Hmmmm, it started off as a good morning kayaking down the coast last Friday. Heading back on the highway just south of Oxenford at 11.30am the KJ lost power and I steered it to the side of the road. I called the RACQ who said they'd have to tow me off the highway before they'd look at the car. 1.5hrs later
I was dropped in a carpark at Oxenford and only then could I request the service mechanic to come see me. A further 30mins later the guy arrives, pops the bonnet, fiddles with the manual pump on the fuel pump, and says, "I don't know anything about these newer diesels, you'll have to go to your own mechanic". He then offers to call me another RACQ tow truck who will tow me free for 10km and then at the rate of $7 per km after that. At around 65km from home I worked out it'd be a good $350 just to get there. A bit shocked he hasn't even tried to work out what the problem is I ask why I have waited so long to be told that you can't help me. He couldn't have cared less and got out of there pretty quickly.
I talked to the wife back in Brissie on the phone who had to be at work at 5 and it was already 1.30pm. Not a good scenario when you've got 3 young kids to be looked after. Thank God for Grandma's. A few phone calls between us and a different towing company was booked for $190 with "up to 1.5hrs wait". Yeah right.........
I rang RACQ and let them know what had transpired and the supervisor agreed it was not good. I told her there's no point in sending a mechanic to me that knows nothing about diesels. She said that their system doesn't even show if it's a petrol or diesel. So for that little bit of information passed out to their mechanics, I could have saved a few hours. By the time I'm finished with them they will nominate if a car is petrol or diesel before dispatching a suitable mechanic. There are more and more diesels on the road nowadays.
So, two hours and 20mins later
the tow truck turns up to get me home at 5.20pm. As a final insult, his tray malfunctions and he can't unload the car so has to take it away and bring it back the next day after getting the tray fixed. Saturday morning I got RACQ to send someone who knows diesels and within 5mins he confirmed the timing belt had gone, so no chance to fix it myself. Monday morning I again called RACQ and requested they tow me to Hammond's over at Capalaba for free, which they agreed to. I've not used Hammond's before but they can't be any worse than Albion.
It's now been confirmed there's engine damage, not sure to what extent, but the worst case scenario is a new engine!!! Aaaargh!.
So if anyone's got one sitting around that goes, I may just take it off your hands. My car's a 2.5ltr '02 model. If anyone else has any bright ideas about what options I may have I'd appreciate the input. The only certainty is it's put an even bigger hole in Christmas.
Ouch! Timing belt breaks at 110km/h!
