Car troubles are something we had not anticipated after getting a complete overhaul from our local Holden dealer in Warragul. The old Jackaroo had been running great and our fuel economy was better then ever after I gave it the NULON E30 treatment. This bottle of magic reduces friction and frees up the engine and any sticky valves.
We had the Holden dealer replace the timing belts and the water pump. The other belts were also replaced along with new coolant and brake fluid.
The car was towing well except when there was poor fuel in the small petrol stations which we tried to avoid after getting really bad economy.
After leaving Yeppoon we headed for Cairns not expecting to arrive the next morning. We stopped at St Lawrence 226km from Yeppoon to find there was a rather large RV club meeting and the place was jammed and had big RV's taking up every available spot.
We gave the kids a break and decided we would just pull and overnight drive and get to Cairns. We got all the kids gear organised and headed away from the giant motorhomes.
I fell asleep through Townsville and Lil carried on along the Bruce Hwy expecting to fuel up in Ingham. On arriving in Ingham the 24hr servo was closed leaving us with a reserve light on the dash.
We jumped online and sure enough the Caltex in Ingham was advertised as 24hr but it wasn't
. We could head on and take our chance or head back to Townsville where we had passed a fair few.
We had just enough to get to Townsville and headed back for fuel.
After our detour we managed to get to the start of the Banana plantations and then the rain started. I remember it happened at the same place last time we drove to Cairns a few years back.
We arrived at a friends place at 6am and it was great to be able to let the kids out to meet their new friends and let Boo stretch her legs.
We parked the trailer up in the garden and got everything set up.
The following day I decided to take Hamish and Boo to the beach and off we went in the car.
It was really noisy, there was a metallic tapping noise that I didnt like the noise of. After some poking around and research I came to the conclusion that the timing belt tensioner had given up.
The guys at Holden said ours was in good condition and didn't need replaced. They informed us the part was no longer made and we where lucky ours was intact. Now I know a bit about engines and was a bit perplexed that a tensioner was not available !!!!
I called Holden in Warragul and let them know what had happened. The Service manager explained it was going to be pot luck if the tensioner held out anyway.
I was well beyond furious and hung up on them wondering what are we going to do now.
I noticed the belts had DAYCO written on them so I called them and spoke with Dave who informed me the tensioner is available and he had it in stock.
Dave told me that a timing belt should NEVER be replaced without a tensioner as the extra pressure of new belts would destroy an old tensioner.
Dave said he would give us a new kit and tensioner for free as he was very disappointed the HOLDEN had buggered up the job.
We where sent to a reputable mechanic in Cairns called Keith Wone.
Keith had a look and told us the noise was the valves and that the damage had probably been done and we now had scrap.
He said he would have a more in depth look and inform us the following day.
Let me tell you that it was the longest 24 hrs ever !!!!!!
We got a call and Keith said that the it was in fact the tensioner and that the car was repairable. The Jackaroo has a free spinning engine and the timing belt jumping a tooth was not enough to damage the valves.
This was great news for us and we where so relieved the Jackaroo was going to make it.
Dayco sent up the kit and keith had a chat to the mechanics at Holden and he lost his temper a bit i think as he was very animated in telling me about the conversation they had.
Keith also confirmed you would NEVER replace a timing belt without a tensioner and its best to not replace it at all.
So the car was fixed when Keith noticed a hairline crack on the timing belt pulley and gave it a wiggle to see if it was cracked, sure enough it snapped in his hand. Now Murphy's law enters the equation and sure enough this part cannot be purchased anymore and we would have to locate one from a wreckers.
3 weeks have gone and Keith located one. These pulleys are hard to find as the wreckers wont take it off a working engine otherwise they are left with a useless engine. We where lucky to get one and waited on its arrival.
Keith gave us a call to let us know the part had arrived and I told him we where so grateful for his amazing service........he interrupted me to let me know that the freight company had damaged it in transit and it wasn't going to work. After some more calls he has managed to locate another one thats made of metal and he is sure it will fit.
This is where we are at so far and now just waiting o the arrival of the new pulley so we can get our car back.
Once the car is working starts my battle with the Holden Dealer to have them pay for the repair that need not have happened had they done their job properly. They knew we where traveling in the car but where still content to do half a job and almost wreck a dream of a lifetime.
Fingers crossed the part arrives intact and fits...........
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Location:Cairns
