Ouch!!

I’ve had to pay my first big bill on the Range Rover today.

Lisa and I had a faultless (and economical – 32.6mpg) run up to the Lake District for a much needed week away but on day two my trusty steed blew the radiator 300 miles away from home, halfway up the Wrynose Pass.

After much steam and swearing a crack in the plastic casing on the top of the radiator was found to be the culprit. Luckily I smelt the sweet smell of coolant and shut down before cooking the motor.

So whilst Lisa used what little mobile phone signal she had to contact anyone who may be able to help us with a new radiator, I had to put some thought into getting us off the Pass and back to civilisation.

I usually travel with a boot full of tools but had made up an emergency tool bag of ‘just in case’ essentials to enable more luggage room, so I’m looking at this with trepidation wondering what the hell I’m going to do….

In an inspired eureka moment I had a solution for the three inch split in the radiator – silicone sealant injected into the split, insulation tape over the top of that, then I rolled a rag into a sausage shape and taped that on top and finally, removed my canvas shoe and taped that on top….

What I now had was a unique compression bandage when the bonnet was closed on it and after a refill of the cooling system with water from a steam and leaving the radiator cap off, we managed to limp some 30 miles to the Land Rover dealer in Kendal.

They were very good and provided us with a courtesy car – apart from yesterday when the replacement radiator didn’t arrive as promised leading to me having a polite(!) sense of humour failure….

But despite this we collected the freshly repaired Range Rover this afternoon and handed £617 to them for the repair, thankfully the sniff test revealed no further issues.

I could have fixed it for under half the price had it happened closer to home!! 🙂

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5 thoughts on “Ouch!!”

  1. Yes, why do they break down when you are away. My 130 must like Spanish garages!

    September 2012 – Leon – blown head gasket, expansion tank split and head skim – £1,200 – lost 5 days

    October 2013 – Barcelona – power steering pump bearing failure taking out the serpentine belt and radiator cowl – £600 – lost three days

    Both these problems could have been repaired for a fraction of the cost if I’d been at home and in just one day!

    Ummmmm

    1. After reading your response Martin I’m considering myself quite fortunate – it was hard enough dealing with the Cumbrian local dialect, let alone Spanish!!

    1. That’s being very big headed Drew, saying you are ace…..lol
      Are you coming on any greenlane trips this summer?

      1. I am trying to arrange time with work and the family hope to otherwise I will have to polish the 90 again
        Spoke to simon may do a short notice welsh weekend

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