Laundry, maintenance and shopping is what we were going to do today......
Sue kicked off with the laundry while I looked at the portal axle oil levels. Once these had been refilled I had a quick look at the fan belts (we have 9 of them on the engine) - this is where I spotted that the belt that drives the alternator & waterpump was loose - very loose, in fact as I tugged at it the alternator itself moved! There has been no indication of anything wrong while driving - no charge light, no unusual temperatures - only that the domestic batteries didn't seem to be charging as quickly as normal - something I was going to look into today anyway. Looking at the alternator mounting I found that the bolt that holds the tension bar had sheared clean off level with the engine block. Oh poo! Then it started raining.Oh double poo! Sue quickly reappeared with armfuls of damp clothes wondering what to do with them while I tried to protect all the tools and parts that were out. The awning suddenly came into it's own by giving us some protection from the rain (we fitted it imagining the midday sun beating down on us....). Anyway, by draping a small groundsheet over myself and the engine bay I managed to continue to work on getting the bolt out (3 hours of gentle persuasion did the job along with some "Black Magic - thanks to the guys at Vass's for the tip!) - it seems that the alternator had previously been mounted using a stainless bolt which failed under repeated stress. We had a suitable replacement bolt in stock, but the spacer which normally sits on the bolt is probably lying somewhere between here and Durban. How do you create a 50mm long spacer for a 10mm bolt on a wet campsite in Oudtshoorn? I was messing about with various smaller spacers and washers when Sue arrived from the campsite office proudly telling me that she had just been to see a chap on-site who makes special knives. Someone who makes knives works with metal -someone who works with metal either has tools or knows someone else who does. A quick trip to the campsite office found the owner who is also the guy who makes the knives who very kindly immediately turned me a spacer on an antique Hungarian lathe - and refused any payment! Many thanks to you David! A campsite with Unimog repair facilities!!!!!!!!
The truck is now all back together, tested and ready, Sue has most of the washing almost dry and the campsite is becoming a muddy lake. This is the Karoo - it's supposed to be dry?
No other maintenance or jobs were done (Actually I did do some mending and hemming. S.), we haven't been shopping or to the museum, we haven't managed to have the restaurant meal we promised ourselves, but we are feeling satisfied that we managed to get ourselves mobile again within the day.
The day ended with gammon and summer fruits poached in wine with two rices - all prepared by Sue in the Mog and washe
Sue kicked off with the laundry while I looked at the portal axle oil levels. Once these had been refilled I had a quick look at the fan belts (we have 9 of them on the engine) - this is where I spotted that the belt that drives the alternator & waterpump was loose - very loose, in fact as I tugged at it the alternator itself moved! There has been no indication of anything wrong while driving - no charge light, no unusual temperatures - only that the domestic batteries didn't seem to be charging as quickly as normal - something I was going to look into today anyway. Looking at the alternator mounting I found that the bolt that holds the tension bar had sheared clean off level with the engine block. Oh poo! Then it started raining.Oh double poo! Sue quickly reappeared with armfuls of damp clothes wondering what to do with them while I tried to protect all the tools and parts that were out. The awning suddenly came into it's own by giving us some protection from the rain (we fitted it imagining the midday sun beating down on us....). Anyway, by draping a small groundsheet over myself and the engine bay I managed to continue to work on getting the bolt out (3 hours of gentle persuasion did the job along with some "Black Magic - thanks to the guys at Vass's for the tip!) - it seems that the alternator had previously been mounted using a stainless bolt which failed under repeated stress. We had a suitable replacement bolt in stock, but the spacer which normally sits on the bolt is probably lying somewhere between here and Durban. How do you create a 50mm long spacer for a 10mm bolt on a wet campsite in Oudtshoorn? I was messing about with various smaller spacers and washers when Sue arrived from the campsite office proudly telling me that she had just been to see a chap on-site who makes special knives. Someone who makes knives works with metal -someone who works with metal either has tools or knows someone else who does. A quick trip to the campsite office found the owner who is also the guy who makes the knives who very kindly immediately turned me a spacer on an antique Hungarian lathe - and refused any payment! Many thanks to you David! A campsite with Unimog repair facilities!!!!!!!!
The truck is now all back together, tested and ready, Sue has most of the washing almost dry and the campsite is becoming a muddy lake. This is the Karoo - it's supposed to be dry?
No other maintenance or jobs were done (Actually I did do some mending and hemming. S.), we haven't been shopping or to the museum, we haven't managed to have the restaurant meal we promised ourselves, but we are feeling satisfied that we managed to get ourselves mobile again within the day.
The day ended with gammon and summer fruits poached in wine with two rices - all prepared by Sue in the Mog and washe