Last year october 2010,
It was 11.45pm,we were comming back from the airport ,my folks had just been flying for a smidge under 20 hours,the were worn out and everything was as usual in the rangie,smooth,quite and comfy,then 3 miles from home i smelt something,i had a feint smell of wires or plastic now and again,as i could not stop for another 200 yards i put the interior light on,horror!!!when i looked down i could not see the footwells,i was like a white duvet cover.
i came to an very fast holt and stoped on a grassy patch,jumped out the car and got to the front.
i knew something was seriorsly wrong,i felt for heat on the bonnet,smellt around the grill,and when i thought it might bw safe i lifted the bonnet,eeeek!!! there it was white smoke,and at the bottom of the engine near the ground were flames,S!"t !!! ,as a marshall in my spare time,i knew to act fast ,i ran round the back to the boot while telling my folks to get out!! the car is on fire !,grabed the fire extinguisher,shouting call 999 and staterd blasting in the engine bay.
to realise it was not going to go away,it was getting worse by the second,the fire bregade arrived within 10 mins,i was supprised as i was on a country road and they came from 7 miles away,they were notified of a car on fire with lpg.
never the less,we were throwing sand from nearby flower beds on the cars flaming area while the extinguisher gave up the fight,we were asked to clear from the car while the pro's got stuck in.
then i said something as they got they got hoses ready," i have just filled it with L.P.G.",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,now that caused much consern,move away at least 100yards please everyone,we have not come acccross a LPG before said the chief,,,there was a slight delay and they were going again while i explaned how the plg worked and from where to where the working were located,,,,,,,but the fire had got a hold.
the air suspension bags sounded like 1 or more blew,maybe it was the compressor,i dont know,the car dropped like something dead,plastic was melting of the front and the inner arches,other stuff falling off burning as it it the ground underneath the engine area.
there was so much smoke and steam from the water and fire.i knew what was going to happen although it was not at all what i wanted to hear.
with the fire finally out,the car smoldering away and us all safe it was time to look at the damage and take it what had just happened .
it was clear to us all it was a complete loss although not a complete burnt out car. a local was passing and offerd to take my parents home to there home,the knind lady then came back for me,all the time i was now waiting on a recovery truck to take my rangie away,this only happened at 2am.
i was totally gutted and i want a p38 again,to make matters worse it helpted may people out in winters including alot of village people,unless you had a reasonable 4x4 you were not going anywhere when the snow comes in november.
as the snow came mid of november i rushed out and bought a ?500 shugun lwb 2.8.td no tax or mot.i needed something as i was waiting on the insurance and my wife,s 7 series was not going to up to the job in the snow.
well all cars of the same make year and so on can have had a diferent upbringings,as with my shogun,i new it needed a battery and possiblebly a very small weld on the sill for the mot,so i was told,,,that was it,so 500 was ok,well what a heap of crap,really!
it was dubbed the "itsashitty"not mitsubishi,for reason being,well where do i start..
brake pipes on the front ,no power to the rear fogs,a battery and an alternator to charge the feeker up,the welding was huge,both inner sills and body mounts bothe sides front and back,both shassis and the rear sections to,then it got i,t mot,took me a week with the loan of a ramp at my local garage,i,m greatfull thanks mark.
mot done great now taxed and insured and ive done around 100 miles and the radiator goes,flamin heck what next!!! i was still cursing it altough i had nothing else.i was hating to drive it but with the snow the was simply no option and i knew it,my wife tryed to be nice to the itsashitty and bought it some nice floor mats,still i was going to give me a hard time.
well it got a shinny new radiator, i fitted it and told it to be nice we were going to help it,fat chance a day later the suspension stuck on firm,not good,it will have a wire problem but its ok,it is just a wee bit well not like a range rover anyway,then it overheated,crap what now.not the new radiator,not the thermostat so i took it apart,the head gasket had gone.now the itsashitty is asking for money again,or a right piece of my mind,,,,like a picture of a scrap yard!!! the feeker will have to wait while i think of this latest demand,,,well i tought about it and thought yeah ok,i will get you a head gasket,so i needed to fit it but first,,,,now with the head of i took it for a test,vacuum was spot on,so now i took it to get skimmed as the presure test guy could not skim it thanks andy.
so anyway another motor engineers and a day later,nope we cant do it,thyanks anyway ,jim,you need to get it grinded becuase of the ceramick inserts,oh crap,so yet of to another motor engineer ,who would give it a go after me explaing what my previous engineers said,a day later and they did try and broke there cutting blades,?130 a pop and they were not going to continue.fair doos and thanks for trying chris,you see on the shogun diesel you have to skim the head when the gasket goes,warping heads,my problem was the cermaic inserts,on recon or replacement heads they dont have ceramic inserts,but steel,they can be skimmed no problems,but an origional head,well,they can be broken out but the cost of the whole process is more than another head. .
there is no alternative but to get another head now.so the feeker can wait.
the snow has now long gone and it never even did its job becuase its a itsashitty.i got it october,its now the middle of feb and it can wait,2 months tax left i cant think of it.
all i know is i want a p38 again,my insurance only paid out 2500 less 300 excess,a kick in the face for my rangie plg,tiny little marks and always in tip top shape.if i didnt want to do a particular job my local garage did it,antything fancy and stratstone done it,so i spent money on it yeah,but you need to look after a rangie.
yeah i know it had its breakdowns,alternator,battey ,suspension airbags,aes or valve blocks or reset,so it was not cheap to run but we loved it and was going to be with us for a while,it has come to the aid in the winter to my family many times pulling there cars or taking them to shops as the only cars that were going out were 4x4,well some other 4x4,didnt make it,like my brothers 2002 wj grand cherokee,my sisters 2009 bmw x5,other peolpe with vitara 4x4 or rav 4's.even when my itsashitty was going it struggled to get in my drive.even after the pulled the rangies chain,yeah it not cheap,breakdowns parts,petrol,bla bla,it was there when needed,and now they know it,the 2002 cherokee and the 2009 x5 are gone now,well what can i say.
R.i.p. H14 ROC the whole family miss you
PS there might be a few spelling mistakes,some of you may have seen it on a marshall spot i have pics.
