French Breakdown & Toyo proxies

[Guest]

Hi everyone,
Back from my holiday in France where i tried out those new Toyo`s I purchased prior to leaving and wow! what a difference. No more skipping of the back end when going around roundabouts anymore as the tyre is far more predictable than the old ones. Also a more comfortable ride is apparent and wet handling is greatly improved.

However had an interesting experiance when i had to use my Brittania Rescue European Breakdown Cover. Only 2 kms from my gite I heard this horrible clanging and banging from the engine, I thought it was going to be disasterous but turned out to be a disintegrating alternator belt hitting other metal engine parts. Luckily it didnt take out the electrical connections in that area of which there are a few. I managed to limp back to the gite on half a belt and parked it up on a hard standing under cover. Jacked it up took off the wheel and thought " a piece of cake for the breakdown guy when he turns up".

However! It turns out that in France they wont do an hours work at the roadside to try and get you going again. Even though all I needed was a new alternator belt and it was ready for the breakdown guy to do it, they wanted to put it on a trailer to take it to a local garage where they would then change the alternator belt and charge me labour for doing it. I explained that this was ludicrious as if I had the part I would be able to do the job there and then in less than an hour. But they said that they would not do it at my location.

I ended up getting them to organise the spare belt at a landrover garage in La Roche sur Yon, they then got me a taxi which they paid for to take me to the garage and bring me back. Seemed daft at the time, however! I found out that changing the belt on an MG Tf is not that easy when you dont have the right size socket or spanner in your tool kit

I ended up having to try and get a spanner from a local supermarket, guess what? They only had sets and that particular spanner was not included in the pack. They had the size either side of it and didnt sell individuel spanners either. I ended up having to wait till the monday and then went to a bricolage (DIY Store) and managed to find the right spanner for the job. So full of beans and with spanner in sticky hand I went back and commenced to try and change the belt.

Hmmmm! managed to get the spanner on at last from below but couldnt get any leverage So I had to take off the engine cover to get enough force to undo the nut. The car was jacked up and being 5`6" I was to damn short to reach into the engine bay So had to stand on the removed wheel to reach in and hooray!!!! I undid the nut. Still couldnt move the adjuster to slacken off the old belt. I now know you have to loosen all three bolts in order to get the adjustment to fit the new belt.

Do you think the French guy was right about it not being a roadside repair ?

Give a guy a change though I have not had to change or adjust an alternator belt since I owned a 1962 VW Beetle when I was 19 yrs old. Thats 31 yrs ago Anyway at least I now know how to do it if necessary and how easy it is to get into the engine bay to do a basic service. Hope it made you laugh anyway?

regards

John

P.S. It rained the first week

[daved]

What an experience John Glad it was only the alternator belt. Does this make you feel comfortable that the cam belt is in good condition? When I had mine changed on the Scotian Wolf 1 it came off in three parts

You could have called Stu or Rich, they would have come over and fixed for you while you sipped a nice glass of French wine

[Dark Knight]

What an experience indeed John! But it doesnt seemed to have dampened your spirits too much! At least its one of those stories you can tell and think back at and laugh at.

You available for the pub meet this sunday by any chance?

Paul

[Guest]

No sorry I have to work alternate weekends and thats this weekend. I will try and make the meet if its on my day off though.

John

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