We’ve noticed an issue with the van that will only get worse if we continue to use it. So for the time being she's parked up, rather conveniently where we are staying.
Six weeks ago she struggled to start. The engine wouldn’t turn over straight away and it felt locked but after a third attempt, it started. I noticed a bit of white smoke on start up but due to the very cold and damp mornings we were having then, it was nothing out of the ordinary. Plus after a few minutes of driving with the engine up to temperature, the smoke dissipated. I didn’t really think much of it till we drove the van a day or two afterwards and noticed the white smoke again on start up which disappeared when the engine was up to temperature.
So I’ve checked the cooling system and we're losing water. The good news is we haven’t contaminated the engine oil in the block. So by my wisdom we are losing coolant to a combustion chamber via the head gasket, or it could be a warped cylinder head, or it could be a crack in the cylinder head OR any combination of the three.
The best scenario is that it's only a head gasket. the worst is it's another cylinder head, which are near unobtainium due to the age of the van. But another issue we have is due to being where we are and circumstances involved, I’m currently not working and Fiona is working part time to cover our basic living costs. So at this present time we cannot afford to have the work undertaken by competent hands. So at least I’m really thankful, for the time being, it’s where it is.
My hands are definitely competent enough for a lot of things. I think I could do this engine repair with someone with knowledge and a decent toolbox by my side. After all, I’ve successfully changed an engine before, but this is a little more specialised so I don’t want to jump in with both feet, though I was tempted to get my makeshift wobbly tools out and make matters worse!
While we're thinking about the work needed, it’ll be wise to change the water pump, timing belt and the tensioners as well. So the car that we were blessed with on our union, we have blessed someone else with it. The van does work but we’re not going to use it until it goes somewhere to be fixed.
Always save the best news for last, so hear goes - we have another car, that we have been blessed with called Lizzie, a red Daihatsu Terios (making dreams come true) the serendipity of all this is truly breathtaking.
Peace and love.
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