Spanish Adventure Part 6

 

Spanish Adventure

Part Six.

I did not think for one minute I could get the car fixed in one day. I needed to book another day where I was. This was possible by only having one day in Zaragoza. I had to book another night in Mataro quickly. They had only one room left. I could change other bookings over the next few days as needed. The next move first thing Monday morning was to initiate calling the RAC and starting breakdown process. It was an interesting discussion about what was possible. Repatriating the car was one option but not if the recovery was more than the value of the car. Getting it repaired at a registered garage was another but what was one. Repairing it myself was not permitted as the remainder of the journey would not be covered.

This was a dilemma as very few places have the expertise to carry out the repair. The representative would try to find suitable people but a breakdown van would be sent to make an assessment and possibly affect a repair.  I had to move the car from the underground car park to the main road outside the hotel. He turned up with within the hour and told me that he had been told it was a water leak. I have had that before in that on the patrol do not get passed on the information about the problem but agreed with me it was an oil leak and he could not fix it.  In the mean time Gita packed stuff to go on the ferry as foot passengers. We might not have a car to go home with.

A little time later I received a call from the RAC. It was not good news; they could find no one to pick up the car or a garage that was open. It was a Bank Holiday in Catalunya and nothing could be actioned today. It would have to wait until tomorrow. It was good that I had booked another night at the hotel. I was going nowhere today. It was suggested I try to find a local garage to make the repair and would be contacted tomorrow about my situation. I spent some time buying clothes to do the repair in and tools I had not brought with me.

Tuesday was all action starting with the Citroen garage at 9:30 in the morning about a kilometre away. They were quite helpful but could not look at the car until the end of June. Too long to wait. We must find another garage. Working our way through the back streets of Mataro we found one garage but were not able to do anything for another week. Around the corner yet another one again the same situation no slot available until next week because of the Bank Holiday. It looked more likely I would have to do the work myself and in the hotel car park but practically the light was not good enough there to work well. I was losing hope of finding any facilities and by chance I asked a tyre fitting shop if there were any local places he had one which was about three streets away he gave us directions to Isaac’s garage. He spoke very good English but he was also busy but he had a friend who may be able to help. He gave us directions and it was about a ten minute walk. Isaac met us there and helped to explain the situation and also the conditions for hiring the facilities. I would be doing the work but had full garage facilities at my disposal, tools, jacks, lifts more than I needed. I definitely would be doing the job with my able assistant Gita. We had to come back after lunch and be able to start and that would be 3pm.

It took half an hour to get back to the hotel and rest up. It was about 1pm during that time a further call from them to appraise me of the situation which was very little they could do and left me to find somewhere to get the repair done. I said that I was meeting someone later that day and that was it.

While waiting I rescheduled the ferry for the next sailing which was the following Monday and then the accommodation in between. It would take me two days to do the job so I needed to book two more nights in Mataro and an extra night in Burgos to fill in. All done on line with the minimum of fuss and not too much extra cash to make it all work.

At 2:30 we set off in the El Cid for the garage facilities and arrived promptly for 3. Some paperwork needed to be done and with the help of a Google translator I soon started stripping off the front of the car. By 5:00 I had got the engine out and on the floor with Gita’s help. Within half an hour the clutch and flywheel were removed, oil seal replaced. Flywheel and clutch were refitted and the engine was ready to go back. It was 6:00 and time to finish for the day.

An early start and back at the garage services at 9:00. It was a struggle the engine went back easily but something was not right and had to come out again. The exhaust did not fit so well and I had problems with the disc brake coolers. The petrol pipe leaked and had to be shortened to remove a split. It seemed at every turn things that fitted did not go back as easily.I was hoping to finish by 1:00 but was still too much to reassemble. I would need the afternoon as well. 

 After a much needed rest things went better but Gita insisted on giving the car a clean. No don’t do that it’ll rain. By 5:00 all was sorted the car was running but with a bit of a blowing exhaust. It was running and good enough to get us home. When we returned to the hotel it rained. Sometime during the day I received a message that a hire car was now available, but I didn’t need it any more. It was something of a challenge to undertake such a monumental job with little assistance one thousand miles from home. The RAC did respond but after that I had to do and pay for everything else. 

It does make me question what is the point of having European cover?