Chris goes swimming....Author: jawapro
Date: Tue 05/07/2011 08:51 PM
Ok - I am finally allowed to blog about the weekend before last. I’ve been operating under an embargo - but it’s been lifted.
Apparently Rodeos can’t swim...
Chris was at TAFE in Launceston for the week - and he and his mate Nick decided they wanted to head out to Bridport for a weekend on the sand. I came along to keep them out of trouble :)
Nick has an impressive looking rig - for a Toyota anyway...
Anyway - if you read my tale a few posts back, you’ll know that Chris, Dad, and I were at Bridport a few weeks before this. And you may remember that I stalled in a puddle because it killed my electrics. Well - this time I found a chicken track around the puddle - but suggested the others could still play in it if they wanted. Bad idea on my part.
Two weeks earlier it was wet - but solid bottomed.
This time was a different story. Chris drove in, and just sunk. It was pure mush!
Nick decided to do the manly thing and hook up the snatch strap. He couldn’t manage it though - so Chris had to get out and hook it up himself. So much for Toyota drivers.
So in a reverse from the week previously - Oscar pulled the Rodeo out.
Last time, I had hooked up the snatch strap before I went in - because I’d thought I might have electrical issues - so I’d been towed out nice and quickly. This time we thought it’d be nice and solid like it had been - so we weren’t so prepared. Plus Chris opened the door to hook up the snatch strap - so there was a LOT of water in the car.
Worse - there was water in the engine too.
Ouch!
Not pretty.
Using my hand winch, we managed to turn Chris around (the sand was too soft to snatch easily) and drain most of the water out. But to avoid risking damage we decided to tow him home.
We left the car besides the road while we finished the track. Personally if I’d been Chris - I’d have thrown in the towel and wanted to go home and work on the car - but he decided he didn’t want to spoil the day, so we loaded up the two remaining cars and kept trucking.
There must have been a lot of rain since the last time - the track had washed out in patches.
We ended up towing someone else out later in the track too! Not to mention assisting a Range Rover so it didn’t roll off a dune.
Oscar blew is coolant line again - so we fixed it. Then it blew again. Rinse and repeat. We eventually got some new coolant hose in Bridport that just managed to fit - so we got home again. No electrical problems either! I did strap up to Nick before any large water crossings just in case - but no issues this trip.
The following day we stripped Chris’s Rodeo right down. No carpet or seats remained inside - and Chris stripped down the engine to see why it was missing. Turns out it was a wet ECU! Once it was dry, everything was ok. Flushed the oil a couple of times to be safe - and she’s back on the road.
Chris didn’t want me to put photos up until he’d got it going again - but he has given me the go-ahead now.
I need to replace all my coolant hoses, and Chris has decided he’s adding a snorkel before he goes swimming again! But that’s four wheel driving I guess...
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