If there is any justice in the world GANNET2 should no longer leak oil.
Wilmar spent Friday groveling around inside our Pentastar V-6 gasoline motor replacing the oil cooler which Amazon shipped to us here in Colombia.
The plan is to finish off checking our brakes on Saturday (today) and install new rubber seals and plastic parts to protect our brand new rotors and pads. Then we will be ready to face the journey south.
The factory installed plastic oil cooler is notoriously prone to leaks in the Pentastar engine which was why 50,000 miles ago I had an aftermarket aluminum cooler by Dorman installed. That was supposed to solve the problem. We’ll see if this one lasts longer:
New body, new gaskets, new oil temperature and pressure sensors (I kept the old ones for spares) and let’s see how this goes. Meanwhile a latch broke on one of our drawers so Layne called in the carpenter.
If it’s not one thing it’s another. I also got a new screw in my indestructible Kermit chair after a screw came loose and bent the last time I folded it. This stuff gets tedious but it’s much easier to get stuff done here than in the States. They just take you in and see what can be done and you get to watch.
A young couple from Québec showed up, our first Quebecois since we left the US and they asked to have their diesel Toyota serviced and without hesitation Ben the mechanic started work on changing their oil. Camille and Veronique from Montreal:
They have eight months to reach Uruguay to ship home. In three days they will be in Ecuador so we won’t see them again after they leave here. Our campground neighbors also showed up on one of their three motorbikes. Ben is on the right:
They picked up a piece of metal he had fabricated for them. Their huge expedition truck has an elderly diesel engine in it designed before modern synthetic oils were invented. He told me they use 40 gallons of oil each change every 3,000 miles in their truck:
I enjoy looking at other people’s machines but I do prefer the comforts of a van and the small footprint of our 21 foot Promaster. With front wheel drive we can get through narrow streets pretty easily which makes up for our lack of off road capability. I also like an automatic gearbox even though on done roads I would like an ultra low gear to slow us down to use the brakes less. First gear manually inserted still lets us roll faster downhill than done mountain roads allow. Still it’s a good van for us.
Sometimes it’s hardest having our home with us. Anytime something goes wrong the stress is higher because GANNET2 is our home not just a vehicle to get around in, but it’s a good place to live and travel, on the whole.
And because we are retired spending time in the shop isn’t the worst problem in the world. We’ll get it fixed and move on as soon as we can. We are lucky that way as we have no deadlines unlike people with obligations back home. This was the arrival of the lawn mower at the shop where rain is making the grass grow. You don’t see this a lot in the US:
The irony of a rough dirt road to get to the shop!
I can’t wait for a nice long lazy few days at the campground reading and walking Rusty, happy knowing GANNET2 is in tip top shape. For now at least.
And then we return to central Colombia for a couple of weeks to see Medellin, drive some excessively high altitude roads and see some great scenery. A road test of our repairs.
Then we’ll be ready for Ecuador, at our slow retired pace.
