This morning I awoke at 6am and inspected the engine work that had
been done last night. I immediately saw two Very Bad Things. First,
one of the brackets that had been welded the day before had broken again.
Secondly, the alternator had bent down so that the belt was rubbing
against another belt. Clearly I couldn't drive the car.
I woke up the mechanic who had done the work the previous night. He
came out of his house bleary-eyed to look at what had happened. He poked
around a little, looked at me, and gave a half-hearted thumbs up. Then
he went to work. I went to breakfast.
When we came back from breakfast, the alternator had been straightened
somewhat, though it was still a little out of alignment. We topped off
the coolant that had boiled over yesterday and ran the engine for a
while to check for problems. Everything seemed fine, so Tyler and I
went for a test drive. I asked Tyler to drive to get his opinion on
the vibrations I'd been feeling.
In first, everything seemed fine. Once we started climbing the hill
out of the gas station, the engine started vibrating badly. Tyler looked
concerned, downshifted, and then shifted up again. The vibrations continued.
"I've never felt anything like this" said Tyler. Neither had
I, and until now I'd simply chalked it up to bad gasoline. If I had
been wiser, I would have checked to see if others were feeling the same
vibrations. (They weren't.)
We learned from the mechanic that there was a volkswagen dealership
about 15km down the road, in the small town of Caixas. Perhaps they
could help diagnose the problem.
We loaded up and headed out. I drove slowly, trying not to strain the
engine. Nevertheless, we had only gotten about 5km before the belt came
off again. Jeanne towed me into the dealership.
We opened things up, and they looked at my car for a while before grinning
and giving me a thumbs up. They also said that they'd never seen a car
anything like this. Every mechanic in the shop gathered around to peer
into my engine compartment.
We were shown into the VIP Lounge, which featured air conditioning
and the Pink Panther cartoon series on a television. A secretary brought
us water and coffee, and I told the others that I was going home. Tyler
and Jeanne spent some time trying to convince me that I would regret
the decision, but I told them my reasons for the decision, and I think
that they understand.
We went to lunch, even though it was only 10am. We returned around
noon, just as everyone at the dealership was going to lunch. They told
me that they would return at 2pm, and that the job was nearly complete.
I'd offered Jeanne and Tyler any supplies they wished from my van,
and while the mechanics were away we rearranged things. I gave them
fuel filters, oil filters, a fuel pump, a CV joint & boot kit, one
of my spare gas tanks, a bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin, a tow strap
and various other small things. Jeanne had thrown her power steering
belt, and Tyler helped her reinstall it.
Around 2pm they headed out after collecting Valdir (remember him?)
from where he had been napping under a palm tree. As soon as the other
vans were out of sight, my stomach cramped up with incredible pain.
I was alone at the VW dealership.
The mechanics finished repairing my car, and took it out for a test
drive. They came back shaking their heads, and told me that my clutch
was bad. I could drive the van, but I shouldn't drive it very fast.
So I'm in Caixas. Tomorrow I'll hopefully get my van trucked to Recife.
APL is assisting me in getting my van shipped from Recife to Oakland.
After making all of the shipping arrangements, I'll go home.
I'm not terribly disappointed to be returning home. I'd made some bad
decisions in planning the trip. Things weren't turning out the way I'd
wished, and frankly I wasn't having fun. If I do attempt this journey
again, I'll go without a schedule, without a time limit, and with my
spouse as a companion.
Jeanne and Tyler are continuing south, hoping to be in Piripiri tonight.
I believe that they intend to continue to send dispatches occasionally,
informing people of their progress. I'll keep people informed of my
progress until I return to the United States.
Ron
