Radiator Injury

Lets hope the engine hasnt seized,It makes one of these look cheap either way.
Engine Watchdog Maybe buy one for the hubby..

Its stories like this that everyone should have something like it.

holed radiators are best fixed by bending over and crimping up the holed cores - unless its a massive hole theres enough left to do the job

--- motors that are overheated until they stop are another thing..................................... If that is what has happened he may well get it going but it wont be the same

he will know pretty quick once he trys to start it after it cools down. Overtime probably isnt going to matter, he'll probably need to get a radiator sent up, but wont happen on a sunday in gero unfortunately. Has he got the tools to do it himself?
There s a couple of radiator places in town but unlikely to get hold of anyone on sunday.

Temperature Gauges on virtually every car engine seem to be designed to indicate if the water is getting hot for various reasons - but to be totally useless if you lose water - the sensor will be out of the water and therefore not indicate engine block overheating, once the water drops below the sensor.

Hi Kym111

I live in Kalbarri just down the road a bit.

If it is not a severe leak a product called Superseal will do the job, it is a bit like ground up pepper, and if a big hole as said try and crimp the tubes and add the product.

Most road houses will carry it.

If he is still stuck give me a ring or if he has phone coverage get him to ring and I will see if something can be done.

Ph 99372968 mob 0428620068

cheers

wafarmer

Geraldton 4WD would be your best bet to use, in Flores Rd, or O-Briens just off Flores.
Are you travelling from Perth or Gtn?

Why not just tow it? Much less hassle than a car trailer, they are a BIG load on a trailer?

Just updating our progress....
I rang around some friends & family this morning trying to organise a lift for the Patrol back to Geraldton from the Overlander Roadhouse.

My brother-in-law works for Geraldton Toyota and offered to contact some car carriers tomorrow to see if they could pick up the Patrol from the Overlander during the week (on their way through to Perth from Carnarvon etc). I had reservations about getting a car trailer on a Sunday, although a friend said he would tow it back if we needed. He owns a Landcruiser, so we'd never live that down!! he he

I bundled the kidlets into the Camry and set off for the Overlander, with the view to picking up hubby and the trailer, and leaving the Patrol behind to grab a lift on a truck during the week.

By the time I got there, 2 1/2 hrs later, hubby had organised a lift with a couple of guys with trucks waiting for the Useless Loop road to open. They had gear to take in, with empty loads home to Perth.

The motor is well & truly cactus. We're hoping insurance will replace it, but naturally will have a few calls to make tomorrow to our insurance company and Perth 4x4 (thanks for the recommendation, we deal with them anyway!).

Thank you to everyone offering either assistance or advice. I really appreciate it, and got more support than from my own family!!

In the mean time, we found an ad in a recent caravan magazine for a device that monitors coolant levels, and sounds an alarm when it drops!! We will be investing in one of these! If you're interested, go to http://www.enginesaver.com.au. Their home page has my hubby's name all over it!!

Regards
kym111

Just one more note RAC!!! if you were a member all the towing problems etc would have been solved I would not leave home without being a member
Anyway lets hope insurance wil pay best of luck

Steve

PERTH4X4 is a good mob to deal with also, Mathews family used to have O-Briens 4wd and he was great to deal with there.

One of the best ways to repair leaks like that even under pressure is to knead in some plain bread.

Never believed it myself until everthing fail to fix and hold a 22000 lt water tank base , this did.
It works by absorbing water as you feed it in and setting .

Would be nice to have an update on this, for those of us that showed an interest?

We contacted Matt from Perth 4wd Centre. He was able to source a brand new long motor from Nissan Australia for $6,000 for our car.

The quote from Geraldton 4x4 came to $12,000 worst case scenario (everything to be replaced, this included the motor).

Our insurance assessor rang this morning, he's been to have a look at the vehicle, and they have decided TO PAY!! We were on tenterhooks, as we were trying to figure out how to get the money if they didn't.... So we're up for a $300 excess plus whatever it costs to put a snorkel on, as that may as well be done at the same time. Everything will be kept off the old motor as spares.

So even though we didn't win Powerball last night, we 'won lotto' today.

Thanks for all your interest, I hope it helps you in the future if you're in a similar situation. In the mean time, we're going to order an Engine Saver Low Coolant alarm, in case a similar situation arises.

Regards
Kym

That's terrific news Kym111

Do you know on what grounds they paid? I'm just curious to how they make their decisions.

Did they regard the 'accident' as the stick through the radiator, and had to pay for all subsequent damage?

If so, this is a great thing to keep in mind. I would never have thought of making a claim in such circumstances.

Tim

what Tim said-who is your insurance company and what sort of cover?