Reliability & self service when in the bundus

[Alex Roux]

Guys, this for me is a hot topic

Long ago (mid nineties) my boss at the time shipped his Landie to Spain and trekked down Africa from Marocco down to Cape Aghullas. Part of his preparation was a diesel mechanics course.
Being a pen pusher this was a steep learning curve for him, but made it back in one piece though.

Some of the guys on this forum can practically take their whole vehicles apart and put it back together again while others, like me, just about know where to open the bonnet.
Our vehilces may also not all be equally reliable, but even the most reputedly reliable vehicle can break down.

What I would ideally like to put together is a list or database of the most likely things that can go wrong, a list of the most important spares to take along on long trips, and training on the most common things that may need to get fixed - and that is fixable on youur own. Of course this varies by engine and other things, but there would surely be commonalities among the Trol TDs, Trol Petrols etc.

So my thinking is along these lines:
I would really appreciate responses from the more knowledgable guys on the following:
a) What can go wrong,
b) List what should be important to add to the recovery / toolbox to go along trips (perhaps depending on category of vehicle),
c) Finally, start assemlbing a shopping list of what needs to go into the cirriculum of a customised training acadamy.

This of course is based on the opinion that it should not be necessary to go on full-on mechanic courses with exams etc just to be able to fix the most common things on your own vehicle. You also only need to fix your own, not all vehicles. and you only prepare to fix the most common problems (i.e. using Pareto's 80/20 principle).

First questions:
- Does this make sense? I.e. can one fastrack mechanically challenged people like me to fix their own cars?
- Does the 80/20 principle make sense, i.e. 80% of probems can be resolved with 20% of mechanic courses etc (or higher).
- Is the list of things that can go wrong too long and too varied to find common ground?

If it does make sense, then I will start assemlbing the lists
I am also prepared to then eventually start working on a cirriculum and people who may be able to offer such a customised - overland-breakdown "know your vehilce" - kind of course.

Thanks

Alex

[Peter Connan]

Good topic Alex. Sorry, this is going to be a long reply too.

Firstly, before you even start worrying about the vehicle and fixing it, make sure you have some first-aid training, some people-patch and some emergency rations and water. How much will depend on when and where you go.

Now onto the car. Firstly, good preventative maintenance can prevent a hell of a lot of problems in the bush. Secondly I beleive that anybody who wants to venture into the wilds should at least be able to service their own vehicles.

The most important tool you can take is a comprehensive manual for your car(in your specific case you need one for the engine as well).

In my experience, the two systems most likely to cause problems are the electrical and cooling systems. For the cooling system, you may need fan belts, Pratley Steel, hoses (take the correct large hoses as well as a selection of smaller hoses, unless you have replaced your hoses recently), self-bonding tape and duct tape. Possibly, if there are lots of deep water crossings, a spare fan blade.

For the electrical system, take a multimeter, a small crocodile-clip lead, jumper leads, spare fuses and globes and perhaps a soldering iron (if you have means to power it. There are some 12v-irons on the market, but the ones I have tested were useless) and solder. Also, lots of insulation tape.

Next up, have tire repair kit including gaiters and tire levers, as well as the knowledge to use it. Having some means of getting air back in goes without saying.

It is probably also a good idea to have a full set of basic service spares, but I do not for example carry an oil filter and enough oil to do a full change, as I simply do not have space. I do however make sure that I service my vehicle before a long trip. But probably a fuel filter is the most important, followed by a couple of spark plugs for the petrol cars.

A reasonably complete set of sockets, spanners, allen keys and screwdrivers probably do more good than harm as well.

In your particular case though, you have some additional challenges, because of your engine change. And because I do not know exactly what they did to make that engine work, I am not sure what the extent of the challenge is.

Working on the presumption that you have at least a programmable chip with a custom map and possibly a whole aftermarket ECU, I would advise the following:
1) Have a copy of your engine's map on your laptop, together with whatever cable and software you need to transfer from one to the other, and the knowledge to do it.
2) If you have an aftermarket ECU, I would strongly advise having a spare unit. I have twice had these units bomb out completely on me.

[ricster]

This is a very good idea Alex !!!!!!

I think a lot of data admin collecting to compile a "quick fix in the bush", would be worth our Patrols weight in gold if the need ever arose !!!!