A leak and Percy Verance

Tuesday 12th September 

Well the progress towards the south east has stalled as we try to find the leak of gear oil. Amazingly there’s a Land Rover specialist 15mins down the road and he could not have been more welcoming and helpful.

‘Automobile Peter Biroth’ in the wine village of Biebelsheim, just off the A16 and roughly to the south west of Mainz.

(www.bs-automobile.com) 

We drove to his village and for a moment thought I’d dreamt the google review rating of 4.9 from 35 reviews. All I could see was a doorbell on a nice courtyard gate. However Frau was there and showed me to the back where Peter runs a workshop with three ramps. There were Defenders and Series vehicles everywhere. This was to be the base for the day.

The end of this will say that I could only suspect the leak point and that we drove back to camp #1 where I hope that I fixed it and where the sealant will cure overnight. So please skip if appropriate.  

The leak manifests as oil coating everything to the rear of the point where the overdrive joins the transfer box. I had cleaned most off, so after the first check underneath, Peter and son Marius asked me to prove there was a significant leak. So we drove for 25mins down the A16 motorway and then drove back. All at high speed and mainly ‘in OD’.

Now these German motorways are hard work. They are two lane carriageways with a 130kph speed limit. The lorries stick to about 100 and the cars to 130. Anyone in between these speeds must slot in and out of the fast lane. If a slower vehicle, such as a 110 Land Rover, for example, ventures into the fast lane, the big German cars will soon stack up, patiently waiting on your rear bumper, for you to cut back in. Slightly stressful but not as bad as Italy.

Anyway there was a leak; source not found. We applied tyre powder and I showed Marius how to run the drivetrain with the Transfer Box in neutral. That’s engine running, main gearbox in gear, clutch engaged, overdrive engaged but transfer box in neutral.

This saved a further motorway test but showed hardly a leak. I was worried that significant oil was already lost. So I got underneath and drained some oil, measured and added an appropriate extra and refilled. For reasons too boring to write about, this took hours. It was 32C outside and I did it there, on the ground, so that I didn’t need to wait for ramp to be free.

Then we repeated the motorway drive but with the seatbox above the gearboxes open. The heat into the cab was tremendous and hit 45C. This phone produced a temperature warning and shut down.

The leak was bigger again. This time I decided to do something - replace an O-ring. A job for the campsite. So that’s what I did.

Here we are. New o-ring. clean body, dinner inside it, with a beer and now we are watching and listening to a huge electrical storm that has morphed into a cracker of à thunderstorm. It will be cooler tomorrow.

Also tomorrow’s another day. Maybe I will risk it now and we drive towards Munich and Austria. One thing is certain, Peter and Marius had no more idea than me. Which is good in a way but also disappointing!