Disaster Strikes
Things started off so well... We left London at 12.30 Saturday lunchtime. By the time we had got down to the channel tunnel in Dover, the car was running very hot. as it was now 5pm on a Saturday we decided to stop as soon as the temperature started to get close to red.
We soldiered on the next day racking our brains, trying to think what would be wrong. I went through a simple diagnostic procedure and came to the conclusion that the radiator was blocked. we tried to find a replacement but Saturday in Germany was proving fruitless.
I attempted to clear it with "wee stain remover" that was acquired from a service station. I used it because it dissolved lime, which is what i believed was blocking the rad. After two attempts at this, we had improved the situation fractionally, and were now using the two interior heaters to remove some of the heat build up.
We had managed to keep the running temperature to just below the start of the danger zone. This was extremely difficult as we were on German autobahns doing 45mph on the flat and 35mph uphill with traffic passing us at 150mph+. We arrived in the Czech Republic at about 10pm on Sunday. The car had got a little too far into the red at one point at a very long uphill climb where we were holding up everything including massive articulated lorries and cars towing caravans. We had passed a breakers yard but being Sunday there was no one about. We intended to go back in the morning (Monday) and find a replacement radiator, but when we started the car on Monday, things were far from OK.
We had a lot of noise and a very unbalanced engine, it was only running on three cylinders and there was a lot of blow-by. most of you will have guessed right - at least two compression rings were cracked and were not allowing full compression and thus ignition to take place. We nursed the now very sick engine back to the breakers, not really knowing what we were going to do.
We found the nearest thing to a radiator that fitted in the form of a BMW 325core, coupled with an expansion tank from a VW polo, we had a cooling system that worked again. Temperatures never climbed above 1/4 but it was too late.... the damage had been done.
We weighed up the options, we did not have enough time to repair what would ultimately involve a bottom end rebuild, we didn't have the equipment either. we searched for a new engine in CZ but found nothing suitable. We were left with the choice of carry on the rally and see how long it takes to blow up, or head home at a very slow rate and save all the equipment, kit and spares we had taken with us that would be dumped somewhere near Kiev if we had carried on. we drove the 700 miles back in one hit, stopping every 50 miles to stick a liter of oil in the engine! It eventually coughed back over the channel and ended up using 2.5 liters of oil to cover 100Km, it really was bad.
To say i am miserable is an understatement, i am so disappointed that we dropped out so early, we really had put a huge amount of effort into this car, and were confidant that it would make the distance easily. In hindsight, we should have turned around in Dover but at that point we had thought the overheating had been caused by the severe weight of the vehicle and the huge aerodynamic drag created by a roof box and six wheels and tyres on the roof. I feel that i have let all of the people who so kindly and generously donated to our charities, all the people that donated parts and helped with the build of the car. I really am very sorry and gutted that our attempt ended in its infancy.
The car is now pretty much scrap with regards to The engine, however after scouring the Mongol rally documentation, there is no time limit on how long you can take to get to Mongolia, so with that in mind, i am hatching a plan to go for "the longest time record" by fitting a newer TD engine, and completing the rally next year.
sorry....
