Bronchial Carboritis

So-o-o, just when I thought the alternator, battery, gearbox and radiator would be just about it, the car stops working again ☹.

I had an early morning osteopath appointment (oddly enough, my osteopath is technically the heir to some ruined Castle in England’s N East, but that is another story altogether – and one he himself has little interest in).

I drove the P6 (Green Lightening) the 4 minutes and 50 seconds it takes to get there – which with the warm-up period I gave it meant that it was almost warm when I switched it off.  It also seemed to be misfiring a bit, but it is 20 years since I drive a V8 regularly – and I thought it might just be a damp weather misfire.

When I came to restart it, it was still rough – almost got home when the Osteo’s assistant rang me to tell me I had left something there, so I turned round and went back – by the time I got there, the misfire was serious and she would not idle.

Picked up my stuff, got back in car, tried to start – but she would not fire at all.  The wonderful new battery and reconditioned alternator seemed to be doing their job beautifully – spinning the lump as fast as anything – but absolutely NOT firing.

I had meetings that morning, so had to leave the car, walk home, collect bag and catch the train to the city.  Came back mid afternoon, renewed my acquaintance with the trusty RACV recovery service and dumped the car at the family garage we use.  Initial suspicions were of bad petrol, but this turned out to be wrong.  The cabs are squirting way too much fuel into the chambers for them to cope with once the engine is warm.

The carb man is busy, so it will be at least a week.  Good job I don’t grind my teeth.

Paul (at the garage) was kind enough to let me hoist up the P5 to check the diff oil level, before I pressed it into service to get me to the airport the next day.  It was over full.  Arg.  Seems that because I have to jack up the car from the side to fill the diff at home – and because subsequently I am filling the diff at a fairly serious list to the starboard, the level is all wrong.  Could actually be that I bust the seal by over filling it.  Arg again.        

Remember, the battery and alternator on the P5 also seem to be terminally rooted, so starting to get to the airport was a bit of an adventure.  I am currently on the plane returning home and don’t yet know if it will start to get me home.  Thankful that the starting-handle works very efficiently.  I’ll let you know what happens.

(Several hours later) It did start (phew!) and I managed to pick up the kids as I was supposed to, so domestic harmony has ben preserved.

I wil get the electrics and diff leak fixed, it is just a question of funds...