5 weeks, 5 countries, 5 break downs............

Gee

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I'm beginning to think my van has its own hobby. Visiting garages.......
Scotland, handbrake cable snapped and water pipe burst. England windscreen washers packed in. France CV boot burst. Spain crankcase position sensor needed replaced, oh and a puncture caused by a screw in my tyre. And now to Portugal, where after crossing a particularly bumpty section of the IC1 my offside back brake carrier disintegrated and caused my wheel to lock.
Apart from this last one I was able to get to a garage on my own. I needed ADAC for this one as my wheel had locked up. That was 2 days ago and still parked up outside the garage awaiting parts hopefully be here this afternoon. At least I've got a nice petro-chemical plant to look at.
I've had the van 4 years with a full service history and always serviced every year. New timing and aux belts pulleys and tensioners, new water pump, new clutch, new battery. Its now sitting at 99996 miles. Maybe it doesn't want to go over the 100000 mile mark.
If anyone needs a recommendation of any garages in these countries I'd be happy to recommend them.
Parts are about the same as UK but labour is a wee bit cheaper. Santander was the cheapest with labour at €30 per hour.
 
Not having much luck, are you? We've sailed from Portsmouth twice; first time a wheel bearing disintegrated a few miles from port, second time the gearbox failed within sight of the port. Booked a ferry from Portsmouth for next years trip....
 
The joys of old vans, just think of it as another tick in the maintenance box, when we go out in the vintage Rover we expect to break down, and we take bets on what the next thing to cause problems will be, but fortunately with a bit of string or hammer we fix the problem and on our way again.:wacko:
 
All together now, "Always look on the bright side of life". At least you're still rolling on, no repatriation needed.
And you've had the good sense to take out ADAC Breakdown Insurance (some of us, ahem, don't!) Have they a limit on how many times you can call upon their services within the cover period these days?
 
Well you've had your share now lets hope rest of trip's uneventful 2006 isn't a old van and mileage isn't really over the top for a modern vehicle, With all the servicing you did before. I'm surprised that the brake carrier disintegrated those are usually fairly solid parts don't forget there's one on the other side
 
Could be worse.. Sounds like you are in sunny Sines?

You could have been immobilised in somewhere like Salford.
Portuguese labour changes are pretty cheap,in my experience.
Hope all goes smoothly when you get away.v
 
Just up from Sines at Alcacer Do Sal. Just been back in to see whats happening. The brake shoes are here but the fitting kit which they say only available from Citroen was not put in the parts van today. I not best pleased as its been stuck here 2 days now.
Its the offside parking brake shoes that smashed. The nearside shoes are fine as are my both stopping brakes. I'm now wondering if I could drive with only a nearside parking brake. I would only be parking on flat and would also leave it in gear. I'm stopping near Seville for a couple months whilst I house sit so could get it done there.
 
I would. So long as stopping brakes were not comprimised in any way.
 
Gee said:
Just up from Sines at Alcacer Do Sal. Just been back in to see whats happening. The brake shoes are here but the fitting kit which they say only available from Citroen was not put in the parts van today. I not best pleased as its been stuck here 2 days now.
Its the offside parking brake shoes that smashed. The nearside shoes are fine as are my both stopping brakes. I'm now wondering if I could drive with only a nearside parking brake. I would only be parking on flat and would also leave it in gear. I'm stopping near Seville for a couple months whilst I house sit so could get it done there.
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Personally I'd drive with just the one side parking brake and leave it in 1st or reverse gear when parking. Just remember to select neutral before starting the engine ;)
 
Neither parking brake will work they are both on one cable across the axle so both need to be attached to work. If its just for a day not wirth the expensive of fitting and removing again
 
witzend said:
Neither parking brake will work they are both on one cable across the axle so both need to be attached to work. If its just for a day not wirth the expensive of fitting and removing again
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Clamp the unused end of the cable, then the cable should work with just one side operating.
 
witzend said:
Neither parking brake will work they are both on one cable across the axle so both need to be attached to work. If its just for a day not wirth the expensive of fitting and removing again
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Thats no problem. I managed 7 weeks down the NW coast of Scotland with no handbrake. Only a brick for company....
 
n brown said:
+1 for a brick,or levelling ramp thick side on
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Brick best, levelling ramp = camping! World is full of worry these days:sad:

Hang on thick side on technically means wheel not on ramp = not camping, saved!
 
I think it's all the rich tapestry of travelling. We have been away since the 30th August. So far We have had a tap snap, repaired that with a spare, but it leaks. Side window was cracked by somebody thumping it hard on our first night ever abroad (but it's the inner one of the double glazing, so water doesn't get in, well, not too much). Had to cable tie up one of the steadies (never use them) a wheel screeching extremely loudly, just before we drove over the Alps. But it stopped by itself. The fly screen fell apart, allowing all the bloody mozis in, when it was warmer. Water pump stopped working, but started working again. Fuel gauge doesn't work, but it hasn't since we had the van. Wipers shredded - replaced. . Caught thumb in door broke it. Engine is fine though. We have done about 3,500miles in our camper since we left home. ?
 
These days many drivers seem to rely on the breakdown service to change their wheels, they reckon that's what they're are paying for.
The correct wheel should be chocked on slopes, depending on whether facing up or down important if only carrying one chock, with a commercial vehicle how it's loaded and by how much is also salient.
Chocks away.
 
Relying on wheels only being demounted by a third party such as part of a dealer service, or by the breakdown bloke at puncture time means a lot of wheels don't get attention for a overlong periods. Probably contributes to the blowout numbers and then often as not erroneously blamed on the tyre manufacturer.
 
Not always easy to remove wheel nuts which have been tightened with air gun unless you happen to have a length of scaffold tube in the van.

Pat
 
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