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hey there, just the latest installment of my french miandering. it was my surfs 3rd french trip this year and all was going splendidly... until my drive back to calais after 2 weeks training holday.
some of you may recall a water leak problem ive had since i got the car back in April this year.... a water leak that no one could work out where the water was going to or why it kept over heating and wazzing out of the over flow...
well cruising along a french motorway the temperature gauge decided to get a move on, and i pulled over faster than you can say "holy cr@p the cars over heating" by the time i stopped im cruising into the red...
40 minutes later when the engine is cool enough to top up, it took almost 4 litres of water to top up and i nervously set about the remaining 180kms towards calais. Alas, 10 minutes later the car starts to over heat again and has another flippin great pish from the overflow bottle.
im stranded, on a french motorway with no hard shoulder, facing up hill as dusk is falling and a rapidly depleating water supply to top up with.
Then a belgian lorry pulled over ( its great being female sometimes), the fellas gave me some water and guided me to the nearest truck stop. then they set about either removing the thermostat or wedging it open with some percussive maintenance. Back on the road cruising along the temperature maintained at its normal place and i made it all the way (via the chunnel) to the M20 before the car started to over heat again. two further stops required more topping up of water before i finally made it back to the croydon stink hole.
So, ive been back a week and the surf hasnt moved from my driveway. I think its succumbed to the dreaded (inevitable it seems) cracked head problem and im left to work out which part of my body is worth the most to sell so i can afford to get it sorted.
i think the garage i bought it from still has a duty to take care of it but im not holding my breath. Im sending a letter to them tomorrow.
in the mean time if anyone can offer advise ( especially how hard is it to replace a head.. surely not that hard for a savvy enthusiast) , sympathy or wants a kidney let me know.
jayne
some of you may recall a water leak problem ive had since i got the car back in April this year.... a water leak that no one could work out where the water was going to or why it kept over heating and wazzing out of the over flow...
well cruising along a french motorway the temperature gauge decided to get a move on, and i pulled over faster than you can say "holy cr@p the cars over heating" by the time i stopped im cruising into the red...
40 minutes later when the engine is cool enough to top up, it took almost 4 litres of water to top up and i nervously set about the remaining 180kms towards calais. Alas, 10 minutes later the car starts to over heat again and has another flippin great pish from the overflow bottle.
im stranded, on a french motorway with no hard shoulder, facing up hill as dusk is falling and a rapidly depleating water supply to top up with.
Then a belgian lorry pulled over ( its great being female sometimes), the fellas gave me some water and guided me to the nearest truck stop. then they set about either removing the thermostat or wedging it open with some percussive maintenance. Back on the road cruising along the temperature maintained at its normal place and i made it all the way (via the chunnel) to the M20 before the car started to over heat again. two further stops required more topping up of water before i finally made it back to the croydon stink hole.
So, ive been back a week and the surf hasnt moved from my driveway. I think its succumbed to the dreaded (inevitable it seems) cracked head problem and im left to work out which part of my body is worth the most to sell so i can afford to get it sorted.
i think the garage i bought it from still has a duty to take care of it but im not holding my breath. Im sending a letter to them tomorrow.
in the mean time if anyone can offer advise ( especially how hard is it to replace a head.. surely not that hard for a savvy enthusiast) , sympathy or wants a kidney let me know.
jayne
she's no angel
Ian
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