Engine Malfunction

It must be a motorist’s worst nightmare, happily driving along up a hill without a care in the world, and then bang! The 4WD lost all power, the engine became very noisy, and Robin noticed smoke billowing out of the exhaust.  So he stopped the car at the crest of the hill and thought “Bugger, I’m in a spot of bother here”, or words to that effect.  What on earth was wrong?

Of course, this would happen on one of the few days when he forgot to take his cell phone with him.  Luckily a helpful home owner loaned him a phone to call home.  After giving me directions, and double checking that I knew where to find him, (I sometimes have navigation  problems), I was instructed to bring the cell phones.  The AA was called, and we awaited the tow truck.  Finally, after nearly an hour, it arrived.  It was arranged that the towie would take our 4WD to our local garage for repair. 

Help has arrived

The front wheels were soon lifted onto a plate.  But as the Toyota runs on permanent 4WD, the back wheels had to be lifted off the ground as well and on to a dolly.

Fitting the back wheels on to a dolly

Our sad broken down 4WD was then delivered to the garage.  But it was Saturday, and the garage was closed for the weekend.  Luckily the boss was contacted and agreed to come down, open up his workshop  and put our vehicle safely under cover.

Towed to safety

The damage wasn’t as great as Robin had first thought – he feared an engine rebuild.  The problem was caused by the exhaust return valves (they recycle exhaust gas back into the inlet manifold for re-burning) had malfunctioned and stuck open. So the problem was easily fixed and we are back on the road again.

While in the garage a drum was placed under the front to keep it out of the way. However one of the mechanics did not know it was there and drove over it damaging the left front tyre requiring the garage to replace it with another of a similar amount of wear. If you are superstitious that is three events in a row, leaking radiator, faulty return valves and ruined tyre – should be good for a while now!