Disaster (1 Viewer)

con-tiki

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Right where shall I start...My sis bought a hymer motorhome up in the Isle of Skye. She asked if I would take her and her partner and 3 dogs up to pick it up. I said yes...(I would also have to take my other sis and my 3 dogs too. On the day we were leaving she phoned to say that her son would be going too.....yikes I thought ...it will be a bit crowded, but hey what the hell. We left at 2.30 am from Leeds and were just passing Newcastle when I heard this horrendous noise which sounded like a very low flying jet....then realised I had a blowout from the offside rear tyre. Called the RAC, and spent 10 mins trying to explain where we were, I think the guy had some problem understanding where I was...I said we are on the A1 going north and the next junction off is Hexham....Anyway he said he did not know where I was as there is 2 dual carriageways and which one was I on!! Next thing blue flashing lights....the police arrived, then the traffic police , followed by a motor maintenance truck. Anyway to cut a long story short, the nice traffic police changed our tyre and we proceeded on our way to pick the other party up in Edinburgh. All was going great until we stopped at Fort William to get some fuel. My sis started to fill her up and then to her shock and horror put diesel in my petrol tank....about 12 litres. We thought that it would be ok albeit run a bit like s**t for a while. We would just have to keep diluting it....Well a few miles down the road it appeard to be spewing out white smoke..my sis said that it was the diesel causing it and not to worry. Well we drove a few more miles and the temp warning light came on. We stopped and thought that it was short of water as there was none in the expansion tank. So we duly put water in ( I bet by now you know where this story is going) and after a couple of miles just past Invergarry the temp light was on again, so we stopped and decided to phone the RAC. The guy came out and said what we were dreading....Its the head gasket. We were taken to Kyle of Lochalsh and dumped at a garage at 11.30pm and were told the garage was open in the morning...wrong...not open until Monday (this was Friday). So here we are stranded with 5 adults, 6 dogs (2 very lively irish setters, 3 yorkies and 1 geriatric labrador).At the moment we dont know how long we are going to be here
 
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con-tiki

con-tiki

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Forgot to mention that my cascade 2 water heater was spewing water all over the floor...oh well have to laugh as there is no point stressing about it

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Feb 3, 2008
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jeeze,if it wernt for bad luck ,you would have no luck at all.....hope you get sorted,best of luck ....smudger..
 

DESCO

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You seem to have hit the jackpot.

Best of luck

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pappajohn

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presumable you were travelling by car? ducato's are diesel :Doh:
5 adults and six dogs in a car :Eeek:

i think i would have asked to be recovered back home when the head gasket was diagnosed....the pickup could have been rearranged.

reckon it would have worked out cheaper to fly.
 

callumwa

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Kyle of Lochalsh is a nice little place..........:thumb:

Shame about the circumstances, hope you get sorted out ok and can look back and laugh later.
 
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con-tiki

con-tiki

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presumable you were travelling by car? ducato's are diesel :Doh:
5 adults and six dogs in a car :Eeek:

i think i would have asked to be recovered back home when the head gasket was diagnosed....the pickup could have been rearranged.

reckon it would have worked out cheaper to fly.

We were all travelling in the motorhome !!! Its a 2litre petrol fiat ducato. Difficult to get back home with my 3 dogs as they would have to travel in the motorhome...A long way to get home...especially when I would not be beside them.

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pappajohn

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We were all travelling in the motorhome !!! Its a 2litre petrol fiat ducato. Difficult to get back home with my 3 dogs as they would have to travel in the motorhome...A long way to get home...especially when I would not be beside them.
sorry, i didnt realise yours was petrol.:Blush:
 

Terry

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Hi con-tiki, not much use now but why did you not ask to be taken to an open garage? once you found it was shut until Monday ? I have known ( in past ) for the RAC to fix vans for members as it was cheaper than to recover them home
terry
 

DESCO

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Kyle of Lochalsh is a nice little place..........:thumb:
.

Must admit you have been dumped in a nice spot could think of worse, but does not help you any.

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blueeyes

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sorry to hear your not having much luck this is the sort of thing that happens to me chin up can only get better (I hope):Smile:
 
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con-tiki

con-tiki

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We didn't have the van loaded up with things we would normally take as we were just going to pick up a motorhome and stay 1 night. My twin sis and me are not ''normal'' adult weights as we are only little. The 6th dog only weighs just over a kilo, so i reckon we were ok.

The rac told us there was not a garage open on Saturday within a reasonable distanceIf its the head gasket which I am sure it is, then apparently the cylinder head is sent to Inverness if it needs reskimming, so apparently that could be a week
 
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con-tiki

con-tiki

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Th RAC arranged to take my motorhome back to yorkshire on wed and the garage was giving me a courtesy car (this was arranged on Monday. On Tues the garage phoned to say the RAC had cancelled the job, without informing me. I would have been taken 60 miles to pick up the courtesy car from the garage!. I phoned the RAC and they said my MH was over 18 feet....(I had already told them the length of it)..Upshot is that I had to leave the MH in kyle of Lochalsh and will have to come back to pick it up. I have taken a membership out with the caravan and motorhome club which entitles me through the RAC to get arrival scheme free. Anyway now in Edinburgh and waiting for hubby to pick us up. Weather was lovely in the isle of Skye.
 

pappajohn

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I have taken a membership out with the caravan and motorhome club which entitles me through the RAC to get arrival scheme free.
Are you sure of this and do you mean the caravan and camping club ?

i'm with arrivals through the C&CC
C&CC membership was 30 odd quid and arrivals was 80 odd quid extra.

there are no weight/length/width restrictions with arrivals but you may have to fight them to get the full service.

a member on RVOC was stranded in scarborough last weekend with a 5th wheel (pickup gearbox fault) and he had to fight tooth and nail to get a recovery home.....pickup was recovered straight away but took him 4 days to sort it for the 5er.:Eeek:

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con-tiki

con-tiki

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Pappajohn

yes it is with the c &cc. Apparently arrivals scheme with RAC is at no extra cost if you are a member of the c&cc. The RAC said that future break downs will be covered.......watch this spac.....

Now to find a cascade 2 water heater.....

Oh and had to remove 16 ticks from 5 dogs......ah the joys of the countryside
 
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aba

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cascade 2 water heater???

is that the square one that normally lives inside a polystyrene box under a cupboard??

i may have one of these at work in a caravan will check to see exactly what it is when i go back in on tuesday.
 

pappajohn

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Pappajohn

yes it is with the c &cc. Apparently arrivals scheme with RAC is at no extra cost if you are a member of the c&cc. The RAC said that future break downs will be covered.......watch this spac.....

Now to find a cascade 2 water heater.....

Oh and had to remove 16 ticks from 5 dogs......ah the joys of the countryside

just checked this months bank statement and i paid £39 for C&CC and £87.55 for RAC Arrivals so by my reckoning you must be paying the same for standard RAC cover if theres no extra charge to upgrade to arrivals.

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con-tiki

con-tiki

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cascade 2 water heater???

is that the square one that normally lives inside a polystyrene box under a cupboard??

i may have one of these at work in a caravan will check to see exactly what it is when i go back in on tuesday.

My water heater sits under the diner seat in a polystyrene box.....could be the same one.....that would be good...need some good luck coming my way...
 
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con-tiki

con-tiki

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just checked this months bank statement and i paid £39 for C&CC and £87.55 for RAC Arrivals so by my reckoning you must be paying the same for standard RAC cover if theres no extra charge to upgrade to arrivals.

Will check what we pay when I get home. My sister has also just upgraded for RAC arrivals and no extra charge was made
 
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con-tiki

con-tiki

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Just phoned the garage in kyle of lochalsh....They said should be another 2 weeks as the head has to go to Inverness. Now need to work out which is the best way to get up there by public transport to pick up when ready...
 

pappajohn

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Train

depart leeds 11th may @ 10.05am

arrive Kyle of Lochalsh @ 20. 26pm

10hr 21mins

change at edinburgh and at inverness

£148.50 one way.

coach may be 20+ hrs

possibly fly to inverness and train onwards.

the train line
 
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con-tiki

con-tiki

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Train

depart leeds 11th may @ 10.05am

arrive Kyle of Lochalsh @ 20. 26pm

10hr 21mins

change at edinburgh and at inverness

£148.50 one way.

coach may be 20+ hrs

possibly fly to inverness and train onwards.

the train line
Thanks pappajohn.....Seems this is going to cost me some...as taking sis with me as a co-driver, and will have to stay in a hotel too. The guy at the garage said repair cost in the region of £800, plus an MOT as its due at the end of the month....and being a pessimist.....what else will need doing...Oh well cest la vie

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con-tiki

con-tiki

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Many thanks to Aba (Andy) for finding me a replacement carver 2 water heater. A pity I didn't see you today...Now all I need is to get my mh repaired and back on the road (apparently the head has been sent to Inverness)

Shirl
 

JJ

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Many thanks to Aba (Andy) for finding me a replacement carver 2 water heater. A pity I didn't see you today...Now all I need is to get my mh repaired and back on the road (apparently the head has been sent to Inverness)

Shirl

Andy is KING OF THE HEATERS... he found a SB1800 for me Shirl... :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

JJ
 

rainbow chasers

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Do you not have repatriation cover on your vehicle cover? They usually repatriate after repairs in most cases - worth checking your policy, just in case! Or ring your breakdown company and ask them.

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