Bit of a crisis in the south of France

[jes*b]

onwards!

[hotpod]

Pete,
i had to do that job on the camper last year sometime. i managed to tig a patch on which did the trick. you can bring it round to the workshop when you are back if you want me to have a crack at yours. i also have a neat fix for the corroded bolt.
but... next time it goes, i shall be getting me one of these . its what i would have done last time if they were available. i would suggest you do the same if you have the dosh.

[HarryMann]

The bolt is not a big problem, just shock the head around with a chisel to get it initially and if you mueller it soo much, just shear it orft! Can redrill hole when pipe removed and new screw.. it will stay in place OK without it for a while.

[PetenAli]

Thanks again all.

Jes - yep that's the feeling.

Dan - I'll give you a bell when we get back but the BW solution has to be the way to go.

Clive - that phillips headed thing that calls itself a bolt will get such a talking to when I get home!

Cheers all - off to the beach at Pont du Gard!

[HarryMann]

Have a good swim then...

and talk to that screw with one of these, it'll budge

Screw, bolt and nut loosening punch

[PetenAli]

Have a good swim then...

and talk to that screw with one of these, it'll budge

Screw, bolt and nut loosening punch

Had a great day thanks Clive. The Gard is a beeootiful river to swim in. I'll be packing one of those punches next time I go anywhere. Could have done with it yesterday morning!

Thanks again for keeping in touch.

[jebiga41]

Looks like we've got a get us home / rest of our holiday fix sorted.

First of all I tried to get the pipe out as per Aidan's advice. Only problem was the bolt that holds the pipe in place which in our case was a rusty, probably 26 year old, self tapper that wasn't for moving with a crumbling head. I also became increasingly aware of the extent of the corrosion on the pipe and was worried about making a bigger hole than is already there.

In the end with the help of brother in law, we managed to get the oily rag trick sorted with a bit of rag the length of the corroded section wrapped round twice and held in place with cable ties. Then down to put some SP 98 in and got back to where we are staying. Result: No Smell Of Fuel!!

I can't say "thanks" enough for all the responses and advice from everyone. 80 90 does it again!

Pete

good to see ypu got sorted was going to post a reply earlier but decided was best not to muddle the waters aah the joys of an oily rag

[Simon Baxter]

If you need them we have the filler grommet and filler neck on the shelf.

[PetenAli]

Thanks Simon. I'll be on to you next week.

We got back OK last week somehow slipping in between Brittany ferry strikes. This is the first chance to get on the forum as my daughter got married over the weekend and things have been accordingly pretty busy!

Again, a big thanks for the advice and assistance from people on here which enabled us to have a pretty much trouble free holiday once we'd done the temporary fix. Also thanks to Dave at Futbus for advice over the phone and for the loan of his high lift jack.

We came back over the Cevennes and spent three days in Chinon where I have some friends from teenage years and so enjoyed dinners and "aperos". We were also able to stock up with vital supplies of coffee, olive oil, wine etc to last us through the next year. This time though we had sister and brother in law with us so the VW had a huge load for the last 250 miles back to Roscoff with supplies for two households.

We did just under 2000 miles and generally I was pleased with the way the Syncro performed. It kept pretty cool on both journeys over the Cevennes. It managed just over 22mpg overall. Considering that we had four adults and all their gear plus the amount of wine etc that we brought back I was pretty pleased with this. We also did a lot more running around when in the Midi as sister in law had torn ligaments in her knee just before we left and so plans for bike rides and walks etc had to be largely shelved. Given the exchange rate and the cost of fuel in France we ended up spending a lot less on fuel than I had expected.

There were two other mechanical issues that developed towards the end of the trip. The first was was what I thought was a leaky exhaust but is in fact a leak in the induction side. I first noticed a popping sound on the overrun and then quite a loud induction roar on acceleration. I checked for all the obvious vacuum pipes etc but can't find anything. The induction noise is definately fron the right hand side though. I think I'm going to have to go through the whole system and check every joint right down to the gasket where the inlet manifold joins the head.

The second happened on the overnight run to Chinon when, after stopping for fuel, we lost headlights. I switched off to check fuses etc (all of which were OK) and then tried again and everything was OK. Subsequently it has happened again and this time both headlights and wipers stopped working (wipers - back in England!). Again I stopped to check what I could and then tried again and everything worked. I suspect this might be a common failing but I'm going to do separate posts for advice in the right place.

Here's a few pics of the journey and the places we stayed:

In the queue at Plymouth - sister in law strapped up!


First aire just south of Poitiers on the journey down. Had it to ourselves for the night.


Second aire at Florac


Nice French air cooled Westy at Florac. Owned by a family from Nimes who were away for the weekend. He had done the resto himself


Our set up at the friends' Mazet (barn) where we stayed most of the time


Fixing the leaking filler pipe


Our favourite beach at Collias


Another favourite swimming place at Pont du Gard


Our set up at Chinon (the only place we paid to stay in the whole trip - 15 euros per night including hook up!)


The view from just outside the camp site at Chinon


Right - now I need it to stop raining so that I can get that filler pipe off!

[bikermike87]

It looks lovely Pete, glad you managed to get a temp fix and carry on enjoying it.

I'm not sure I could fit a years supply of Wine and Olive oil in my van though. Maybe a months worth!

[PetenAli]

It looks lovely Pete, glad you managed to get a temp fix and carry on enjoying it.

I'm not sure I could fit a years supply of Wine and Olive oil in my van though. Maybe a months worth!

Well... we did get a years supply of olive oil and coffee. Wine is for Xmas providing it lasts that long

[syncropaddy]

Currently in Chinon with 10 cases in the boot! Eight more back at the gites

[Ralf85]

Nice pictures and nice sunshine and as usual loads of lovely trees. They warmed me up just looking at them.
I miss the tree covered countryside of France when I return to blighty.

Patrick

[PetenAli]

Currently in Chinon with 10 cases in the boot! Eight more back at the gites

Why did I think that might happen?! Saw that you were in the Loire on one of Jed's posts I think. If you get the chance (and haven't done so already) head just up to St Nicholas de Bourgueil and try a couple of the vinyards round there - the best Loire wines IMHO.

[syncropaddy]

Currently in Chinon with 10 cases in the boot! Eight more back at the gites

Why did I think that might happen?! Saw that you were in the Loire on one of Jed's posts I think. If you get the chance (and haven't done so already) head just up to St Nicholas de Bourgueil and try a couple of the vinyards round there - the best Loire wines IMHO.

We are staying not far from there and will raid Bourgueil and Chinon before we head over to Sancere

I agree with you on the Bourgueil area !!

On our way out of Samur this afternoon the cops were weighing cars with trailers, campers and small vans! Never saw that before.