Monday In Arequipa

Yesterday Layne and I, carefully observed by the chief security officer unloaded the loot brought back from the States by herself, then we stripped our lockers and sorted stuff we didn’t want to keep anymore. Then we replaced it with the new and we hope more useful stuff. 

It’s nice not to be rushed and to be in a comfortable climate and to have lots of room to spread out. Layne brought back a more suitable camping chair by Kilo and we gave away the larger Kilo chair we decided to replace. The young French couple in their tiny camper were grateful for it. 

It’s all the impedimenta of travel and living combined with heavy wood furniture that puts our Promaster at full capacity. But you pays your money and you takes your choice. We’ve been living full time in this van since October 21st 2021 and we neither of us are tired of it (Rusty might disagree), so we must be doing something right. 

By some standards we are loaded with stuff which if you live in a 3,000 square foot home is laughable, but I have discovered there aren’t a lot of open ended travelers like us. Most overlanders are on a journey constrained by time or money so a suitable life on the road fit them is traveling light and basically roughing it in a hard sided tent. 

GANNET2 is our home, so taking some time and money to repair our van after 116,000 of the hardest road miles doesn’t seem too much of a burden. Especially as we have more travels to come on not great roads. Our plan is to be in Pensacola in time to vote in the next election but that may be too fast for us to get back to Florida. Team Lost moves slowly. 

The plan now is to drop off GANNET2 at Renzo’s shop on Tuesday before lunch. I hope by Wednesday evening the scanner dude will have some insight into the locked transmission code. Either way I hope we will be back aboard living in our home by Thursday. 

When I suggested a visit to the RAM dealer to clear the codes I got one of those classic evasive Latin American noes, and I’m not sure why. Drivemotor Peru does not have much standing in this town apparently as I have been directed away from them more than once. Renzo gets his Mopar parts shipped direct from Lima which says something I suppose. 

Then there is the new problem of clicking CV joints in the front wheels. Remember when I said our van is at full load capacity (9400 pounds)? The CV joints are like your knees so I’m actually pleased we can get them replaced while we are stopped here. Peugeot Jumper vans are another Promaster variant and chassis parts are interchangeable. We have Fiat/Renault/Peugeot bushings bearings tie rods brakes and so forth, already from our repairs in Panama, and a new Peugeot windshield from our rock encounter in Ecuador. 

Thus because I prefer preventative maintenance to roadside repairs - the joys of my impecunious youth when I broke down all over Europe on my motorcycles - I want to check and replace our suspension components. To you it might be a waste of money but to us it is one of peace of mind. 

I tried to pay Renzo for their done but he refused. He said he only likes to get paid when the job is finished properly. Okay then. Layne and I will be drawing soles from the ATM in days ahead in preparation for an unknown bill. A bit weird but here we are. Besides all that we have driven away from Renzo’s shop owing him I don’t know how much money. 

It’s a lesson in cultural adaptation all this mechanical annoyance. Our van is broken but we get to camp aboard and are welcome in the campground. When we broke down in the middle of nowhere we were welcomed by the local community which helped us organize a tow to Arequipa. The mechanic took us in immediately and stripped our gearbox. We got to sleep in his shop unattended and he encouraged me to hang around and watch the work. 

Sometimes I catch myself thinking: “we’ll do that when we get home…”but I’m actually finding South America in general is so much easier to deal with than the rigid liability mindset in the States. 

One thing we have learned on this journey is if you have time and money and patience it will all work out. And as retirees with no obligations and an open ended schedule and monthly miraculous checks we have that privilege. 

The main reason I record this journey is to have a reminder when I’m older and home bound that I did live. The journeys of my youth before the digital age are locked away only in my memories, and I have always wanted to see places and things for myself, so every chance I got I went whether I had a camera or not. 

The other more quixotic reason is to show it’s not dangerous or stupid to get in a car and drive south. I’m not a travel agent and I would never encourage anyone to do something they don’t want to do but I hope it’s enough to open a curtain on the world outside so that others may see how unthreatening and utterly normal life is in places not often visited. I remind myself daily I first came to South America at age 67. I first took my motorcycle to North Africa at age 19, so It took me a while to get here and I’ve traveled all over the place.

The world I grew up in is fading away and the assumptions I have about how the world should work are being replaced by new realities and because I’m human I understand but I resist the changes. I don’t like this new world order of anger and revenge that is replacing the brief interregnum of peace that I grew up in but it’s the reality. 

We have talked about going to Europe and driving East through Turkey to Central Asia but we meet Europeans who had formed similar plans but felt they couldn’t go at the moment so South America was the peaceful alternative. Thats a lesson for us. 

And we are finding inexpensive medical care, available mechanical parts and welcoming locals. What’s not to like? 90 days her and 90 days there and pretty soon you are too old to keep driving.

So what if we are stuck here for a month? After that our stories from the road will resume and whatever problems show up will be a fresh opportunity to problem solve. That’s life on the road or off. 

Stationary

Life has looked up a bit with Layne's return. We have a room at the hotel which is the building where we have been camping and it’s a good thing to have a room as we are going to be here a while as GANNET2 after 116,000 hard miles needs work. 

Rusty was delighted to be back at the campground and having the three of us back together cheered him up too, as he spent time with Layne paying him attention. That didn’t last which was good otherwise I might have got jealous. 

A hotel room with hot shower was a nice change after five days in the mechanic’s shop. I went back over there by Uber to wait for the boss Renzo to drive us to the electronics specialist. Renzo:

Number one sidekick Chato is his nickname as his real name is unpronounceable. He will be rebuilding GANNET2’s suspension which is showing signs of exhaustion. The CV joints started clicking if you know what they are and that’s a sign they need to be replaced. 

Fran is a sometimes grumpy 22 year old who takes direction from Renzo. He’s an apprentice so I appreciate the boss keeping an eye on him. He is shy but he does dial a few words of English so I try to draw him out. 

We heard the front end of the van clicking when we arrived at the electronic guy’s shop. The universal joints at the front steer the wheels but also drive the wheels with power from the gear box, so they are critical.

Meanwhile the electronic guy’s was going to clear the permanent code from the computer. 

The problem was he couldn’t clear the code and the conclusion was that he needs to do a deep dive to figure out where the problem lies. He will do that work on Wednesday and if we need an electronic part it will have to be ordered from the States. No problem Renzo reassured me, it will just take a little time.  

While there is frustration here it’s also an interesting learning situation.  Overlanders break down but we unlike  most have not had serious problems finding parts on our journey. The Promaster is a strange hybrid with a US engine and European body so we’ve been able to find the parts we’ve needed on the road. It’s strangely reassuring that when I might need suspension or driveline parts we can use spares from Peugeot Jumper vans.

Arequipa may be our home for another few weeks but once we get all this work done we may have the confidence to go to Amazonia, our original plan. Renzo seems to be proving himself, not taking short cuts, not being satisfied with good enough. 

I like traveling but part of the journey is washing up on the beach and repairing what needs to be fixed. So here we are. 

O.M.G

There is still one last part to replace and Renzzo had ordered the part on Wednesday after the initial test drive failure, some sort of a transmission solenoid ordered before a specialized scan of the computer codes confirmed that was what we needed to get the van running properly.  It was shipped overnight from Lima and we stopped by to pick it up.  

GANNET2 moves under her own power now but only in third gear (or reverse) so we drove slowly across town to see a man about a code scanner. 

Renzo told me he likes working on transmissions because they are a mixture of electronics mechanics and hydraulics. Engines are boring by comparison he said. It’s not obvious until you have to tear them apart but modern automatic transmissions are controlled not by you the driver but by a computer. And when the computer detects a problem it shuts down to protect the transmission. We are stuck in “limp mode” which is third gear and which I drove too hard and caused the transmission to overheat. But the computer hasn’t detected the new transmission so this guy is going to spank it back into line by removing the computer codes that block proper functioning of the gearbox: 

The code in the computer is permanent and requires a RAM dealer to clear it. My modest little scanner can read these codes but can’t clear the permanent ones of course. Nor could his, at first. 

However he knew the trick and after taking down the passenger dashboard he found the secret box installed by RAM to store the permanent  codes. Excuse the Rusty hairs, they get everywhere. 

So he cleared the code -yay!- and discovered another problem. The little sensor was reporting a solenoid failure, a part not so far replaced. 

Renzzo said “No problem” and after I paid $50 for the diagnosis we drove over to the delivery company to pick up the sensor Renzzo had already ordered. Brilliant.

Back at the shop we discovered one more problem after Fran went into the transmission oil pan to replace it. The parts warehouse in Lima confessed it had overnighted the wrong part. Argh! So the proper one is being overnighted again to Arequipa with arrival hopefully today. 

Nothing is simple. Hopefully today the correct solenoid will be installed, the permanent code will be cleared and the transmission will be done. 

Meanwhile they have somehow disconnected the second alternator so with all the driving we got no electricity into the house batteries. Grr. So after all week living in the mechanic’s shop I feel filthy as do my clothes. The toilet is close to full and the batteries are close to empty. 

Layne is scheduled to arrive at 9am today after an overnight flight from hell. She has a room reserved at the hotel that has the camping where we park and a dental appointment in the afternoon. I guess I will stick with GANNET2 and make a triumphant return in the afternoon? Nothing is easy. 

Above Rusty in the passenger position, below resting. 

Not Done Yet

I am feeling rather underwhelmed at the moment by the installation of the transmission. Oh it’s in all right, but they forgot to seal the transmission fluid pan. 

So we went for a drive unaware we were dripping brand new expensive fluid as we went. As I expected the transmission isn’t shifting because the computer is stuck in the failure code that we had when it broke, and my modest scanner isn’t equipped to clear it. 

So Renzo called a friend with an electronics shop who said come by and he’d have a go at clearing the code. However first we had to sort out the leak so back to the shop we went. The problem was obvious but this meant we have to wait overnight for the gasket material to set before the pan can be sealed. Give me strength! So at three o’clock we were done. No test drive, no proof the transmission will or will not work. 

Layne  comes back Friday morning so we have a back up plan to rent a room at the hotel where the campground is in case I’m not back there by tonight. I am so angry there has been so much time wasted, angry mostly at myself. I should have offered a bonus if he finished the job last week. That might have worked. 

At this point we have no idea what the next move is but first let’s see if we can get the transmission back. Then we’ll decide our direction of travel based on our confidence level in the repair. 

Slowly Slowly

I think it’s safe to say I am more stressed than I would care to admit. The cold that I have been nurturing may be one sign but it is finally dissipating, leaving me with a sore throat and a sore rib cage from so much heart felt coughing. Then there was the Rusty incident.

The three mechanics have adopted him as their mascot rubbing his ears as they walk by. He in turn sits around minding his own business while trying to keep one eye open on me. Thus it was we were both sitting outside the shop, away from the dust and the incessant radio “Mega Mix” blaring from the three foot tall speaker. Three kids came up the hill, possibly 15 years old, walking toward the sports field just past the shop. I was sitting at the end of the wall on the left where the movable white fence is behind the white pick up, below. 

One of them threw a stone that landed between Rusty and me accompanied by laughter. He picked a bad day to bully a defenseless dog. What I should have done was make some denigrating remark about his aim and bad manners but I confronted him to his shock. Latin Americans when embarrassed giggle and I know that but when he giggled I just got madder. I  think I needed some stress relief and I got it by yelling at that entitled prick.

It was wrong and it was stupid but some days the dam just bursts. The five minute yelling match which I so wanted to end in fists - that’s how stupidly stressed I was- did have two positive side effects. I got some stress relief defending my dog who had no idea what was going on and suddenly work began to get the mad gringo out of the shop. 

I was I will admit pretty pissed off as I had towed the vehicle in 24 hours previously and not a wrench had been raised. Suddenly all three were working on the RAM. and they worked until past dark. 

I have high hopes I may start the engine soon, perhaps even by lunch time. I think it’s obvious there is no more room for delay. No one is quite sure now who may be the object of my hitherto deeply hidden dark side. 

Do not do this yourselves. Losing your temper is not good especially when you are abroad. But don’t let the bastards bully a defenseless dog either. There is already too much cruelty in the world.