Days to go : 85
The last few weeks have seen some changes with me starting a new job nearer to home. This means I will have time in the evenings to fettle rather than cramming eveything in at the weekends.
There have been a few gltches with the car since the alternator debarcle. All of them mainly connected with fueling.
On the 27th June we attended a 4x4 Response off-road open day at Dersingham near Kings Lynn. I loaded the car up as much as possible with all tanks full (175 litres in the main tank, 22 in the reserve/starter tank and a total of 60 litres of freshwater). I wanted to see how she handled off-road, fully loaded. I took here for a quick spin around the course. Nothing too adventurous but enough to see how she coped with ruts, lumps and a sideslopes. All in all I am very happy with how the suspension coped.
The only extra weight that we will have on board for tunisia will be food and clothes.
During the day Alan had a problem when his fuel lift pump failed. This was quickly fixed once Morag brought a spare from his garage in Bungay. However, it did emphasise the need for me to add a spare one of these to my list for carrying (that thought became very prophetic).
On my last journey home from London on the 2nd June I lost power just north of Attleborough. Switching to diesel gave an immediate increase and I drove the rest of the way like this.
Investigation found that my lift pump had come out in sympathy and decided to pack in. Obviously the extra load of pumping the higher viscosity veg oil is taking its toll.
A quick trip to Bungay to 'borrow' Alan's second spare pump and she was up and running in no time. I shall add an article on how to change the pump in due course.
I also took the opportunity to change the fuel filters.
Since then she has done nearly 300 miles, mainly on veg oil, backwards and forwards to work without problem.
I have also started the installation of my digital instrument pack (EGT, water temp, oil temp and oil pressure). Again I shall give a full write up once it's complete.
This evening we are off to see my niece in Nuneaton. Both her and her husband serve in the Army and they have arranged for Alan and I to join the car club on the base. This gives us access to the full MT section facilities including the car lifts. I am hoping to do a gearbox oil change, replace the transmission cooling pipes (MoT advisory) and fit the full set of polybushes I have had on the shelf for months.
They have also promised that the army mechanics will give the cars a good dose of looking at in all areas to check for any potential problems.
As always I shall attempt to photograph anything worthwhile and add articles.
