The week leading up - Fri 10 Feb 23


Fri 10 Feb - Home

Back home, I called Gerald Slaven Ford in Belconnen first thing on Monday morning to let them know what happened and that the car would be arriving soon on a tow truck from Yass. Based on my past experience with this dealership due to problems with a service (ironically including a transmission service) they did in November last year, I was expecting a bit of a frustrating time. To their credit,  they inspected the leak and found a failed!!! transmission gasket - I suggest from the transmission service they did in November last year. I was impressed that they not only inspected it so quickly, but that the had it repaired by the end of the day. Thankfully it wasn't anything serious and there was no damage done to the transmission. Unfortunately, they noticed a minor oil leak in the rear main seal, which they advised would be OK to drive around town with, but not towing a 3 tonne caravan around South Australia for 10 weeks. They said they would aim to try and have it repaired by Friday the 10th, but thought Wednesday 15th was more realistic. By Wed 8th, they had replaced the rear main seal, but in doing so also noticed a problem with the starter motor which ultimately also needed replacing. They ordered new a starter motor which arrived late on Thursday, and on Friday morning at 1000h, they called to advise me that they had undertaken all repairs, test drove the car and rechecked for leaks and were happy for me to come and collect it. I didn't hold out much hope of such a successful and speedy outcome, and I was very impressed with the Service Manager's daily updates and particularly their efforts to get us back on the road so quickly. 

Happy to have our 'tow rig' back, I'm now more confident that we will leave, albeit a few days later, for our trip to SA, and therefore happy to start this blog. 

All going well from now, our planned route will take us a little over 5,000km following mainly the coast of South Australia, before making our way back to the Flinders Ranges for a week, then returning home. As always, subject to change - let's see how it unfolds. 


Our planned route which includes a lot more stops than indicated on the map

Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 11, 2023 at 5:46 PM

    Have fun and drive safe. Shoulda got a Toyota or a Mazda!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 12, 2023 at 10:28 AM

    Glad you got it sorted, look forward to keeping up with your adventures!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Steven BarbFebruary 12, 2023 at 1:57 PM

    Glad to see your back on the road. Hope you guys have a fantastic adventure. Looking forward to following your adventures. Happy safe travels.

    ReplyDelete

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