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My wife's Sambar Transporter.

Discussion in 'Subaru Sambar' started by mael, Dec 9, 2013.

  1. mael

    mael Member

    Yesterday at long last, her Transporter finally gave up the ghost. I haven't done a thorough autopsy, but I'm pretty sure at least one of the 'ends' has gone and something managed to make a hole in the engine block.

    See ... a year and a half back she was arriving at my workplace when I noticed her engine sounded a bit rattly. On closer inspection I noticed the oil light was flickering. I asked if she was aware the oil light was on and she said she knew but thought it was OK as long as the light wasn't permanently on. (I brought her up to speed on that matter). I told her the engine was damaged, but that I'd stick something in the oil to keep it going for a bit longer. So I put some of that thick stuff in it and did the oil.

    My wife zips all over the place and really racks up the mileage and I almost never have a chance to look at the car to see what might need doing. That's why it turned out the oil light had been flickering for a month or more.

    So last night I got a call. It was my wife calling from the middle of nowhere with four kids and grandma in the car saying the car had stopped and what should she do. I knew instinctively it was that rattly 'end' finally working loose and unleashing mayhem on any parts around it. I hopped in my Hijet truck and tracked her down and sure enough the engine was stuffed. I thought to myself (and I told her) that I'd worried about her and that car EVERY DAY since I saw it rattling after she drove it without enough oil, and that although it is unfortunate it is now dead, I feel so relieved. Now I don't need to worry about the car conking out in the middle of nowhere because it's happened and that's the end of the worry. Now I only need to worry about her driving - when she gets something else to drive. How has she managed to not have an accident I ask myself sometimes? Miracles do occur and she must have a guardian angel operating the controls sometimes I reckon.

    That engine went another 60,000 kms since she ran low on oil, so I'm impressed with that.

    Another thing I'm impressed with is that I managed to nurse it back to grandma's house just as it shut down and couldn't be started again. It got everyone back - 4 pistons - then three, and when it stopped it was going on one and a half. But it got there!!! Wow!

    I decided it would be best to move the car somehow to my workplace because that's in town and we won't be charged for towing if it is in town. So One of us has to drive my Hijet and the other has to steer the Subaru being towed behind my truck. I was a bit worried about it, but there was no one else around to ask to help me. She drove the truck for the first 5 kms to the bottom of the mountain that sits between home and the town. That was definitely the easy part. My wife didn't like the idea of the brakes being hard to press or the steering being heavy. But she couldn't start the tow up the mountain. She kept stalling and gave up and asked me to drive the truck.

    I was quite pleased with that as well because I knew she wouldn't be able to crash into the back of me if we were going uphill going at a steady speed as long as she didn't try anything unwise with the brakes or something that might confuse me or stall my engine or drag me off the road. So up we went the eight kilometres to the top of the hill, where we agreed to wait and have a rest before trying the downhill side...

    So at the top I had a smoke and then she drove the truck and I was ready to have her pull me. It didn't go right at all. I won't go into the details but soon after we started the descent she went so slow and erratically I went over the slackened rope and it broke. I told her I'd roll down the hill as far as I can go and then I'll re-attach the rope and we'll do the last few kilometres from there. Well I don't mind there being no power steering or heavy brakes and I really wanted to go as far as possible so I went pretty fast and got enough momentum to go much further than she expected. I sat there waiting for her to follow but after twenty minutes I began to think she'd gone off the side of the road or something. It turned out she had been going up and down the hill trying to find me because she couldn't believe I could have got as far as I did by just rolling.

    Anyway ... I reattached the rope and she promptly let out the clutch and snapped it again - rather she snapped the rope than pulling the back of the suspension off where the rope was attached anyway. I re-re-attached the rope again and finally we got it to my parking space.

    End.

    Today we went to the second-hand dealer to look for a different car. I wanted a diesel manual with room for six. Unfortunately diesels are rare these days and we only found a diesel auto. It was nice enough but it didn't 'click.' Then my wife saw a Hijet wagon going for cheap and sort-of decided that would do.

    I told her it was a step down from her Subaru and that the wagon was just like my truck only with a metal covered back. I'm not really keen on it as she likes her creature comforts and the Subaru was certainly comfortable whereas I think the Hijet wagon was noisier and everything was tacky and cheap.

    So I have half-convinced her to get a new engine for the Sambar, and have made an appointment to speak to that car dealer to see if this is feasible. I'm pretty sure the cost of having a new engine in the Sambar is less than changing the car.

    Anyway - I just felt like writing this.

    Compared to my Hijet truck, the Subaru was faster, smoother, quieter and more economical. It's got a few bad points - such as the noisy windscreen wipers - but all-in-all it is a nice comfortable car and it's cheap to get tyres and parts for.

    My daughter was crying all night because she likes that Subaru - The rest of the kids also like that car. I'm sure they'll moan if mum gets a Hijet wagon.
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2013
  2. Acerguy

    Acerguy Moderator Staff Member

    I award you the Minitrucktalk Excellence in Non-Fiction Award of the Month! :D Fun story. I especially appreciate the outlook of "now that it's broken down, I don't have to worry about it breaking down anymore".

    Hope it all works out. Please post a follow up. I'm hooked! :pop:
     
  3. Dave in Japan

    Dave in Japan Member

    Mael,

    This is a fine adventure story!

    Well done in presevering through it all. (And well done to that little engine for soldiering on for 60,000kms after having been run for a month on short oil.)

    All the story needs now is some hostile natives hinding in the bushes, or a major storm front about to sweep the area, as you skillfully nurse the wounded vehicle home.

    And you obviously kept your cool. I would have blow a gasket after she snapped the rope a second time. But rather than weeping or gnashing your teeth you just had a smoke. So which famous actor would you like to cast to play you in "The Adventure of the Short Oil Sambar." ?

    Complements,

    Dave

    My Blogs:

    http://amoderngoldenera.wordpress.com/

    10 Miles from Everywhere: http://pricelanguage.at.webry.info/
     
  4. mael

    mael Member

    As the smoke and mist cleared the following morning, the shape of the Subaru slowly emerged. My footsteps crunching over the bombed-out parking place echoed on the side of the car. It looked in one piece ... a few bullet holes to patch, and the mortars only bent half the rear suspension. Yep! The machine gun trails of holes were from now on going to be a feature - and displayed with pride. The hardest job I could see was getting the blood off the seats and the body parts out of the holes in the panels.

    Ahem!

    I decided to get another engine for it. It's in the garage waiting for the new year to get started so the mechanics can fit it.

    I hope they don't **** it up.

    * I recalled another nightmare towing adventure with the wife. It was the same Subaru a few years ago. It had overheated due to a corroded pipe-joiner, and to be on the safe side I towed it because I was even at that time concerned with the rattling from her misunderstanding what the oil light flickering meant.

    I thought I'd prepped her, and it was only a couple of kilometres, so I thought she stood a good chance of accomplishing it. But I forgot to remind her enough times about the steering lock when the key is off. So near the end of the tow I notice she's about to crash into a pole on the other side of the road. So I stopped quickly and tried to see what the matter was. I just switched on the key, apologised to the inconvenienced drivers waiting, and made it back. I do have fun, y'know.
     
  5. Dave in Japan

    Dave in Japan Member

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