24 Hours from Tebay

This is going to be a long post... 

This felt like the longest day, in fact the rescue and recovery took just over 24 hours, but the story starts well before this 

All went well on our drive to the lake district on holiday until we decided to stop at Tebay services which has an excellent farm shop attached so sells high quality products which we thought would be a great way to start our holiday. 

So we pulled off the M6 and into the services and the trouble started when Katy cut out as we were driving in on the approach road. She cut out... we were lucky to be able to coast into one of the first available parking spaces. I though we may have inadvertently run out of Diesel because the fuel gauge has been faulty, but we had filled up before setting out and the known range was a lot more than the 250 miles or so we had driven (it's about 350 on a tank full). 

To be on the safe side I went to the garage and got 10 litres at motorway prices (ouch!) and put that in, but she still would not fire up.

I had some spares, but wasn't sure so the next thing was to bring in an expert who could help me if one of those would be useful. 

The rest of this tale will be told through the medium of song and pictures (  Apologies to Burt Bacharach / Hal David / Gene Pitney for butchering the obvious song ... ) and at the end are a whole bunch of thank you's to the people who helped us along the way

Dearest Katy I had to write to say that I wasn't driving you back

Cause something happened to you while we were driving on hols

And you're not the same anymore

Oh we took 24 hours from Tebay

Ah only one hour away from our Hols 

We saw a welcoming sight and stopped to pick up some grub

And that is when it happened

As we pulled in outside of a services

You stopped your engine from running

I bought some Diesel to feed you but you still didn't start

Oh we took 24 hours from Tebay

Ah only one hour away from our Hols 

Lowes took us from Tebay to Lymm where we stayed

Via a stop on the M6 hard shoulder 

Oh we took 24 hours from Tebay

Ah only one hour away from our Hols 

Oh the breakdown truck stopped

And night time turned into day and we were still on our way

2 Hours sleep and the next truck

Picked us up and we went on

Via another stop for 4 hours at strensham

Oh we took 24 hours from Tebay

Ah only one hour away from our Hols 

I hate to do this to you

But you'll need some bits that are new

What can I do

We were so glad to be back home again

Now the pictures and some real information 

We stopped about 4:30 

Michael from Furness identified that our injector pump was not running at all despite having power and fuel delivered from the electric fuel pump. That's not a roadside fix so a recovery was going to be needed. Given we needed a larger than average lift, he called for a truck which was about an hour and a half away

It had got dark by the time that John from Lowe's turned up and took us onboard his truck (which we have to say was the nicest of the event so thanks for that Lowes).  

Soon we were off with a plan to meet another truck at Strensham services about 2:30 am. 

However A couple of hours into the journey disaster nearly struck for us all!

John had to deal with a front tyre blow out at speed on the M6 at just after midnight and it was only through his excellent driving and the lucky situation that the motorway was so empty that he was able to bring the truck (about 12 ton with us fully laden on board). it was the drivers front wheel so as the enormous bang happened we started drifting right before he managed to lose enough speed to get it back under control and back to the hard shoulder 

We had stopped on the side just between the off-slip and on-slip of Junction 21 and I can now say from personal experience that than goodness it was not one of those awful smart motorways because the way some people came past I do not think that they would have missed us if we had actually been in a carriageway and we would not have been able to drive along to a refuge area because the tyre was hanging right off the wheel according to John (who rightly was insisting we got out and stayed safely on the verge over the crash barrier

We stopped there for about 4 1/2 hours which was no fault of Lowes there was simply no mobile tyre service willing and able to come to us so Lowes had to dispatch another of their team (Matty) who got out of bed and came to our rescue. Along with John he bravely changed the wheel with live traffic running very fast and often very close where they failed to see the problem and pull out (I mean there were only 2 trucks with full sets of warning lights flashing reflecting off a brightly painted land Rover which is in desert not motorway camouflage hmmm...)

If you don't believe how visible it was try the "Disco Katy" video out ! 

They finally managed to get us back on the road and it was just a short ride to the Lymm truck stop at a bit over 5am where they unloaded us in the car park and loaded one van on the other to save one of them driving home. 

Of course all the plans had been abandoned at this point with no booked pick up time available so our plan was to get some sleep. We did manage to get a couple of hours before we were awoken with the news that we would be picked up again in an hour and off to Strensham as had been originally planned 

An hour later as planned, Barry from BRS  was our next transport I can't say a lot about that part of the journey because I know I kept nodding off ... 

At Strensham he said we needed to be parked in a spot where a truck could easily get to the front of us so we were left in the lorry park where we made quite a comical sight, and the number of trucks that tried lining up for that parking spot before seeing us was substantial, but no-one seemed to get annoyed with us (sorry about the quality of this picture)

Sadly due to a miscommunication our next savour (Nathan) wasn't called immediately, but after another few hours delay we were incredibly glad to see him and his truck who were to be the last on the relay. 

We finally arrived at Steve's workshop (which was our agreed drop off point) a little after 5:30 

As I said many thanks to all who helped us from Furness, Lowes, BRS and Caldicot, but most of all our thanks to John from Lowes because we even got a text the next day to see if we had got home safely ... Excellent service !

Be Positive

On the recent trip to Anglesey, and afterwards as well Katy suffered from a slew of electrical issues 

I chased loads and loads of symptoms 

All the advice I got was "check your earth". 

Well I did and it wasn't a problem, but what eventually was identified as being the problem thanks to a mate in the SWLRC was in the positive connection.. so here is a shiny new one and all is well with the world (well Katy's electrics anyway) 

Anglesey Unplanned

The plan was simple - head to Anglesey in convoy with SWLRC, No plan other than that 

The start wasn't so simple it took a new top hose and ... 

Plenty of cleaning up to get us going

It was a wonderful night camping in Builth Wells

And they all looked as good in the morning

 Then we went to Claerwen Reservoir Dam. Scene of the famous 1986 Land Rover Advert

And on through the lanes, sometimes taking the correct route ...

 All to end on Anglesey where Land Rover was apparently thought up by Maurice Wilks and his brother Spencer Wilks

And a quick trip to Red Wharf Bay where the first design was drawn in the sand

Sadly Katy had had electrical gremlins all the way up so after I managed to start her I decided on a non-stopping (of the engine) run back

I did stop just south of Snowdonia as the view was so wonderful - here she is with the engine Running

Feeling deflated ... and reflated

2 tyes with faulty valves in 1 month... time for some action as that leaves no working spare tyres

Me with a bad arm so not capable of dealing with it

Many thanks to Pete from SWLRC and Steve from Dscount Tyres Cardiff for their prompt and efficient help and we are back to the full set of working wheels

Caving Conference

Sometimes Katy is just a camper van

Sometimes she misbehaves, sometimes I make bad decisions

I have excepted this from a letter I had published in Decent Magazine 

Hidden Earth was quite an adventure this year which started well in Cardiff, but a faulty headlight caused us to stop in the services and then the Landy failed to start again so we had to sort out the electrics (good old British Engineering) and  arrived really late just as the Bar closed L

Having found somewhere quiet to park (more later) we had a wonderful restful night and were up early to start enjoying the event properly and how enjoyable a conference it was this year. 

...

Regarding unfortunate turns of events we found that our quiet parking place on Friday was next to the Stomp on Saturday, so no point in going early to bed and we were “forced” to hang around in the bar until closing time. 

Still best regards to the BEC who got a “BEC get everywhere” sticker right on the top whilst we were sleeping (I think). Just one thing I plan a re-spray, so can someone send me another to put back when I’ve done that.

...

And finally I’d like to thank all who worked on conference to give us such a nice weekend and also to those who had to get out of the way when we left and had to watch my 3 point turn in a large Land Rover ambulance in a cramped car park. 

We’d decided to head off in the daylight given the fun on the way up and I know caused quite some entertainment 

Yorkshire

We made it up to the Yorkshire Dales

The new suspension really made a difference on the country roads. We can now go into corners with some confidence and the whole driving experience is improved

Katy only blotted her record once with a loose connection to the starter motor - another fix for the list, but once wobbled we were able to get out for some adventures

This is some classic British engineering in front of more of the same. Katy parked near the Ribble Head Viaduct a real trainspotters place of worship. It was being planned to be demolished until Michael Portill stopped those plans and made them refurbish it

We managed a bit of off-roading on the lane up to Alum Pot which is a real cavers place.. it's got dry bits

And damp bits...

To finish the Cave Rescue Organization based in Clapham where we were staying had a practise on Sunday morning so we just had to move along and join the line-up for a picture

A wonderful part of the world well worth a visit

Disaster Strikes Again (Nearly)

Last year we headed off to Yorkshire to visit my family, and we got as far as Hopwell Services before disaster struck since then we've done a lot of work on Katy so this year we loaded up for the trip again and headed off full of confidence.

Tank full of diesel, milk in the fridge and all our clothes and gadgets on board we were full of joy.

One stop I wanted to do was to put some air in the rear tyres as the pressure gauge I used was showing them a little low so we stopped at the local ASDA petrol station, popped another 5 psi into the tyres and jumped into the cab, turned the key and NOTHING... HAPPENED ..

There was a click like I've heard when I had a bad battery, but no electric fuel pump working which was odd as we'd just driven here and she was running fine.

I got the booster pack out and clipped that on, and still nothing. Looked around and I couldn't see anything obvious so after about 15 minutes I gave up and called on GEM recovery who sent Celtic to our rescue

The breakdown guy attached his power pack and the same, checked the battery with a voltmeter and it showed a constant 12v when we tried to start her so the battery was declared fine. He then headed under the bonnet and declared it a starter motor problem despite my protestations that the fuel pump was turned on before the starter engaged, and then decided it was a problem with the immobiliser and tried opening the dashboard and binnacle before being thankfully frightened off by all the wiring. It was decided we needed a specialist and therefore we would have to be recovered.

I decided to go to Steve Walford's place as it would be a safe place to leave her if we had to abandon her because we could move her around with a tractor. Steve was having his lunch, so we got her from the recovery truck and the recovery driver left us.

Then came the magic bit.

Steve said he would take a quick look, tried starting her once, felt the battery terminals and declared he had found the problem to be a loose connection. One twist of the connector and she started.

Not wanting to let us go with such a fix Steve refitted the connector and some auxiliary wires properly and we were off on holiday.

The lessons are to think calmly and logically, stick to the problem, and that there is no substitute for experience

More Tyre problems

I had a call from the Security guys at work today

"Is that your truck? Do you know you have a flat tyre?"

That wasn't what I wanted to hear, but it got a lot worse from there and once again I've learned a lot

This was the sight that greeted me...

OK I thought get the spare down and change it...

First I had to get the car in the space next to Kart moved and then I got the wheel down.

Out with the jack and started lifting her up only to discover that the jack wasn't tall enough to lift her off the ground. So I had to call GEM to get someone with a bigger one to lift her up

After work I popped over to Celtic tyres who diagnosed a problem with the inner tube caused by a label on the inside of the tyre. Apparently when a label is present it causes friction on the inside of the tyre onto the inner tube to be concentrated in one place and is a common cause of issues. The tube was shot with a small tear along the side of this label mark.

So they fitted a new inner tube  as you can see below, refitted the tyre and all seemed well...

Until Friday ...

All looked OK from a distance, but when I got closer it was clear that tyre was soft. I really didn't want to call the breakdown people twice for the same fault as that just makes you look dozy so I went hunting for a solution at work 

I found a nice large breeze block that proved to be too big and then some paver bricks that were just fine to get the wheel off, but when I tried getting the fully inflated one back on the lift had been just a little short, but with some kicking of the tyre it popped into place and we were away 

So today (Saturday) I'm going shopping. First to another tyre garage to get to the root cause and then to get a bigger bottle jack

Commuting

I mentioned a few days ago that I'd dropped the car in for a service so used Katy to go to work.

I had no idea I would be still using her as a regular commuter vehicle a week and a half later :-(

I'm starting to get frustrated by not having my car back, but here are a few thoughts that have occurred across the time we've been sharing the 20 miles to work and back each day

1. I can be mellow driving at 60 - Honest
2. Isn't it frustrating when you are trying to pass a slower vehicle, but one that has more power uphill. I have found that I've had to slow down in order not to be a road hog in the middle lane. it doesn't come naturally as I'm used to shooting past in the fast lane

And when it comes to other road users

1. Why do 7 Series BMW's pull in front of you when you are just about to go up hill, slow down and then accelerate just after you've had to lose all your speed?
2. What sort of person buys an Audi TT and drives it at 50 MPH in the middle lane on a motorway and why are there so many of them in South Wales?

I didn't think I was going to get home

Having taken Katy up to see Steve Walford, and him agreeing all was not well with the gearbox I admit to getting some over confidence.

On the way back from that trip she actually drive well so today after sorting out a fuel pipe and pump problem ( just tighten up a loose Jubilee clip and a loose electrical connection I decided to head off to find one of the local Land Rover specialists that have been recommended to me

This was also a test drive to decide whether to take Katy to the Pencoed Classic Car Show where we are booked in tomorrow which would be a bit more serious with a 36 mile motorway trip

I really wish I hadn't as I nearly didn't get home

I am even more convinced now that she has a gearbox problem. The inability to get into 4th gear even when standing and having de-cluched into neutral is probably a big clue. Not being able to get in to 2nd most of the time and the rattling and grinding in 1st and 3rd is all leading me to believe that there is a serious transmission problem

This is not going to be cheap !

I May Need to Have More Money Than Sense

It looks like I may have a rather significant transmission problem

I've had trouble getting 1st and especially second and it seems to lock and go whilst reversing, all this on top of a rather nasty metallic scraping noise on our last trip which resulted in the breaksown recovery I wrote about.

Steve, my father in laws mate and mechanic supreme, thinks it’s a gearbox issue and I don’t know enough to disagree so I’m considering getting a complete unit including new transfer box etc.

This is part because Katy still has has the 1:1.6 transfer box that she woul dhave been fitted with as a military vehicle and I feel over geared and running out of revs very soon when driving.  So I was thinking of a 1:1.4 unit in the longer term anyway (I’d rather have a little more quiet and fuel efficiency even if a little less acceleration)

I had worries about the transmission, but had hoped to have fun this year before spending out on something in the winter when I could take it off the road and do some work myself, but if I have to do it now I will want a guaranteed unit as I want to keep her for a while

SO

I have concluded therefore that Katy needs an owner with more money than sense and that seems to be me.

This should not be interpreted as me being especially rich, but lacking in the common sense that had her last 2 owners decide that there was a bit too much money needing being spent on her and therefore moving her on through that virtual graveyard for old cars that is eBay

Sigh !

I want to have fun... I was intending to have it over the last week and the next 2 bank holidays camping somewhere in the greenery that is our beautiful spring sunshine, but it looks like it's more woodwork whilst I learn enough to decide what to purchase and from where, and I will probably have this sorted just about the time spring turns into summer and the monsoon season arrives

The good thing is Land Rover suppliers seem very clued up in asking you the right questions and providing a lot of information on serial numbers etc so you can get it right