The Fat Lady Has Sung

Saturday was the delivery day for the motorhome.  We were up early and did the final clean up and clear out of the van.

The plan was for Elaine to follow me to Poynton railway station in the Citroen where we would leave it to be picked up later when we returned later from York by train......simples!

We drove to Selby where we were going to meet the new owners in a pub carpark where we would do the handover.  When they were happy we would then go to the bank and put the cash straight into our bank account from theirs. After that it was to be a drive to the secure storage area where they would park up the motorhome, then we would all go to York have a few drinks then we would catch a train back to Poynton and they would head back to their home in Selby.....simples part 2!!

We parked the Citroen up in Poynton and the drive to Selby was all good in very wet and windy conditions ...

Everything went to plan.  I took this pic as the new owners were about to drive her into the secure storage area.  I had driven the van to this point with absolutely no problems ...

This is when things all went pear shaped!  In the last year we have covered just about 14,000 miles in the motorhome with absolutely no problems.

The new owner drove the van into the parking area, a distance of  about 50ft.  He then rang and said the reverse camera had come on then just went off, so he drove the van back out so I could check it.  Sure enough there was no picture on the monitor, which was only a few days old!   I checked the monitor on the TV circuit and it worked fine, but then the engine management warning light came on!!  We checked the owners hand book and it basically said to contact the dealer and not to drive any further. As the van was still under warranty, I rang the dealer who said that we shouldn't drive it and that they would send out a tow truck!!  We were absolutely gobsmacked.  We had driven this vehicle for 14,000 miles with no problems and the new owner had driven it just a few feet and it shat itself! 

We agreed that we would take the van back and get it sorted and would deliver it again next week, which was very trusting of them as I had the money in my bank account plus got the van back!  I can assure you there was no woohooing from us we were so embarrassed and mightily pissed off. 

The tow truck arrived about 2 hours later.  He plugged in his machine and it came up with faults on the air flow meter plus other sensor irregular readings.  He reset it all and we went for a spin.  The van went great with no problems, so he suspected a electrical gremlin and could give no reason to why it couldn't be driven. 

We headed back to Poynton and all went well.  When I filled it with fuel close to Poynton I tried the reverse camera.  It didn't work and the engine warning light came on again.

We picked up the Citroen, parked the van at Poynton and went back to Elaine's dad's house totally fed up.

Elaine's brother Trevor came around to offer his assistance and brain storming services.  I should add that he is a electrical and electronics guru.  He looked at the electrical schematics on line and asked if the reverse lights had worked?  Er ... I didn't know the answer to that, although Elaine said she hadn't noticed them on when we were testing the reverse camera at the storage yard. 

On Sunday morning Elaine, Trev and myself headed up to Higher Poynton, multimeter in hand.

First things first we checked the reverse lights ... they didnt work.  We checked the fuses to find that the fuse for the reverse lights had blown, the fuse also protected some sensors!!!

We replaced the fuse and everything worked!  Once the engine started the management light also went out.....bugger me, 24 hours of angst for a poxy 10 cent fuse!

The next problem to be solved was why the fuse had blown in the first place.  We put the van on the ramps to check out where the feed for the reverse light camera was taken from.  We found the splice right underneath the overflow hose from the water tank!  On Friday I had filled the water tank and forgot about it so a few gallons of water had poured all over the connection!  So we rewired the connection, wrapped it up in waterproof tape and re-routed the overflow pipe.

We then stopped and started the engine a million times and tried the reverse light a few more million times.  Trevor, the perfectionist, also suggested we remove the reverse light units to make sure there was no water ingress in them, so we did that.  They were as dry as a bone. 

After a successful morning we did the obvious and decided to go to the pub.  Trevor then suggested that we rang the new owners to see if we could deliver the motorhome now, as in Sunday afternoon.  What a good idea!  We rang and they said 'no probs'!  So, I did something I have never done before, I left an unfinished pint of beer!!

We dropped off the Citroen in Macc and then Trevor took us to the van and we were off again!  This time everything went as clockwork, the only problem was that by the time the vehicle was parked up in its new home there was no time for a drink.  They dropped us off at Selby railway station where we caught a train back to Macclesfield via Manchester.

By the time we got back it was 21.00 so we bought a big fat Indian takeaway and went back to Elaine's dad home to scoff it and have a drink. 

What a weekend, I still can't believe it!!  We really, really have to thank Trevor for his very logical and analytical thinking.  He is a Star!

This morning I took the little Citroen for a service and new cambelt.  Unfortunately that hasn't gone to plan either as a bolt has broken off in a totally inaccessible spot!  They may have to remove the engine to remove it.  After the weekend we have had, I don't really care! 

As I said a few weeks ago the daily blog had finished unless something interesting happened, well I think this weekend was pretty bloody interesting.

So to exciting, future plans ...

As the lovely Australian quarantine bastards people moved the goalposts and we can't return to Oz (with the dogs) till early February we were in a bit of a quandary as what we would do and where we would stay for the winter ... so, in the next week or so, we are planning to jump in the little Citroen C3 and head off to Spain for a few months!  As much as we absolutely love England, the winter just sucks! 

Don't ya just love a new adventure?!

In finishing off whilst taking the doggies for a walk around Macc this morning I couldn't help but to stop and admire this lovely Moggie.  The traffic warden also stopped, but he was giving it a ticket!!