The guy next to me on the campsite reckoned it might be the fan belt but we checked it and it was okay.
I planned to find a mechanic once I got back in to a big city and get it checked out. Next day the noice was getting worse, bit like bolts were rattling. I had booked a sunset whale trip for the second time ( first time was cancelled due to problems with the vessel), on my way down to (the whale trip place) Wanda started overheating and screaming. Luckily this was close enough to town for me to have cellphone coverage.
I checked the radiator who was boiling hot, opened it and when a bit cooled down poured soeme water and coolingfluid in there. It was no use, after starting her up again she overheated again and the breaks went hard on me. Good thing I had roadside assistance, they arranged to get me towed to the mechanic in town. Seeing it was a Saturday night I had to wait till Monday to call him and find out what the damage was.
I notified the park and they told me they would ask my hosts Cheryl and Larry to store my stuff somewhere safe till I could get back to collect it.
There was nothing else to do but check in to the YHA seeing Wanda is not only my transportation but also my home.
Sunday came and went, nothing much to do but get some groceries and wait.
On Monday I went over to Aaron the friendly tow/ mechanic guy who explained there was a bolt broken in the alternator and it was better for me to drive her to the Electronic partsshop a few streets further. Graham the owner has a lot of secondhand parts and would be better suited to help me.
I got her there slowly but safely and explained the problem. I was told it was a "shitty job" you see the engine etc is located underneath the passangers seat, so to get at the alternator it would have to be removed..
Again I was told to call back the next day to know if they could fix it or a new alternator would be needed. Work was $120 an hour... And so far in my life, when it rains it pours...
The alternator was not the problem, the bolt got fixed, but the root of all evil was a thing called the harmonic balancer. On a very positive note I was only charged for one hours work! To get the harmonic balancer checked I needed a mechanic. So back to Aaron it was.
Next morning the news was bad. The chances the engine was damaged were big and the costs for repair would run into the thousands of dollars. He advised me to place it for sale for parts on the local webpage. Seeing there is not even a scrapyard in Exmouth, I needed to find someone to buy it for me so I could take the bus to Broome. Aaron is one of the so many Australians who are genuinely kind and helpfull. He never charged me anything for the work he did.
A good friend of mine suggested I get a second opinion and seeing there was one more mechanic in town who specialised in 4wd I called him and had to make an appointment for two days later at 8am. I also posted the van for sale on Gumtree and the Exmouth info page, just in case the second opinion confirmed the first.
Good thing I did...
Dropped of Wanda at 8am was told I would get a call by 12h. Sat waiting anxiously back at the YHA, 12h came and went. I decided to walk over there to see what was happening and on my 40 mins walk in the heat I passed a sign in a backyard that read "douche bag". It was a sign in more than one way.
I found Wanda in the same spot as I left her. By now it was 13h30, the last bus out of there before next Wednesday was leaving at 15h30.
All the "douche bag" had to say was "shit happens". Guess I had just met my first AU asshole!
I took Wanda and raced to the visitor center where the bus departs from, and started calling the people who were interested in buying Wanda.
I had 3 contacts, one turned out to be in Perth and was willing to pay $375 but he would have to wire it to me and that ment I would have to trust him. My second contact was not going to give more than the $350 I had been offered by Sam the local supermarket guy. When I called him and he found out I was in a rush he took his chance to hustle me and offered $300 cash. Just wanting to get out of there and leave it all in the passed I took the cash and got on the bus.
Exmouth is s great town if you either want to pay $200 a day to go scuba diving or if you have a car and go and spent time discovering the Cape national park.
On that note it is good-bye Exmouth here I come Broome!
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