Back home on a Low Loader (1 Viewer)

brodie

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Morning everyone

Well here goes left home at 9pm Friday night all packed and ready for off on our trip to France. Got about an hour or so down the A1 and heard some kind of noise like a piece of rubber was whizzing around the engine, it stopped and nothing was amiss with the power, steering etc so thought we must have churned up a bit of rubber off the carriageway.

Got to Dover ok, missed the original ferry time but no problem got booked on the next.

Arrived in Calais and headed off the boat when suddenly the engine started making a noise it was as though the exhaust was blowing so headed into town and said we would have a look when we get to the fuel station.

Get into town stop at some lights and that was it it just cut out :cry: we managed to get it started just and there was white smoke coming out of the engine and the exhaust and no power whatsoever.

So we are now back home exactly 22 hours after setting off and 7 hours in a low loader with 3 kids. To say I am gutted is a total understatement this is the first time I have booked any sites for the kids and it looks like we are going to loose that money for those too - obviously in August you pay a premium.

Hubby is trying to sort it so we can get going again but to be honest I have lost the heart and just want to sell it now and put it down to experience. Go knows what the problem is I know having an MOT doesn't guarentee everything but it did just pass with flying colours 3 weeks ago. :Sad:
 

Terry

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Sorry to hear your tale of woe,:cry: but what is wrong / cause of breakdown ?That will determine if you carry on or not :Eeek:I would think it must be bad or they would do a fix rather than low loader. It is a fact of life that vehicles break down all you can do is regular maintenance etc, to keep breakdowns to a minimum :thumb:
terry
 

Cavendish

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What a disaster! Hope your luck improves

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brodie

brodie

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Breakdown man in France said 'big problem' with engine. I thought 'you don't say'! or words to that effect.

He said would be better having it looked at in the UK. At this end it was just recovery guy. We have had it taken to a friends garage and they were looking it over last night - could be...fuel pump, injectors, turbo etc the list goes on there is definatley a crack in the exhaust but that wasn't picked up on the MOT so must have happened after. Hubbys best mate who is a mechanic is on hols at the moment so we have joined AA this morning and they are coming out to have a look.

It has just had a full service last week.
 

John & Joan

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Breakdown man in France said 'big problem' with engine. I thought 'you don't say'! or words to that effect.

He said would be better having it looked at in the UK. At this end it was just recovery guy. We have had it taken to a friends garage and they were looking it over last night - could be...fuel pump, injectors, turbo etc the list goes on there is definatley a crack in the exhaust but that wasn't picked up on the MOT so must have happened after. Hubbys best mate who is a mechanic is on hols at the moment so we have joined AA this morning and they are coming out to have a look.

It has just had a full service last week.

It sounds like the pump timing has slipped somehow. Timing belt/Chain/ Coupling.?

I had a similar problem on a Ford 45 seater coach I owned in the 70s. I had a party in Scotland in this coach. At times I was putting out black smoke then none then clouds of white smoke. It was so bad and had so little power at times, I had to get another coach to bring the party home.

The AA, and a fitter in a garage in Fort William, couldn't fathom it out.

I managed to drive it back home with difficulty and a local Ford operators fitter diagnosed it in no time.

It was a fibre washer/spacer between the two parts of the link driving the pump that was slipping, adjusting the pump timing continually.

John
 
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brodie

brodie

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Hi John

Thanks for that I have just phoned hubby to tell him to pass it on to the AA.

Vik

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brodie

brodie

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I am so sorry to hear of the disaster...

Let's hope it turns out ok... some times things are not as bad as they seem to be at first...

JJ:Sad:

They will probably get worse before better. I have promised the kids if we don't get it fixed we will get a static. I have just been checking this option and available sites are asking just short of £2,500 for 2 weeks in a caravan!!!:cry::cry::cry:

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rainbow chasers

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A failed turbo will cause lots of oil to be present in the intercooler pipe, and around the exhuaut. If the turbo has been whining or whistling before, then that could be a sign of the bearings failing.

Whe you had a service, was it just a service - or a cam-belt and service? It is possible that a tensioner has broken up, due to a faulty new, or failure to replace them and waterpump at the same time. You often find the tensioners will fail if not replaced with a belt, as it is nuch tighter, and puts more strain on them. The would be evident of the engine rattling like a bag of nails, as the timing will be out.

If the timing had slipped through other reasons, such as the pump being out, you will have a diesel 'knock' - sounding similar to a big end knock.

Sorry I can't be of any more help, if I had one left I would have told you to come down and pick one up but unfortunately they are all booked out.

Hope you get it sorted soon - don't lose faith in it! It can happen to any van, and once sorted, you know that won't fail again in yours!
 
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brodie

brodie

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The AA have been out and he thinks it is a problem with the fuel pump which has caused the belt to slip? Soooo....we are now trying to contact one of Rich's customers who is a diesel mechanic on large trucks and see if he can help us out at short notice.

I think it will have to be towed to a garage that deals with that sort of thing obviously due to the size. If we can get it sorted we will be able to head off again at the end of the week. :Eeek: We will have to forfiet the site in Lyon and just head straight down to Cannes but I didn't want to tram down all that way in one go so the sooner the better for it getting fixed.

One thing though if it breaks down again I will be booking me & the kids on the next available flight home there is no way I am going in a low loader again with 3 kids!!:cry:
 

ourcampersbeentrashed

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So sorry to hear things havent gone to plan xxxx our thoughts are with you xxx

heres hoping this improve very quickly

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Nov 30, 2009
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What a nightmare for you all. I think id be tempted to cancel the whole thing and jump on a plane to a nice Greek island. :Cool::Blush: Could you get your money back ?
You would certainly get a holiday for the £2,500 you said you'd have to fork out for a static:Eeek: Where was that in Britain ?? or the Bahamas :whatthe:

We were booked onto the ferry next week to France. We were going to go from Plymouth to Roscoff do a round route from Brittany and then get the ferry back from St Malo . Ralph and I were looking forward to it . The kids were a different matter. ( ours are older though )
After taking everything into consideration , including people telling us it was very expensive to eat out . Something which is a big part of our holiday .
Then hearing how it was the same for buying food in the supermarkets too. We started to have second thoughts.
We also thought about having the kids winge on about it going to take ages to get there ( you know the , are we there yet , how much longer . The mum hes looking at me , leaning on my side etc:Doh:) We decided to cancel. We only lost a £20 deposit.
We are now going to Gran Canaria at the end of August for 10 days.:Cool:

We use the MH most weekends went to the I.O.W. in May and are going up to Aviemore for a week over the new year , so she gets plenty of use. We've decided to do France Spain and Italy once the kids dont want to come, if ever:ROFLMAO::Blush:
Then we can have a peaceful , leisurely drive through all that lovely country side mmmm .
Bev
 

parkay3560

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Hiya Brodie

I'm so sorry to hear about the problems with the van and I hope you get them sorted. What I would like to say though is, dont be disheartened and throw the towel in. Motorhoming is a wonderful thing and in my near 18 years Ive had some problems too. My first van which was a panel van conversion from Leisuredrive went back to them a couple of times due to heavy ingress of water in the drivers part( it used to be a tossup who got wet first and depended on which way the van tunred- left and I got wet , right and SWMBO got the water) I took the van back and had it sorted and was on my way home when as I changed gear the gear lever snapped of from the floor. It ended up going back to the dealer to be sorted.

Next van I got( which I traded the first van in to get) was an Ellldis Autoquest 270. I picked the van up at 2-30 that afternoon after the paperwork was sorted and it had had the PDI done and we set off for Scotland. Outside of Ayre on a Shell garage, I had just filled the tank up for the rest of the journey and tried to change gear when I heard a loud clunk and actally saw the clutch plate roll from under the van- yet again a pick up truck to take it back to the dealers. Hols ruined lost money on the site.

Next to last van was from Barrons. 36,000 quid firestorm and I only just got it home before the warning lights lit up on the dash. Curt a long story short, back and forwards being sorted and new engine management system fitted. 4 months in loud clunk, and the top cupboards fell off the walls. they hadnt been fitted properly. Back to Elldis to be sorted. No van for three months. Get the van back and decided to go to scotland, went to the garage to get some derv and first a red light, then two yellows, finally engine warning light came on. Long story short, managed to get it to Glanden Motors in Preston who told me the van which had been away for most of the five months I had it and done less than 3k miles had had a total engine failure and was undrivable. Even better, Pergeout had gone on 4 months shutdown so no parts available til January the following year. Needless to say I contacted Barrons and also the FInance company and in the end I refused the van on the basis that it was not fit for purpose and they replaced it with our Bessie....and touch wood she has been a belter of a van.

Why did I tell this story.....to show that you should never give up on your dreams. Please dont give up on yours. Get your van sorted and put the bad things behind you and get into the wonderful life of motorhome fun.

Good luck

Kenny
 
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brodie

brodie

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What a nightmare for you all. I think id be tempted to cancel the whole thing and jump on a plane to a nice Greek island. :Cool::Blush: Could you get your money back ?
You would certainly get a holiday for the £2,500 you said you'd have to fork out for a static:Eeek: Where was that in Britain ?? or the Bahamas :whatthe:

We were booked onto the ferry next week to France. We were going to go from Plymouth to Roscoff do a round route from Brittany and then get the ferry back from St Malo . Ralph and I were looking forward to it . The kids were a different matter. ( ours are older though )
After taking everything into consideration , including people telling us it was very expensive to eat out . Something which is a big part of our holiday .
Then hearing how it was the same for buying food in the supermarkets too. We started to have second thoughts.
We also thought about having the kids winge on about it going to take ages to get there ( you know the , are we there yet , how much longer . The mum hes looking at me , leaning on my side etc:Doh:) We decided to cancel. We only lost a £20 deposit.
We are now going to Gran Canaria at the end of August for 10 days.:Cool:

We use the MH most weekends went to the I.O.W. in May and are going up to Aviemore for a week over the new year , so she gets plenty of use. We've decided to do France Spain and Italy once the kids dont want to come, if ever:ROFLMAO::Blush:
Then we can have a peaceful , leisurely drive through all that lovely country side mmmm .
Bev

Hi Bev

That price was for a static in France on a Siblu site Which I don't think will come off! Oh I wish it was the Bahamas for 2!

Rich would rather poke his eyes out than get on a plane :Eeek: we have done many holiday on flights in the past but he can't bear to take the kids on those dangerous things :Eeek::Eeek: what a wierdo!! Plus I think I would have the same problem on a flight as you do on the road 'are we there yet etc'.

I wouldn't let people put you off France (if you haven't been before) because of the cost I think people want Benidorm prices and you just wont get that :ROFLMAO:. We have been going across the water now for 8 years at least twice a year and it isn't as cheap as it used to be but I think you get what you pay for and you are on holiday at the end of the day. We have booked a cottage in Normandy for Christmas week with my sister and her family - can you tell we love the place:ROFLMAO:. One thing I would suggest though if you were to reconsider is doing the shorter ferry crossing to Calais it is alot cheaper plus you can stop and get out the van when you want, when you are on the boat that is it until you dock and it can get boring we have done the St Malo route it was very boring & very long.

I got the insurance policy out and we are not covered for cancellation of abandonment I only get it for injury/hospital costs etc. It never even crossed my mind to get covered for this sort of thing - something which I will look into next time. Got all the breakdown cover for van etc. Think we have got to the bottom of the problemo so just need someone to come and sort in now at short notice everyone seems to be off enjoying their hols:cry:

Vik

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Mixter

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Now a year - cant believe it!
Any vehicle breakdown sickens you at the time..

Its not long ago our car stopped on the M6 - ironicly that had just had a service as well. When i got out, the car was covered in diesel from the doors back. Similarly, when i opened the bonnet, it was swimming in the stuff (itll never rust, thats for sure!) Turned out the fuel pipe had sprung off the filter. A five minute fix by the RAC guy. But it looked much worse at the time.

Hopefully yours will get sorted soon, if you can get a diesel mech. to look at it.
 

staging lady

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The first time we went to france, we broke down in the Pyrenees and needed a new clutch. We had to wait a week for one to come from Italy but when sorted we carried on.
So things will get better- don't give up!
Lucille
 
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Hi Vik!


Hope that this will cheer you up a bit: you are just missing rain wind and as well a few storms down south . Forecast says bad weather till friday down south, till saturday in brittany.
I bet you'll be back to France just in time to get the best of it... sunshine and warmth:winky:

Can you imagine .... 3 kids during a whole week in a van and rain , rain rain!??? OMG :roflmto:
Feeling any better? Hope so ! I cross my fingers that you get soon sorted out!:thumb:



Amicalement


Frankie::bigsmile::winky:

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haganap

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Brodie,, we are truly gutted for ya.
We too have kids and know what a dissapointment this will be. However, we once got a tow back from Dover in a car and caravan on a low loader, the kids still talk about it to this day and that was 8 years ago.
keep ya chin up, im sure you will get it sorted. :thumb:
 

wivvy's dad

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Just my two pennorth.......

I would never buy a low mileage vehicle for just this sort of reason.
Vehicles degrade much more by NOT being used, rather than the other way round.
It's my understanding that a cracked exhaust would not be picked up in an MOT, unless it was excessively noisy, which you would have noticed before anyway.

Good luck

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Bubbles

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Oh god love ye I'm so sorry to hear ye didn't get away but maybe ye will yet, don't loose hope. We are not long back from France with our 3 kids and I can just imagine how dissappointed ye all were. We had to cut off our awning when away as it would not wind back in for us so left our hols rather expensive as now we have to get it replaced.:cry:
 
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brodie

brodie

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Update!

Thanks everyone for the kind words & optamistic outlook:thumb:.

This is where we are at at the moment....the garage where it was were 'busy' til the end of the week even to give it a once over so we called the AA back to tow us to another garage about 4 miles away. They will look at it first thing and get straight on with it. The bonus of this garage is they have actually got one of these engines on their works van and several parts already for ours if needed hanging around the yard and didn't seem phased at all, which is always a good sign I think :thumb:.

So a bit of a positive from the garage at least till tomorrow :ROFLMAO:.

A diesel mechanic we were put in touch with through 'a good friend' didn't want to touch it as it 'may be opening a can of worms' :Angry: isn't that their job? God some people. Imagine my hubby saying nah can't come and test your electrics or take front off your boiler it might mean some work! How long would he last, not long?


The exhaust had been bodged up by some previous owner (bit like everything they have touched :Doh:) with a bit of welding so think it was weak and the ramps at the ferry have contributed to that going just coincidence we think. Can't understand why you would mess around welding when you can replace it for quite a small amount.

The good news is Rich hasn't booked any jobs in to a timescale for when we come back so he said he will delay going back and it looks like we will still get the full 3 weeks :thumb: result. I suppose there has to be some benefits of being self employed - I will just send him out for a few weekends to make up :ROFLMAO:.

All in all not feeling too bad at the moment, I think get tomorrow out of the way so we know where we are at and what we are gonna do.

By the way we had a phone call from a friend who is in France at the moment and they broke down last week were towed off the motorway and had to have a new water pump & alternator the garage wanted 6,500 euro!!!!!!!:Eeek: until he flexed a bit of muscle and paid £600.

Glad we got home now.

Vik
 

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