BIG Kudos -- and a story (long post) - edited
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:15 pm
I said to all concerned and affected that I would tell my tale when my van was happy and running again, so here I am repaying Karma....
First of all, the big Kudos -- to Glen and the guys at CC who replaced my engine with a newer and better one that is running like a top, and provided outstanding service! At the end of the day, this is what has made me a happy Deli owner once again. After many months of hair tearing out frustration, when I look in my back yard and see my Deli parked there, it just brings such a smile to my face. So, Glen and guys, thank you, thank you, thank you!
(No remuneration was received or expected for this endorsement)
Now the story.....
Purchased the deli last April from VI Custom. After much discussion and a couple trips to Coombs for repairs that should have been done before we bought it, seemingly things were okay.
From information gleaned on the forum, we looked into changing the timing belt, etc. as the engine had a little over 113 k, and everyone seemed to say change the belts at 100. Also, we had started to plan a trip to the Southern States and Mexico for Christmas time and didn't want to have any issues while out of the country. We (stupidly) decided driving to CC would be too time consuming, etc., so we researched having the work done locally. (Hindsight 20-20 kicks in here).
In August we took the van in and had the rad repaired, timing belt and tensioner, balance shaft belt and tensioner, waterpump, thermostat, various seals and gaskets, to the tune of a little over $1200.
(Edit) On the way home from the shop - after almost a full week in the shop - Brian noticed that he was losing power, pulled over right away, and immediately found out that the tranny fluid was literally pouring out. Help arrived after a little while, it seems that "someone" didn't tighten the line from the tranny to the rad and it let go (OOPS!). Fortunately Brian knew to pull over and shut the van down. The line in question was tightened, new tranny fluid put in, and he was once again on the way home.
Just after that, we found that it was leaking oil, so back to the shop again and he claimed that the seal he used wasn't the right one, and he'd put in the right one. He thought that would work.
At the end of August we went up to Gold River for our annual camping trip, on the way up, no problems, no issues. On the way home, however, we stopped for fuel in Campbell River. I noticed a puddle of oil (?) under the van where I'd been sitting. We called down to Victoria, Brian checked and the tranny fluid seemed to be low. We were advised to buy tranny fluid and try to get back to Victoria. All the way home (and it was a very long trip at 80 kph). Took it back in to the shop when we got home. Among other things, we spent a great deal of time cleaning the sprayed oil off the Deli, Brians truck (he was behind me), and our boat. Anyone else I washed in oil on the way home - I'm so so sorry!
We then discovered that we still had an oil leak, which was attributed to a faulty gasket (not done at the above) which was repaired. Various other adjustments and such followed.
This all brings us to December, just before we were leaving for our trip. Took the van in for an oil change and general once-over (about another $500) before we left. We realized on the first check of the oil (approx. 400 km) that the oil was way above the line on the dipstick. Incidentally, after the last oil change, I questioned on the bill 10W30 oil, knowing diesels take a heavier oil, ie 15W40, the garage said that this is what they use in Japan. Boy have we learned! (End of Edit)
Brian had concerns about taking Deli on such a long trip with the issues we'd had, but we were assured that
So, off we went, bright and early Sunday morning.
The first three days were a piece of cake, even though we went through every kind of weather you can imagine, sun, rain, sleet and snow. On Wednesday morning, about an hour outside Yuma, Arizona, in the middle of the desert, we hear an almighty bang, and she quits! (We were VERY lucky that it happened where we could pull off the highway or we would have been in deep doo doo indeed).
I have to say at this point that BCAA is among my favourite organizations - well worth the money is you are travelling. They sent out a flat bed to take the van into Yuma and drove around with Brian for over an hour finding a good diesel mechanic for us. We had an issue with them taking our trailer, but that was sorted out in the end, so I am willing to leave it at that.
This is where the pretty music is supposed to kick in -- we had almost 3 lovely weeks camping in the desert, peace and quiet, lots of rest and beautiful sunshine, days spent walking with the dogs, going to the hot pools, hanging out in Holtville and El Centro and sometimes in Yuma. Paying through the nose for a rental car (screech - was that the music stopping!). We had planned on going to Mexico for part of our trip, but couldn't take the rental car there, so our extent of going to Mexico was walking across the border to the duty free booze and cigs shops one afternoon.
After a couple of weeks and a number of trips into Yuma (from about an hour away in California), we were told that they couldn't fix the van unless we could give them a few weeks, which just couldn't happen. With the holidays and such, we only had another week before we had to come home and back to work. The mechanic in Yuma surmised that it was the timing belt, but didn't take it apart to assess the damage, but he did say that there was a bolt that wasn't torqued properly.
When we got this particular bit of info, a bunch of things happened in a little over a day. First, we booked Brian on a flight home to come and get his truck (that he wanted to take to California to start with). We arranged with BCAA to take the van to where we were camping in California, and we went shopping for a flat bed trailer big enough to bring home the van and our utility trailer in one trip.
Brian got home Saturday morning, picked up the truck and was on the 1 pm ferry back to pick me up. In spite of having the flu, (feeling like absolute crap), he got back to Holtville, which is a few miles from the Mexican border, Monday morning. By the time he arrived, we'd (my mom, step dad and I) gone to Yuma and bought a 22' flatbed trailer. Brian and John went and picked it up Monday afternoon, they had to diddle around with wiring and such, and we loaded it with the van and trailer on Tuesday morning.
Wednesday morning bright and early on the road - at least as far as El Centro where we had to lash out more cash for a brake controller for the trailer to be legal, and finally on our way just before noon. The trip home was fairly uneventful, unless you count that Brian still had a raging flu, only he could drive because of the length of the truck and trailer (and I'm a big chicken).
We went through quite a bit of snow, ice, etc. in Oregon, but once we got to Eugene it was smooth sailing. Crossed the border back into la la land early Saturday morning, and paid the ferry ransom and got home before noon Saturday.
So, what did we learn from this experience??
1. Trust me is the ultimate oxymoron.
2. BUY BCAA - if you are towing a trailer of any kind, make sure you get RV Plus coverage
3. Rest stops in the states are awesome, but they are only really on the interstates (I5 and such), and you can sleep there if you want to.
4. Camping in the desert is a really cool experience, and you can stay at some BLM (Bureau of Land Management) sites for up to 14 days free.
5. Everyone we met that tried to help us out and did help us out, were so wonderful, it almost brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.
6. If your first thought is to get your vehicle fixed somewhere (ie CC) go with that.
Costs
repairs to van to get ready to go - +$2000.
diesel to Arizona - -$400
other unplanned expenses - +7500
new engine (our cost after warranty) - $2800
Never made it to Mexico - Priceless
So this is our story and we're sticking to it!
ps: We have a slightly used 22' car hauler for sale, if you are interested or know someone who might be, drop us a note.
First of all, the big Kudos -- to Glen and the guys at CC who replaced my engine with a newer and better one that is running like a top, and provided outstanding service! At the end of the day, this is what has made me a happy Deli owner once again. After many months of hair tearing out frustration, when I look in my back yard and see my Deli parked there, it just brings such a smile to my face. So, Glen and guys, thank you, thank you, thank you!
(No remuneration was received or expected for this endorsement)
Now the story.....
Purchased the deli last April from VI Custom. After much discussion and a couple trips to Coombs for repairs that should have been done before we bought it, seemingly things were okay.
From information gleaned on the forum, we looked into changing the timing belt, etc. as the engine had a little over 113 k, and everyone seemed to say change the belts at 100. Also, we had started to plan a trip to the Southern States and Mexico for Christmas time and didn't want to have any issues while out of the country. We (stupidly) decided driving to CC would be too time consuming, etc., so we researched having the work done locally. (Hindsight 20-20 kicks in here).
In August we took the van in and had the rad repaired, timing belt and tensioner, balance shaft belt and tensioner, waterpump, thermostat, various seals and gaskets, to the tune of a little over $1200.
(Edit) On the way home from the shop - after almost a full week in the shop - Brian noticed that he was losing power, pulled over right away, and immediately found out that the tranny fluid was literally pouring out. Help arrived after a little while, it seems that "someone" didn't tighten the line from the tranny to the rad and it let go (OOPS!). Fortunately Brian knew to pull over and shut the van down. The line in question was tightened, new tranny fluid put in, and he was once again on the way home.
Just after that, we found that it was leaking oil, so back to the shop again and he claimed that the seal he used wasn't the right one, and he'd put in the right one. He thought that would work.
At the end of August we went up to Gold River for our annual camping trip, on the way up, no problems, no issues. On the way home, however, we stopped for fuel in Campbell River. I noticed a puddle of oil (?) under the van where I'd been sitting. We called down to Victoria, Brian checked and the tranny fluid seemed to be low. We were advised to buy tranny fluid and try to get back to Victoria. All the way home (and it was a very long trip at 80 kph). Took it back in to the shop when we got home. Among other things, we spent a great deal of time cleaning the sprayed oil off the Deli, Brians truck (he was behind me), and our boat. Anyone else I washed in oil on the way home - I'm so so sorry!
We then discovered that we still had an oil leak, which was attributed to a faulty gasket (not done at the above) which was repaired. Various other adjustments and such followed.
This all brings us to December, just before we were leaving for our trip. Took the van in for an oil change and general once-over (about another $500) before we left. We realized on the first check of the oil (approx. 400 km) that the oil was way above the line on the dipstick. Incidentally, after the last oil change, I questioned on the bill 10W30 oil, knowing diesels take a heavier oil, ie 15W40, the garage said that this is what they use in Japan. Boy have we learned! (End of Edit)
Brian had concerns about taking Deli on such a long trip with the issues we'd had, but we were assured that
(He really really wanted to take his Dodge diesel instead, but we decided that for comfort for us and the pooches, we'd take the van.)this van will take you to Mexico and back four times with out any problems.
So, off we went, bright and early Sunday morning.
The first three days were a piece of cake, even though we went through every kind of weather you can imagine, sun, rain, sleet and snow. On Wednesday morning, about an hour outside Yuma, Arizona, in the middle of the desert, we hear an almighty bang, and she quits! (We were VERY lucky that it happened where we could pull off the highway or we would have been in deep doo doo indeed).
I have to say at this point that BCAA is among my favourite organizations - well worth the money is you are travelling. They sent out a flat bed to take the van into Yuma and drove around with Brian for over an hour finding a good diesel mechanic for us. We had an issue with them taking our trailer, but that was sorted out in the end, so I am willing to leave it at that.
This is where the pretty music is supposed to kick in -- we had almost 3 lovely weeks camping in the desert, peace and quiet, lots of rest and beautiful sunshine, days spent walking with the dogs, going to the hot pools, hanging out in Holtville and El Centro and sometimes in Yuma. Paying through the nose for a rental car (screech - was that the music stopping!). We had planned on going to Mexico for part of our trip, but couldn't take the rental car there, so our extent of going to Mexico was walking across the border to the duty free booze and cigs shops one afternoon.
After a couple of weeks and a number of trips into Yuma (from about an hour away in California), we were told that they couldn't fix the van unless we could give them a few weeks, which just couldn't happen. With the holidays and such, we only had another week before we had to come home and back to work. The mechanic in Yuma surmised that it was the timing belt, but didn't take it apart to assess the damage, but he did say that there was a bolt that wasn't torqued properly.
When we got this particular bit of info, a bunch of things happened in a little over a day. First, we booked Brian on a flight home to come and get his truck (that he wanted to take to California to start with). We arranged with BCAA to take the van to where we were camping in California, and we went shopping for a flat bed trailer big enough to bring home the van and our utility trailer in one trip.
Brian got home Saturday morning, picked up the truck and was on the 1 pm ferry back to pick me up. In spite of having the flu, (feeling like absolute crap), he got back to Holtville, which is a few miles from the Mexican border, Monday morning. By the time he arrived, we'd (my mom, step dad and I) gone to Yuma and bought a 22' flatbed trailer. Brian and John went and picked it up Monday afternoon, they had to diddle around with wiring and such, and we loaded it with the van and trailer on Tuesday morning.
Wednesday morning bright and early on the road - at least as far as El Centro where we had to lash out more cash for a brake controller for the trailer to be legal, and finally on our way just before noon. The trip home was fairly uneventful, unless you count that Brian still had a raging flu, only he could drive because of the length of the truck and trailer (and I'm a big chicken).
We went through quite a bit of snow, ice, etc. in Oregon, but once we got to Eugene it was smooth sailing. Crossed the border back into la la land early Saturday morning, and paid the ferry ransom and got home before noon Saturday.
So, what did we learn from this experience??
1. Trust me is the ultimate oxymoron.
2. BUY BCAA - if you are towing a trailer of any kind, make sure you get RV Plus coverage
3. Rest stops in the states are awesome, but they are only really on the interstates (I5 and such), and you can sleep there if you want to.
4. Camping in the desert is a really cool experience, and you can stay at some BLM (Bureau of Land Management) sites for up to 14 days free.
5. Everyone we met that tried to help us out and did help us out, were so wonderful, it almost brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.
6. If your first thought is to get your vehicle fixed somewhere (ie CC) go with that.
Costs
repairs to van to get ready to go - +$2000.
diesel to Arizona - -$400
other unplanned expenses - +7500
new engine (our cost after warranty) - $2800
Never made it to Mexico - Priceless
So this is our story and we're sticking to it!
ps: We have a slightly used 22' car hauler for sale, if you are interested or know someone who might be, drop us a note.
no love, no pride. I wonder how people like that sleep at night. I'm a gardener and in my business I see things like elegant 50 year old Japanese Maples wrecked beyond repair by "professional pruners" who then over charge for the job. Heartbreaking. I doubt I would even have bought a speciality vehicle like the deli had I not had a good long chat with ccautos Glenn before hand and sussed him as a deli specialist who clearly takes pride in doing things properly. The hour and a half drive down there is well worth it to me. Thanks for sharing your adventure in such detail - hope the next one you post has more deli travel and fun!! 
