luck’s arch enemy

How lucky are you? Probably more lucky than us.

It has been nearly two weeks since our last breakdown. Just yesterday our painted smiles were replaced with something a little more real.  Finally we had found a country which had allowed us to conquer its unknown corners at no extra cost.

However, with one day to go before reaching the plains of South Africa luck’s arch enemy found us amongst the dunes. Cruelly he stole our rear offside brake pads.

A few heads were scratched, but eventually we found a solution.  Having clamped the rear brake line with a G-clamp we continued along the steep sandy tracks in search of a garage. To its credit Namibia never failed to provide us with a smile. I mean how many people can say that their 300km commute to the local garage looked like this?

groceries

After some serious spannering we arrived in Isiolo only to find that the fuel tank had sprung a leak and was now emptying it’s pricey contents all over the grass. We were now building up quite a shopping list so decided to limp into Nairobi to pick up the necessary spares and don the overalls once more.

After two 12 hour days of frantic fixing we are now the proud owners of a silky smooth running land rover once more, complete with working brakes. Hurrah!

Shopping list:

1 x fuel tank
4 x hub gasket
3 x hub grease cap
4 x drive member
1 x halfshaft
4 x propshaft studs
1 x fuel gauge sender sealing ring
1 x vacuum pump
8 x brake calliper piston seal

going nowhere

A week has passed since our last breakdown. Bliss. But when you’re stuck out on a hot, empty road with a Land Rover you know trouble is probably hiding just around the corner. Unsurprisingly it was and it appeared Lady Luck had popped off to the spa to receive a foot massage.

Midway between Marsabit and Isiolo we lost all drive. After a quick inspection and a few test runs it soon became apparent that the rear half-shaft had worn. Having spent two sweaty hours beneath the vehicle we successfully managed to remove both rear half-shafts and the rear prop-shaft. This enabled us to regain some essence of forward motion all be it solely in two-wheel drive.

the hunt for the CV joint continues…

After developing an unnerving metallic pinging noise on full lock we decided the car might be sick. After some swift diagnosis by Matt and an Austrian chap at MTI Land Rover in Cairo it was revealed to be the CV joint – the failure of which would result in a complete loss of drive. But then, salvation, a helpful Egyptian mechanic revealed that they had the part we needed in a container at the back of the workshop. Unfortunately it was the penultimate working day before Eid and the Austrian service manager proved uncooperative, leaving us in the waiting room for over 2 hours without bothering to look for it.

So back where we started we tracked down a Land Rover parts shop in Cairo’s downtown, but after a few phone calls to various possible suppliers we again came out empty handed. Undeterred by the painful sounding noises we pushed on south to Aswan, but after an afternoon spent driving Waleed from the internet café around town to various mechanics and parts stores we have again had no luck.

Next stop Khartoum, a mere 1000km of desert tracks away. Wish us (and all fellow Land Rover drivers foolish enough to leave their vehicle unattended in the vicinity of our toolkit) luck.

priceless

After spending three consecutive days at the garage we were unsurprisingly adopted by the vast variety of workshops that surrounded our immobile car. If you too have an unfortunate incident involving a head gasket and you chose to head to Amman to complete the repair job, you will no doubt be greeted with countless photographs of ourselves – a pretty picture I can assure you.

For all you sadomasochists out there please find the costings detailed below:

Recovery bill – £160
Head gasket – £35
Cylinder head skim – £15
Repair of old radiator – £15
New radiator – £100
Oil change – £35
Labour – £75

If anyone chooses to add the above figures together please be sure not to bother informing us.

gormless yet downright dangerous

The recovery driver was a little unfortunate in his choice of face. Initially we were rather charmed by his gormless blank outlook on life however we soon realised this was a particularly dangerous combination in his chosen profession.

Our view from the Land Rover, which was now perched perilously on the rear of the truck was somewhat limited and left us a little nervous with regard to the events which were now beginning to unfold in the cab. After just two hours we became distinctly aware that we had begun to veer wildly across the road onto the hard shoulder. However, thankfully the truck soon came to a shuddering halt in a small village, where we shakily dismounted from our perch to enquire about our rather erratic drive.

Clearly desperate for the cash the driver had forgotten to mention that he had yet to go to sleep and with another 4 hours ahead of him he was becoming more than a little sleepy. Our resourcefulness has yet to fail us and within minutes a solution was born which would enable the driver to get some much needed rest whilst still retaining some essence of forward motion.

In this instance the two willing participants were Ollie whom nervously gripped the huge steering wheel and Tom whom attempted to take charge of the gears. As the two novices fished for lost gears and lurched around slow moving vehicles the driver silently slept; confident in his passengers’ ability.

Remarkably we survived the six-hour, 300km journey.