Hmmph.
The van is dead.
I've already updated the handful of people on Patreon
www.patreon.com/c/NoExpenseSpent so they already know what's happened, and I've a video diary thingy going live there this afternoon that'll be public in a week's time.
It's going to be a little bit confusing because I've still got some videos on the project to upload from before it dying and I intend to post those. There's the exhaust video going out public today which is rather more positive and a reminder of how fun this little van has been to bomb about in, and I've a few others showing things like installing locks and window regulators which are still going to be useful for folks working on these cars and vans.
What happened then?
I'm not entirely sure, because the failure really did seem to come out of nowhere. I'd driven to Hull from Scunthorpe to visit my friend Danni so we could sort out the wiring for the lift (which we did, it was a great day, more on that in a future update). This was also a test of my abilities and the van's abilities. As you know, I'm still recovering from what I now know was an incredibly bad ME crash last year and I wasn't sure if I was up to doing about 60 miles and a full day of socialising yet. I've been doing a lot better, happily, but the drive to the new place is about 250 miles and that's quite a lot for me. I also wanted to give the van the opportunity to prove itself for a longer sustained speed drive since most of what I do has been short and local trips. On the run out the van was good as gold and didn't give a single hint of trouble, happy to sit at 50mph chugging along with traffic. Got do Danni's spent a lovely day chatting and fettling, and then set off home before it got dark.
Still no hints of trouble, I was feeling really good if a little tired, the van had acquitted itself well and we made good progress through Hull towards the bridge. Unfortunately something was amiss the nearer to the bridge I got, a clicking noise that went from intermittent to constant and was getting louder. I could not find it, I'd pulled over to check but there was nothing to see and revving the van at the side of the road didn't generate the noise, only when it was driving under load.
My gut was telling me to stop but since I couldn't find the issue I had to press on until it got bad enough to be apparent, which happened just after the toll booth on the Humber Bridge as that clicking became a rattling and got louder and I was losing power. Oil and coolant lights flickered on, drop a gear and ease off until the van lost power again. Kept that routine up hoping I could get at least off the bridge, by the time I was in 2nd and doing no more than 20mph I knew I was in trouble so knocked it into neutral and coasted with the hazards on. Made it as far as the SOS phone... which wasn't working.
There was a LOT of oil smoke from under the bonnet. However, the Humber Bridge is not the place to pop the bonnet and have a look... then, as I was sorting out recovery, an ME crash began and I was incredibly grateful for everyone being supportive. I got to the point I was struggling to move or talk, I'd done too much and the stress of the breakdown on the bridge had tipped me over into the danger zone. Thank goodness I actually had the diagnosis and understood what was happening, before then I don't know how I would have reacted since I wouldn't really understand what was going on. Now I know, it was easier to manage and that's probably why I can type this up now.
After getting it home the recovery truck driver said the van stank of fuel, which is odd because it never does. The mechanical fuel pump was absolutely soaked and when I opened the bonnet the following day the stench of fuel hit me much stronger than it's ever been. The oil looks thinner than it should (it's still got the relevant amount of oil in it) and the coolant appears to have gained volume somehow. No mixing of oil or water, no overheating like it was before, the head gasket appears totally fine. However, when you crank it now it goes whirrwhirrwhirr with no compression but also tries to pop the oil filler cap off. The top of the rocker cover is covered in oil, which it wasn't when I set off.
The suspicion is the mechanical fuel pump failed internally and dumped a load of fuel in the oil, thinned it, and basically washed all the surfaces clean that need oil which then meant the engine tried to seize. I reckon it's cooked the bearings and probably ruined the pistons and bores. From the first warning clicks to the break down was maybe five miles.
So that's it. The van is dead.
I move house in two weeks. I can't sort this out. A friend of Danni's is interested in it and came to have a look, was impressed at how solid it is and immediately started looking at engine replacement options so it might get adopted. I'll keep you posted. I haven't enough time to sell it, so I shall be giving it away to the first person that can take it away. If it isn't adopted by the 11th of May then it will be off to the scrapyard because I can't leave it at this house. I also just don't have the money spare to get it transported to the new place and, honestly, I don't have it in me to do an engine rebuild/swap. The plan was to fix what needed fixing (only had the windscreen surround and windscreen to do) and then sell it after I'd moved house so somebody else could enjoy it. It's a surprisingly solid little van and has only just ticked over 77k, there's loads of life still in it if you're the sort of person happy to plonk a new engine in it.
For me, it's the end of the road with this one. It's been a superb little van while I've had it and I don't regret buying it one bit, I've had my money's worth out of it and for the most part really enjoyed it. Now, my attention will be focused on the Princess after the move and I'm not interested in acquiring more vehicles until I've got through the jobs on that one. My health is such that I need less projects in my life and I need to finish the ones I do have so that I can get better and continue to enjoy the hobby.
