Oh, dear, its all gone belly up

Saturday, August 07, 2021
Market Harborough Showground, England, United Kingdom
Here we go, taking my Jeep to a military show at Market Harborough
First time it's done a decent run out
Just taken it around the block and to a garden centre before
Going there, no problem, but it did take a long time, didn't want to use the motorway, so it was just B roads
We arrived and was told, 'park it where you want'
We parked it among a few other Jeep, put up the tent and put the coffee on
A few people came over to have a look at it, made a few comments, seemed a friendly bunch
I had joined a couple of groups since I have had the Jeep (IMPS, Invicta Military Vehicle Preservation Society and MVT, Military Vehicle Trust)
The weather was as I would have expected, wet, overcast, just miserable really
There wasn't much in the way of traders or stall, so buying bits for the Jeep wasn't an option
But we had a look around
That night it rained, but thanks to the tent I got in Australia, we were warm and dry
We were going to leave in the morning, (it wasn't such a good show that I had hoped for, it had been carried over from 2020, so a lot of things didn't happen)
Things were going well on the way home, but I had to use the M1 for part of our return (I didn't want to but roads were closed)
There was a lot of banging from the engine, I pushed the clutch in and coasted to the hard shoulder, got on the phone to the AA, they got onto the Highways Agency who took use off the motorway, they put us in an Amazon car park
The AA drove past us twice, they didn't have a clue where we were
ANYWAY, they found us eventually
1st bloke said "You are going nowhere in that"
He called for a truck to get us home (33 miles)
Got home, pushed it into the drive, unloaded it
Then made a few phone calls and sent a few emails (mainly to adrian)
I got a call from Cliff of Universal Jeep supplies (he was the closest to me)
They could collect it Saturday
They came, collected it, took it to Adrians farm
Adrian sent me pictures of what he found, said it was a blocked oil way
A nut had come undone on the con rod and really buggered the engine
He asked me who had done the work, I told him Adrian Wynne
He said he would get in touch with him and ask him about a repair
Well Adrian picked it up from Universal Jeep Supplies and sent me pictures of what he found in the sump, he said it was an oil blockage, Cliff said it was a nut that had come undone on the con rod
I asked Adrian if it had a new oil pump fitted, he said yes, I said well a new oil pump would have pushed any debris out of the oil ways, surely
He then sent me a picture of the con rod and the nut, seems it hadn't been torqued  on tight enough
As of now, it's at Adrian's being repaired
So it looks like no more shows this year, no trips to France or Arnhem
After my Jeep went to Adrian to get the work done, he sent me another bill for £3000
Now I wasnt very happy about this so I contacted the AA legal department and IMPS
Well it turns out that no bill should have been forthcoming, he just didnt do the renovation good enough, he never torqued up various nuts
So he had to bear the cost of parts and labour, he was not a happy man, I havent heard from him since
He wouldnt bring it to my house, said he couldnt drive it and he couldnt use his trailer, so Universal Jeep Supplies had to pick it up
Cliff of Universal gave it the once over, said without taking it all apart he just didnt know, but he would have assumed Adrian would have done a better job this time
I drove it home from Cliffs place, treated it like I was running it in, not over 40 mph, low revs
It got me home though, but I am not sure if its upto a trip to France next year
Can I trust this Jeep not to break down on me again ?

Comments

mmbcross
2021-08-23

My goodness. What a mess! I Hope you can get the old friend going again without breaking the bank. Good luck!

derrick241
2021-08-24

All in the hands of Adrian now, a full rebuild of the engine again, Cliff will be inspecting his work

Travelling Tim
2021-08-24

Sorry to hear about your problems, Derrick. Hope you get it fixed soon.

Michael D.
2021-08-26

Just seen your email. (wrong one) I thought you had finished with all your adventures? Hope you get it fixed and back on the road.

2025-02-08

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