Who else broke down?
Discussion
After the last couple of years of taking the £150 TR7 I thought I'd play it safe this year take the Range Rover.
What a great decision that turned out to be, managed to blow a hose apart right at the back of the block where it goes into the matrix, could hardly see it let alone get to it to try & fix.
Limped off the auto route & then got recovered and taken to a garage at Wimille who were actually a great bunch of guys. As soon as I arrived they turfed out the crappy little french shopping trolley they were working on and started to crawl all over the engine to get the hose off.
After much swearing they got it off and it had split almost the full length of the hose. They then buggered off for lunch and came back with a new hose and got it fitted.
Once it was done the mechanic tried to explain something that sounded really important but his English was about as good as my French (I wish we'd learn't something useful in French at school instead of asking for train tickets!) so I paid up my 130 euros and off I went & the car didn't miss a beat for the remaing 1000 miles of the trip.
So the moral of the story is always take the s
tty little british sports car and learn some useful car related words in French.
Anyone else have any problems
Cheers
James
PS the garage was Sarl Auto 2000 in Wimille near Bologne if anyone has any problems next year
What a great decision that turned out to be, managed to blow a hose apart right at the back of the block where it goes into the matrix, could hardly see it let alone get to it to try & fix.
Limped off the auto route & then got recovered and taken to a garage at Wimille who were actually a great bunch of guys. As soon as I arrived they turfed out the crappy little french shopping trolley they were working on and started to crawl all over the engine to get the hose off.
After much swearing they got it off and it had split almost the full length of the hose. They then buggered off for lunch and came back with a new hose and got it fitted.
Once it was done the mechanic tried to explain something that sounded really important but his English was about as good as my French (I wish we'd learn't something useful in French at school instead of asking for train tickets!) so I paid up my 130 euros and off I went & the car didn't miss a beat for the remaing 1000 miles of the trip.
So the moral of the story is always take the s
tty little british sports car and learn some useful car related words in French.Anyone else have any problems
Cheers
James
PS the garage was Sarl Auto 2000 in Wimille near Bologne if anyone has any problems next year
my meganesport trackcar was rebuilt by BTM performance in birmingham on the weds at midday, our ferry left 23hours later. when i say rebuilt we started from the bare block up... and it didnt miss a bloody beat apart from on the return leg and i pulled out a services and in a stupid attempt to save fuel went from 1st to 5th.
the injectors shat themself and the car went into limp mode, i couldnt get over 30mph and was passed by 8 caravans.
we pulled in at the bottom of a hill and i quickly reset the injectors, car fired perfectly and we were on our way.
yes im a kn0b.
the injectors shat themself and the car went into limp mode, i couldnt get over 30mph and was passed by 8 caravans.
we pulled in at the bottom of a hill and i quickly reset the injectors, car fired perfectly and we were on our way.
yes im a kn0b.
Friend of ours' Porsche (classic) 911 had it's alternator pack up when he went to leave. But we heard this as we sat waiting at the Eurotunnel terminal and he'd just arrived in Folkestone in a hire car provided by his breakdown cover (911 to be with him within 10 days).
I then suffered driving over a van's spare wheel that had come off (bloody foreigners, was unavoidable, swerving would have caused a crash) on the M25 - result = one broken exhaust! Grrrrrr...
I then suffered driving over a van's spare wheel that had come off (bloody foreigners, was unavoidable, swerving would have caused a crash) on the M25 - result = one broken exhaust! Grrrrrr...
To get your car back Try www.shiply.com Had a quote from a company on there that I was gonna go with when my cab got rear ended and written off near Rouen last year but the French garage it was in sold it without telling me or supposedly the insurance company and it's now m.i.a. Quite a soar point and then this year our tent was nicked. Still, doesn't put us off, we'll just come back harder on British offensive!
In our convoy, the 964 Turbo had what we first thought was a cracked manifold, turned out to be a grub screy dropped out of the head!!!! Managed to fix it (Temp fix) with a TV airal adaptor, paperclip and coke can, and Audi R8 with BRAND NEW tyres got a flat on the rear, we had a support van with a replacement front wheel and tyre, but the flat was on the rear, and sods law, the wheel didn't fit. We drove to Mulsanne and no tyre shop could remove the tyre due to the width, so the only option was to remove the offending screw, and drive in a larger screw!!! Worked a treat!
tomsnelling said:
Yep, my Punto GT is still out there, just trying to work out the best way to get it back with an "expired engine" shall we say!
Saw you in the speed chills bit mate, had a little nosey every time I wandered past 'the compound' for a shower, its like bloody camp bastion in there no!Worst on the Impreza was a flat battery, anyone who asks to charge phones and cameras now gets told to sod off!
Cheers to the guys in the bus for the jump leads, if you're reading this
tomsnelling said:
Yep, my Punto GT is still out there, just trying to work out the best way to get it back with an "expired engine" shall we say!
We have a van and a car trailer and are happy to travel for fuel and ferry/train cost, if that helps?Alternatively, join europe AA, get train to car, and surprise the car is broke!
Jammez said:
After the last couple of years of taking the £150 TR7 I thought I'd play it safe this year take the Range Rover.
What a great decision that turned out to be, managed to blow a hose apart right at the back of the block where it goes into the matrix, could hardly see it let alone get to it to try & fix.
Limped off the auto route & then got recovered and taken to a garage at Wimille who were actually a great bunch of guys. As soon as I arrived they turfed out the crappy little french shopping trolley they were working on and started to crawl all over the engine to get the hose off.
After much swearing they got it off and it had split almost the full length of the hose. They then buggered off for lunch and came back with a new hose and got it fitted.
Once it was done the mechanic tried to explain something that sounded really important but his English was about as good as my French (I wish we'd learn't something useful in French at school instead of asking for train tickets!) so I paid up my 130 euros and off I went & the car didn't miss a beat for the remaing 1000 miles of the trip.
So the moral of the story is always take the stty little british sports car and learn some useful car related words in French.
Anyone else have any problems
Cheers
James
PS the garage was Sarl Auto 2000 in Wimille near Bologne if anyone has any problems next year
James, HiWhat a great decision that turned out to be, managed to blow a hose apart right at the back of the block where it goes into the matrix, could hardly see it let alone get to it to try & fix.
Limped off the auto route & then got recovered and taken to a garage at Wimille who were actually a great bunch of guys. As soon as I arrived they turfed out the crappy little french shopping trolley they were working on and started to crawl all over the engine to get the hose off.
After much swearing they got it off and it had split almost the full length of the hose. They then buggered off for lunch and came back with a new hose and got it fitted.
Once it was done the mechanic tried to explain something that sounded really important but his English was about as good as my French (I wish we'd learn't something useful in French at school instead of asking for train tickets!) so I paid up my 130 euros and off I went & the car didn't miss a beat for the remaing 1000 miles of the trip.
So the moral of the story is always take the s
tty little british sports car and learn some useful car related words in French.Anyone else have any problems
Cheers
James
PS the garage was Sarl Auto 2000 in Wimille near Bologne if anyone has any problems next year
Guessing you were staying at Club Valan? Spoke to one of your party who recounted the story. Thought it was funny that your 'support car' was a TVR
Pleased that you made it back ok.
B.J.W said:
Jammez said:
After the last couple of years of taking the £150 TR7 I thought I'd play it safe this year take the Range Rover.
What a great decision that turned out to be, managed to blow a hose apart right at the back of the block where it goes into the matrix, could hardly see it let alone get to it to try & fix.
Limped off the auto route & then got recovered and taken to a garage at Wimille who were actually a great bunch of guys. As soon as I arrived they turfed out the crappy little french shopping trolley they were working on and started to crawl all over the engine to get the hose off.
After much swearing they got it off and it had split almost the full length of the hose. They then buggered off for lunch and came back with a new hose and got it fitted.
Once it was done the mechanic tried to explain something that sounded really important but his English was about as good as my French (I wish we'd learn't something useful in French at school instead of asking for train tickets!) so I paid up my 130 euros and off I went & the car didn't miss a beat for the remaing 1000 miles of the trip.
So the moral of the story is always take the stty little british sports car and learn some useful car related words in French.
Anyone else have any problems
Cheers
James
PS the garage was Sarl Auto 2000 in Wimille near Bologne if anyone has any problems next year
James, HiWhat a great decision that turned out to be, managed to blow a hose apart right at the back of the block where it goes into the matrix, could hardly see it let alone get to it to try & fix.
Limped off the auto route & then got recovered and taken to a garage at Wimille who were actually a great bunch of guys. As soon as I arrived they turfed out the crappy little french shopping trolley they were working on and started to crawl all over the engine to get the hose off.
After much swearing they got it off and it had split almost the full length of the hose. They then buggered off for lunch and came back with a new hose and got it fitted.
Once it was done the mechanic tried to explain something that sounded really important but his English was about as good as my French (I wish we'd learn't something useful in French at school instead of asking for train tickets!) so I paid up my 130 euros and off I went & the car didn't miss a beat for the remaing 1000 miles of the trip.
So the moral of the story is always take the s
tty little british sports car and learn some useful car related words in French.Anyone else have any problems
Cheers
James
PS the garage was Sarl Auto 2000 in Wimille near Bologne if anyone has any problems next year
Guessing you were staying at Club Valan? Spoke to one of your party who recounted the story. Thought it was funny that your 'support car' was a TVR
Pleased that you made it back ok.
Not all TVRs are that reliable - but thankfully I was in the old bus of a Triumph 2.5PI so able to take both guys and their luggage on down from Evreux and all the way back.
Thankfully nothing too serious - just the clutch slave cylinder popping it's seals, probably due to lack of use.
Thankfully nothing too serious - just the clutch slave cylinder popping it's seals, probably due to lack of use.
One of our party broke down in his Ultima while stopped at the first toll south of Calais on Thursday while waiting for his idiot brother who had managed to get lost leaving the Eurotunnel in his Westfield.
The Ultima kept eating fule pump relays, although thanks to so emergency re-wiring it made to the race and back, as did the Westfield despite one of the front wings cracking. One of our other party members also had a few probs with his 1978 Corvette but as he's a mechanic by trade he got it fixed.
The Ultima kept eating fule pump relays, although thanks to so emergency re-wiring it made to the race and back, as did the Westfield despite one of the front wings cracking. One of our other party members also had a few probs with his 1978 Corvette but as he's a mechanic by trade he got it fixed.
PoleDriver said:
I didn't break down at all! Probably because I took my TVR! 
Hi Pole driver saw the Beasty on the TL site, looking good. No breakdowns for me but was at the end of running in a bottom end rebuild so a slightly sympathetic blast down. On the way back managed to run on fumes before filling up again so she is running a bit crap at the moment. But hey TVR reliability all the way. Probably because I took my TVR! Two of our merry band are still there!
The convoy consisted of a RX8 / Esprit S4S / E30 325 Sport Tec II thingy.
The fuel filter of the BMW imploded taking a length of fuel line with it.
Despite our best endeavours on a Bank Holiday Monday to find a bodge / work around, the recovery guys couldn’t fix it. So they’ve been put up in a hotel.
They should be back on the road today.
The convoy consisted of a RX8 / Esprit S4S / E30 325 Sport Tec II thingy.
The fuel filter of the BMW imploded taking a length of fuel line with it.
Despite our best endeavours on a Bank Holiday Monday to find a bodge / work around, the recovery guys couldn’t fix it. So they’ve been put up in a hotel.
They should be back on the road today.
I didn't break down, but this is the second time I have stopped for fuel near Rouen at an attended petrol station where the moron filling the car up has brimmed the tank so full that its literally overflowing.
The first time, a couple of years ago, I spent a while trying to locate a piece of hose to syphon some out, and this year spend a while watching fuel pouring out the overflow pipe onto the ground and into the engine bay of my very hot Noble.
Must learn the french for "stop when it clicks" for next time !
The first time, a couple of years ago, I spent a while trying to locate a piece of hose to syphon some out, and this year spend a while watching fuel pouring out the overflow pipe onto the ground and into the engine bay of my very hot Noble.
Must learn the french for "stop when it clicks" for next time !
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