Help, Bongo problems Lleyn Peninsula

[Bob]

By chance I have a reconned one.

If needed you can have it then get yours done to replace it.

[cmm303]

An option is to get your alternator repaired. Usually cheaper than buying new and you retain OEM spec/quality.
Google for alternator, starter motor or auto electric service/repairers in your area.

Hah, and another post just come in suggesting similar.

[Bob]

Great minds.

[mikeonb4c]

So now to look for an alternator ......

...and i think the general advice is you need a 90ah one and not an 80ah one as advertised by some. My first replacement (even though a 90ah one) failed in a week and was replaced under warranty but only after Adrian temporarily fitted a 2nd hand one while supplier tested the faulty one to establish i hadn't caused the failure. The whole episode was very tedious involving 3 trips to the garage and much wasted labour. Goods aint what they used to be grrrrr.

[Snoozie]

Thanks for advice Mike
Have replied to your pm Bob
Wifi keeps failing now
AA supposed to come at 9am, turned up 10.30 but with wrong truck - the garage mechanic failed to give them any details about the vehicle or that it is a 4x4 so waiting for another truck latest eta 1pm.

Even if going your way bob, with all the delays so far it will be past your cider time!

[Bob]

If needed I'm happy to delay cider time as late as required.

Let's hope the journey goes OK.

[Bob]

PM Not appeared yet so somewhere in the ether.

Here for the rest of the day.

[Bob]

Hope the AA got you home OK.

[Jillygumbo]

Looks like Snoozie is lost in the ether, Bob!

[Snoozie]

Hi Guys

I have been a bit lost Jilly! I'm at a friend's house as my back is still so bad I can't walk or stand up straight, my laptop was at home (got it today) and my phone packed up. So I couldn't report in to the forum about the joys of the 3 leg AA recovery

What a palaver! We were supposed to set off at 9am but think I said previously that the AA turned up with the wrong type of truck so we didn't leave until 1pm. By then the driver didn't have enough hours left to head southwards to Birmingham, so we went east to Runcorn.
Leg 2 - hideous rush hour traffic jams on the motorway although Driver 2 did get me to Gordano services on the M5 in the end, Bob, but not until 8.20pm.

So ...Bob .... had the AA turned up at 9am as arranged we would have been at Gordano services before 4pm, I reckon. Could have been perfect for your recon alternator pick up! Grrrr! No idea what happened to the pm reply I wrote to you, the campsite wifi must have failed at the crucial sending moment.

Last leg to Dorset got me home at about 12.30am. Back was screaming and I was cream crackered! Driver 3 was just a couple of minutes over the time he was supposed to stop for half an hour, and he said his bosses were very strict, but thankfully he went on. If we had had to stop for another half an hour in a layby a couple of miles from home .............

Hey Bongolia! - I have mixed feelings about your advice!

Climbed in the back of truck No 1, 'Great' I thought, no blah blah blah, but OMG those back seats are hideously uncomfortable - very shallow and bolt upright and for sure they wrecked any chance of early back recovery. By leg 2 I was jealously eyeing up the comfy looking passenger seat but the non-chatty driver number 2 didn't offer. So far nearly 8 hours bouncing up and down on a very badly designed hard seat.

Still, the dog was impressed by the AA - she got to have a lovely snooze on my bed and duvet in the Bongo on the back - lucky hound! Never before have I wanted so much to be treated like a dog, but was told by Driver 2 that he had only once allowed a passenger to stay in their vehicle because they were disabled. Me tottering about like the Hunchback of Notre Dame with much groaning to hoick myself into the truck apparently didn't qualify.

Driver number 3 put the dog in the back of his truck so she could be near me (aww), opened the passenger door for me and I gratefully collapsed into the front seat. Oh the reclining bliss! Lots of chat, yes, but I didn't care - it was worth it for the pain relief!

[Bob]

Oh Goodness.

Poor you.

Having driven commercial vehicles for years I can understand the need for breaks to be taken on time, even two minutes shows on the digital tacho and he will get an 'Infringement' shown on his record. This isn't strict employers, its the DVSA, or 'Ministry' as us old lags know them, so jolly good of him to help out.

That is a horrendous day, ready at 08.30 and not home until 00.30, especially with your back trouble. Not something to repeat in a hurry.

However, big thanks for updating us and at least you are getting some TLC, praise the Lord for good friends.

Get yourself well soon and after your next Bongo Trip it will all be behind you.

[alant54]

Oh Goodness.

Poor you.

Having driven commercial vehicles for years I can understand the need for breaks to be taken on time, even two minutes shows on the digital tacho and he will get an 'Infringement' shown on his record. This isn't strict employers, its the DVSA, or 'Ministry' as us old lags know them, so jolly good of him to help out.

That is a horrendous day, ready at 08.30 and not home until 00.30, especially with your back trouble. Not something to repeat in a hurry.

However, big thanks for updating us and at least you are getting some TLC, praise the Lord for good friends.

Get yourself well soon and after your next Bongo Trip it will all be behind you.

Not a very suitable comment for somebody with a bad back...

Get your coat Bob....

Alan

[Bob]

Putting it on now.

[Snoozie]

My preferred garage for repair was closed this last week as they are heavily involved in the Carnival week here so Bongo was booked in another garage for replacement alternator yesterday. I was just getting a lift to where it is parked on Thursday night and hoping that my back would hold for the drive to leave it at the garage for the next day, when the mechanic rang. "Just to let you know that your bill will be more than £400 (I was getting the fuel filter changed too and I have no idea what that should cost), the only available re-conditioned alternators are £190 or the cheapest £160, but a new alternator would cost you £900".

That started alarm bells ringing in my head. Did he think I was stupid? A quick internet search shows new ones a lot less than £900! I know the garage might want to put a mark up on parts but the bollocks about the cost of a new one really annoyed me and made wonder if I might be ripped off for the other work. By the time my friend had taken me to my Bongo she had told me a few tales about this particular mechanic, not least his attitude to women, and I was feeling uncomfortable about taking my Bongo there. Then I discovered on getting to my van that my keys (which are always in my pocket) were not there and I remembered that I had had to lie down with my back (still no better) in the afternoon and had taken the keys out cos they were sticking in my hip. Fate, perhaps!

That was enough to convince me not to take it there. I rang up on Friday morning to tell them and the mechanic was rude immediately I gave my name, before I even could give an explanation why the vehicle wasn't there. I was planning to give him a polite reason but instead I told him exactly why Felt quite good actually, although I would have preferred it if his boss had answered as the mechanic won't have told him the real reason.

Luckily I hadn't cancelled my second option of having Bongo fixed at my preferred garage, next Thursday, and I have to ring to confirm on Monday.

Do you think my preferred garage would think me rude if I suggested some places to get a Bongo alternator? I don't want them to feel I am telling them their job (and I appreciate they might add a bit extra for sourcing it). But given that the rude mechanic couldn't find a recon one for less than £160-£190 or a new one for under £900 (although I am sure he made that up) I am tempted to point the nice guys in the right direction.

[Bob]

PM Sent.

Ian does them, too.