help

[Pumphie]

Hi I wonder if you can give me some advice, about a month ago I bought a 1996 Ford Freda campervan from a local caravan dealership. On our first outing after 40 miles we had to call roadside recovery, the passenger side wheel arch was covered in oil, lots of smoke and the engine was making an awful noise, the guy from the recovery service thought that the oil was leaking from a small pipe so we towed it to our local garage. They looked it over and said that they thought that the front differential needed replaced and also noted that there was a lot of oil in the intercooler, which they thought shouldn't be there. The campervan was then taken back to the dealer we bought it from who said he would get it repaired for us. He has advised us that he has located a second had differential and will have this fitted, when I asked about the intercooler he said that this was in good working order and that the oil inside had come from the differential. Obviously I don't know much about engines and just wondered if this makes sense. Any advice would be welcome, thanks pumphie

[mikeonb4c]

I'm not a techie but that sounds about right to me. I met a just bought Bongo in a motorway services a few years back, making its way to Scotland and had to pull in with a similar sounding problem. Hope it gets sorted ok, and keep us posted.

[Northern Bongolow]

if it has done the front diff check that it has the correct wheels and tyres fitted, failure to do so could be the reason its now dead.

oil in the inter cooler system is (normal) and prob not related to your problem.

[Pumphie]

hey thanks for the replies, both helpful, i'll ask the mechanic to check the wheels and tyres. We're hoping to get it sorted by the end of next week, we're on holiday and planning to take a trip down to Brighton (from Aberdeen), very excited about our first trip, just want to make sure everything is ok before we set off! Cheers Pumphie

[Northern Bongolow]

if your on standard 15 inch wheels it should be 195 70 15 front / 215 65 15 rears.
or all 4 the same. with same depth tread depth really.

[Pumphie]

The van is all sorted now and we're getting it back today. It's so exciting, going on our first trip this weekend. Thanks for all your help

[mikeonb4c]

The van is all sorted now and we're getting it back today. It's so exciting, going on our first trip this weekend. Thanks for all your help

Excellent news. What did the problem turn out to be? Enjoy your hols

[teenmal]

Glad you are back on the road,just a wee point,the intercooler should not have any oil in it.It would be worthwhile having this matter investigated,usual suspect is blown turbo seals,its not imposible to have come from other sources.

Cheers.