Since arriving back in the UK, the campervan hasn’t really moved much, sadly, nor have I done anything with it on account of being wrapped up in the process of finding work, moving to a new home, and generally getting back to reality.
The engine needs replacing or rebuilding – that much is clear. The latest opinion on the fault that developed in Kenya is that a couple of main bearing bolts have sheared off and one of them was most likely responsible for punching the hole in the block that left me in such a pickle.
I’ve been in two minds about whether or not its worth getting the van fixed ; its going to cost me about £2,000-£2,500 to have the engine stripped down and reconditioned, or maybe £1500 for an existing reconditioned unit (plus fitting costs) or perhaps about £1k for a salvaged unit to be installed. On top of that, other jobs may need doing which will no doubt add up.
But I’ve decided its probably worth a shot at getting the van back on the road, partly because I spent so much time, effort, and money converting it that is seems a shame not to ; partly because I suppose I have some sentimental attachment to it (which is odd as I usually just see vehicles as a means of getting from A to B) ; and partly because it provides me with options should I wish to go away for a week or two either in the UK or in Europe over the next 12 months or so.
The process started just before Christmas with a somewhat optimistic attempt at getting it through its MOT with no preparation other than a clean – I was working on the principle that if it passed (unlikely) then great, but if not (more likely) that I’d get a feel for how much I’d need to spend on it to get it road-legal again in the UK.
For those who aren’t familiar with UK motoring legislation, every vehicle over 3 years old has to undergo an annual roadworthiness/safety test, which focusses on elements such as seatbelts, steering, suspension, indicators/signals, brakes, and so on.
Unsurprisingly, the van failed this test, but not nearly as badly as I was expecting.
For starters, the plate of metal glued to the engine – all that was stopping all my oil from splashing out as I drove around – wasn’t even mentioned.
The emissions test? Surely that would fail, given the amount of smoke coming out of the exhaust? But no, not a problem.
What was a problem, apparently, was some loose wiring underneath the vehicle that was vaguely rubbing against the propshaft. This was wiring from the Webasto diesel burner that was mounted on a metal bracket underneath the van, which was shunted towards the propshaft when the van was unceremoniously removed from the back of the tipper truck in Nairobi.
The drivers side seatbelt stopped retracting in Windhoek, Namibia so I took it apart, swore a bit when all the springs flew out onto the dusty ground, and put it back together as best I could before reinstalling it as a ‘fixed’ seatbelt. Despite having bought a replacement from one of the very few VW dealers in the region, and having plenty of spare time and all the tools to fit it during the remaining 5 months or so, the replacement was still sitting in its original box in the back of the van. Procrastination rules 🙂 Needless to say, this got flagged in the MOT test.
The complete and utter lack of any braking being applied by the handbrake was apparently a bit of an issue too. No great surprise there! It had caused me all manner of problems while trying to park the van on my ‘levelling’ blocks out in Africa – drive up the blocks, apply handbrake, remember it doesn’t work, stop engine in gear and release clutch, hoping it will stop the van from rolling backwards, jump out, check spirit level, get back into van, start engine, try again…
The large crack in the windscreen that I picked up (and had fixed) on the gravel roads in Namibia was only flagged up as an ‘advisory’, surprisingly… Its quite low on the windscreen though.
Oh and one of my brake lights wasn’t working.
All things considered, I thought that wasn’t too bad really. Nothing wrong at all with the suspension or steering (which surprises me). An eyebrow was raised over one of the tyres as it apparently had no load rating on it and was probably for a 4×4 not a commercial vehicle, but as I pointed out to the guy behind the counter, it was the only one I could find in Lilongwe (Malawi), when I needed a spare.
Christmas came and went, and having booked a week off work between then and New Year, I spent a few days scrabbling around in the cold and wet under the van trying to tackle the points raised in the MOT.
The seatbelt was fairly easy to replace (which makes me wonder why I put it off so long) – a couple of bolts to remove and some gentle persuasion with the height adjustment slider trim, which in the end I left out when I reassembled it as I couldn’t get it back on properly. I’ll have another go when its warmer outside! My efforts were somewhat hampered by having built the bulkhead partially over the trim that covers the seatbelt mechanism on the B pillar – on the assumption that I wouldn’t need access. Stupid boy.
Next up was the handbrake, which can be pulled up through over 120 degrees without it taking effect. Adjusting this involved removing one wheel nut on each of the back wheels, jacking the rear of the vehicle up, sticking a screwdriver through the hole left by removing the wheel nut, and rotating the wheel until you find a hard-to-see-especially-through-a-small-hole adjuster, which you turn (the instructions I found didn’t say in which direction) until the brake ‘bites’, back it off a bit, and repeat on the other side.
Which was stuck solid, so all bets were off at this point unless I was prepared to remove the drum, which I wasn’t – I had a queasy moment as I had a flashback to removing my car brake drums in my early 20s and spending ages hunting around on the floor for the spring that inevitably shoots out before trying to get the damned drums back on, only to find another bolt or spring under the car just as I’ve lowered it off the jack.
Having given up on the individual wheel adjustments, I tackled the central adjustment under the van itself – this involves undoing 4 bolts (that hold the adjuster to the van), sliding it forward or backwards as necessary (backwards in my case to remove some of the slack in the cable from the adjuster to the handbrake lever) and whilst holding it in place with both hands (its under tension), doing up the 4 bolts again. Ummm….with your teeth, presumably?
With some assistance from my father (first time he’s crawled under a vehicle in a few years, I suspect!) the handbrake was finally adjusted, or at least, as much as was possible without some serious dismantling and replacing of components, so it was time to tackle the Webasto burner.
Now, this thing was purchased as a ‘working, tested’ 2nd hand item off eBay. This was the only 2nd hand item I bought when preparing the van. It was also the only item I paid to have someone else install. And it was just about the only item that failed to work. Utter rubbish. As such, I was quite happy to rip the stupid thing off, which was largely a case of cutting some electrical cables, removing the bracket (not easy as it was so twisted and bent) and finally cutting through the radiator hoses that feed it with coolant from the engine compartment. I had already been to the local DIY store to purchase a short length of 19mm O/D metal pipe which allowed me to re-join the 2 ends of the coolant hose (21mm I/D). A few zip ties to tidy up the remaining cabling (which needs removing, post-MOT) and it was all sorted.
The brake light – well, that just needed a new bulb, not exactly rocket science…
The next weekend I was going through some last minute checks, which involved checking the passenger seatbelt was working. Now, this wasn’t used much in Africa, on account of me being on my own for most of the trip, but I do remember it had been a bit ‘sticky’ and didn’t always retract. Needless to say, just before taking it to the MOT centre, it decided to stop retracting entirely in the same way that the drivers side one had in Namibia. Too much dust in the mechanism, I suspect.
A week later, with a 2nd hand seatbelt in my grubby mitts c/o eBay, the van was ready for its 2nd attempt at its MOT.
Which it failed.
Bugger.
This time, however, it only failed on the efficiency of the handbrake – 1% below the permitted efficiency figure. The adjustments to the cable had worked well enough to get through that part of the test, but the brakes themselves weren’t holding well enough. The guys at the MOT centre recommended “just” removing the drums and cleaning it up.
Cue flashback to 20 odd years ago again.
So I just booked it into one of the many brake/tyre centres locally and asked them to sort it out, which they did, charging me £100 for labour and a brake clean. I then took it back for its partial retest which, I’m glad to say, it has passed.
Hurrah!
But only just – the handbrake is borderline and will no doubt need more attention in the near future, but (a) its better than it ever was out in Africa and (b) I can now get the remaining paperwork done so I can drive it to my place, or at least to a garage to get more work done on it.
Like putting in a new engine…
Around the World in a Campervan 