Laika problems (1 Viewer)

bill2b

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Oct 21, 2009
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Hi folks
Well 3 weeks into life with our new 30k motorhome and things have not really gone as smoothly as expected. The teething problems we had after our first outing were sorted out for us by SMC where we bought the van, we were happy with the way that went, so far so good.
Then we had a trip to Stoke to towtal to get our towbar fitted (excellent company highly recommended), before we got there the colour rear camera stopped working closely followed by the bw one failing also, ho hum we thought, will have to get that sorted on warranty.
Anyway next day (Tue) we set off for home , 8 miles out the abs light came on, then the airbag light, yikes we thought. We needed fuel as well so we decided a trip to our local tesco was in order as it was on the way. Filled up, now the van would not start, boswellox we thought.
Not to worry its covered under warranty and we also have breakdown cover on our insurance policy which is through Comfort ins.
Our call to the rac was stressful to say the least, no you are not covered they say, yes we are we say, its written in front of us we say, no your not they say you must pay us 80quid for us to recover you.
Our normal car breakdown cover would not help as we are over 2 tons, which is understandable.
Eventually the nice lad at tesco told us they have there own breakdown set up that if you break down in their car park they will recover you free, top marks to tesco.
Anyway the nice rac man got us going, said it looks like the alternator was the problem hand followed us home, top marks to this rac man too.i
So we are now waiting to see how it all works out, we have plans to use the van on friday smc are aware and will be collecting the van this pm.
Comfort ins are investigating so will let you know how it goes.
 

madbluemad

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Jan 26, 2008
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Blimey thats not good. I'd be really annoyed about the breakdown thing. Really hope it all works out ok.

Its great when its great but a bummer when it isnt.

Jim
 
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bill2b

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we contacted comfort, apparently it was an rac issue and our problem is going up the ladder, hopefully to the top.

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madbluemad

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I called out the rac through the c&cc arrivals scheme. The patrolman turned up and upon seeing the mh was adamant that I wasnt covered.

I said I was, he said I wasnt and so it went until another patrolman turned up. The second patrolman expalined to the first patrolman what the arrivals scheme was and asssured him that I was covered.

After that they were brilliant. There seems to be a communication problem with the rac as far as making their own empolyees aware of what the arrivals scheme is.

All the best

Jim
 

hilldweller

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Dec 5, 2008
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Well 3 weeks into life with our new 30k motorhome and things have not really gone as smoothly as expected.

You survived. I notice the Caterham ( or similar ) basic, nowt to go wrong, excellent. Now you have a MH full of electronics and you're stuffed without help. Sign of the times I'm afraid.

Without wishing to upset you, it does back up my tight git philosophy, buy second hand, let someone else sort the problems and save you money too.

Good luck with the repair.
 

DESCO

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Hi bill2b

Sorry to hear of your problems, hope you soon get some better luck you deserve it. It's a pity when it starts all wrong like this, you begin to doubt the van.



Dave:thumb::thumb:

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bill2b

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Oct 21, 2009
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Brian
Its Not a caterham its a Robin Hood and i built it myself as did my lady build hers, the electrics was not as simple as you suggest as mine is fuel injection but again i did it myself.
As for the motorhome, if we had paid less for one and it was not still under warranty i would have got out my multimeter and eventually worked out the problem, but as we have only had it 3 weeks i am loathed to touch anything.
As for the rac problem it might be worth phoning them up to check your cover before you need it.
Read more about our Hoods on
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ian81

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May 27, 2008
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Brian
.....i would have got out my multimeter and eventually worked out the problem, but as we have only had it 3 weeks i am loathed to touch anything.

These days you need more than a multimeter. When we purchased our new Transit based MH I also bought an Elmscan OBD interface for £25 and now can easily couple up to the engine diagnostics and see what is going on. All recent van base (and cars) have a standardised OBD connector so you can easily see what is wrong.
 
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bill2b

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Oct 21, 2009
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SMC collected the Van as promised this pm and have started the diagnostic checks
Fingers crossed :Smile:

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hilldweller

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Go on Brian
You know you want one :roflmto::roflmto:

Definitely. I've lusted after the type since the first Lotus 7.

But not enough hours in the day now. Since getting the MH I've a bike sat here doing next to no mileage. So realistically it's not doable.

If you are 3 weeks into your first MH you may be in for a shock, time wise.

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vwalan

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nice kits the robin hood .i use to like the folded stainless version . i think its been stopped now .one of the few none vw kits i liked.
does sound like alternator. if you get lots of things like leccy windows sunroofs etc stop working its very often the alt. if it doesnt produce power none esential things switch off to save battery power . usefull to remember. hope its fixed soon ,very annoying when its new . cheers alan.
 

vwalan

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you are right about time brian .i have one bike here not seen the road for over a year. had to charge the battery last week to start it. got a trike i started over 10 yr ago waiting. lets hope next year the sun shines alot more .doesnt seem like getting them wet n dirty is worth it sometimes. keep thinking of building a beach buggy but is there enough hours in the day. what we need is one tax for al vehicles ,just swap it around. cheers alan.
 

kickstart

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Definitely. I've lusted after the type since the first Lotus 7.

But not enough hours in the day now. Since getting the MH I've a bike sat here doing next to no mileage. So realistically it's not doable.

If you are 3 weeks into your first MH you may be in for a shock, time wise.

Brian is spot on(as usual) if I'd not just wrote my bike off,I would have seriously have considered selling it,
I used to think "it's all about having the most toys" but it's not.:Smile:
best of luck with the motorhome let us know how you go on.

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hilldweller

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I would have seriously have considered selling it.

I know that feeling, but within 10 yards of riding it it's always "got to keep this". It's worth little, costs not a lot to keep, so blow it I will keep it. I feel *ALIVE* on it, not a feeling a MH ever generates, all I get from that is calm, enjoy, relax. Nothing but nothing beats overtaking 20 cars all crawling behind a caravan, all too **** scared to consider an overtake even if there's not another vehicle oncoming in the same county. I sometimes say to myself "Oh look, caravan, SPORT". And in Italy, well, everything is SPORT. And don't mention lane splitting, or I'll get even more excited.

Can't do that in a Robin Hood !!!!

For those who don't know, "it", is a 13 year old VFR 750 at 40K miles, looks as good as new and exciting as any sensible bike today. Indeed, with a sensible exhaust position it's a better tourer than many new bikes.
 

hilldweller

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you are right about time brian cheers alan.

I am absolutely mystified. Due to the recession I became semi-retired two years ago. Reached 65 this year, still working if anyone needs me which isn't a lot because most of my work was with control systems connected with building, but I seem to have less and less time.

I really can't work out what is going on.
 
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bill2b

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Oct 21, 2009
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Quick update, SMC have starred again. :thumb:
The Alternator was the culprit and a new one fitted, Alisdair from SMC even drove over to Lincoln to give us a lift to Newark so we could collect the van without any worries.
Had a call from Comfort full of apologies and saying RAC are at fault, will report as we find out more :RollEyes:

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