim). Would you not want to find out why the belts came off in the first place and if you just spet $7000 on the engine.
When I had a look at the belts I also notice there was a dent in the pully on the water pump so I could not replace the belts if I wanted to. (sorry failed to put this in original post) I am not stupid but I would expect for $7000 I would get more than an hour up the road.
Josh
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Follow Up By: Member - Josh (VIC) - Sunday, May 03, 2009 at 11:53
Sunday, May 03, 2009 at 11:53
By the way the we have done plenty of desert driving with no issues at all. We have been on the road now for about 2 half years and are on our way to
cape york so we want this right before we get up there. Don't judge before you know what your saying.
Josh
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Follow Up By: fisho64 - Monday, May 04, 2009 at 00:03
Monday, May 04, 2009 at 00:03
easy tiger
This is a
forum and none of that info was in your post.
The problem comes when you DO have issues, not when you dont.
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Follow Up By: Member - Josh (VIC) - Monday, May 04, 2009 at 14:10
Monday, May 04, 2009 at 14:10
Sorry, I have a really crap week and you did accuse me of being an old woman, not knowing what I was doing and telling me I shouldn't do a desert crossing instead of simply asking " could you not fix itself or was there a bigger issue". As it turns out there was a bigger issue. The alternator we had fitted in Sale (by an auto elec) is not the right one for this engine so the pully on it was sitting out of line with the other pulleys wearing the belts. I now have to replace the new alternator and try and get some money back off this guy. Within 5 days of having the alternator fitted the belts came off and the engine over heated. Thus the need for a rebuild-cracked head etc. The belts don't line up at all. Sorry I was abrupt but this is not a good couple of weeks as I have lost a weeks work in Byron, cost about $400 in accomadation I had not planed on plus a rebuild just to find out if this idiot did his job properly it would not have happened. See why I'm a bit jumpy. What did your last comment mean ????????
Have a good one
Josh
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Follow Up By: fisho64 - Monday, May 04, 2009 at 19:33
Monday, May 04, 2009 at 19:33
no probs
but I did not accuse you of being an old woman. as you know the internet is anonymous and I wasnt jumping to conclusions that you were a bloke, if you re-read it.
Last comment was obviously written before your reply and was along the lines of, you could do a hundred desert crossings with no mechanical aptitude at all if there was no "issues". Only when there was an "issue" would the s++t hit the fan.
forget about it, its nothing and I see why youve had a bad week.
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Follow Up By: Member - Josh (VIC) - Monday, May 04, 2009 at 20:04
Monday, May 04, 2009 at 20:04
Fair call on the desert crossing with no problems. Just got the call to say car is ready to pick up in the morning, fingers crossed. Hopefully we will be in QLD by tomorrow night. What has really fustrated me is because of the floods up here the fishing was crap. stuck in a really good fishing area for 3 weeks and no decent fish caught, have to wait for the tip.
Alls good catch ya later
Josh
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Follow Up By: fisho64 - Monday, May 04, 2009 at 22:36
Monday, May 04, 2009 at 22:36
safe travels!
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Reply By: Axel [ the real one ] - Sunday, May 03, 2009 at 12:08
Sunday, May 03, 2009 at 12:08
Dont want to put a dampner on your troubles , but isnt it apublic holiday in NSW on Monday so Mechanics closed ,, would want to be doing a full check over vehicle prior to pickup methinks , dodgy work done once by = twice shy.
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Follow Up By: Member - Josh (VIC) - Sunday, May 03, 2009 at 15:17
Sunday, May 03, 2009 at 15:17
Thanks Axel
You have just made my day LOL. Will be checking everything very closly this time.
Josh
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Reply By: LeanneW - Monday, May 04, 2009 at 09:38
Monday, May 04, 2009 at 09:38
Bad luck Josh,
Hope you get back on the road soon.
Leanne
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Reply By: Member -Dodger - Monday, May 04, 2009 at 14:34
Monday, May 04, 2009 at 14:34
Josh
now that we have the full facts, I feel for your plight.
As said above I certainly would be doing a thorough check before taking delivery next time. If you can document everything including pics if you can then I suggest that you give your RACV the full facts and see if they can help with the Auto Lecky etc.
Hope you get on the road again soon with the vehicle in tip top condition again.
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Follow Up By: Member - Old/new Girl (QLD) - Monday, May 04, 2009 at 17:41
Monday, May 04, 2009 at 17:41
Josh, if it makes you feel better your not the only one. Every year we go off on our tours be it Desert or snow or what ever. Anyhow everytime before we headed off it was a trip to the mechanic to go over everything. Everytime we had something go wrong. A very expensive couple of years and ended up re building the motor turbo (turbo was off this time last year)and injectors and they were done for years ago. our last trip to the High country was bloody scary. We had the bearings replaced before heading away and ended up doing road side repairs.(bitumen driving towing the van) Replaced the alternator Christmas day in
Adelaide before replacing a belt on the way
home. We found a new ex Toyota mechanic hoping that will do the trick. He rebuilt it just before Easter. So off we went and blew the cobwebs out. On the way
home the Oil Pressure Gauge stopped working.
Friggen Murphy visited we shouldn have commented on how well she was going.
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