Disaster!

[Guppy]

That's exactly what it sounded like!

Take a pew, dear reader. For here follows a tale of woe... I was so incensed by the events of this evening that I simply had to share!

I was driving home from work this evening, down the leisurely hill between Stow on the Wold and Moreton-in-Marsh, doing about 45 in 5th, almost freewheeling down the road, no stress on the engine at all when suddenly...

A 'poof' noise and everything went very quiet as the 2.5 N/A lump died and in an instant I was attempting to pilot 2 tonnes of Solihull-steel down a pitch-black Fosse-Way with no power-steering and minimal brakes.

Mercifully, the Romans liked building straight roads and so bringing Charlie to a controlled halt was not nearly as stressful as it could have been. It was dark but as I coasted gently to a stop I aimed for a layby I knew to be near. Unfortunately inertia was not on my side and I came up short, being forced to beach the old girl rather dangerously on the verge of a blind corner. HAZARDS ON!!!!

A quick phonecall to an understanding parent brought out a rescue team, but it was rapidly established that Charlie could not be towed into the layby by mother's Megane! I had breakdown cover, but this was my first occasion to use it and didn't know the number or the provider. Here was the dilemma: Should we leave Charlie 'in situ' whilst we returned the 4 miles home to obtain my details and contact my breakdown cover, or should one of us stay with the car?

After discussion, it was decided that a crippled Landie on a blind corner at night definitely constituted a 'motoring hazard', particularly on trunk road like the Fosse, which is frequented by large trucks and so, like good upstanding citizens we hopped into mother's car and motored up to Stow-on the-Wold police Station to inform the law of our dilemma. Perhaps they might tow Charlie off the road to safety? In our naievity we thought so!

The time was 6.45pm. No word of a lie - this is what occured.

I knocked on the door.

A rather grumpy and surprised looking female Community Support Officer opens the door. Before I could utter ONE word, she declares 'We're closed'

'Closed?' Say I.

'Yes sir. We're 9-5 only here.'

'Right, well I was hoping you could help me. My car's broken down and is on a blind corner at the bottom of the hill'

'Really?'

'Yes, really. It's dangerous. I thought i'd come and inform you in case an accident happens'

She thawed a little then, I guess it was the training kicking in. She asked me where the car was, the registration etc. Is it blocking the road and so on. We mentioned that it was only 20 yards away from a layby, and just needed it towing off the road into the layby until proper recover could be arranged.

I should mention at this point that in the police car-park, amongst the Astra diesels, was a Td5 110, resplendent in the livery of Gloucestershire constabulary.

The PCSO looked concerned. She called upstairs:

'Andy, you got the keys to the Landie?'

My ears pricked up. Here we go, I thought! They'll just tow Charlie off the road and out of harms way. Sadly, my hopes were dashed as she continued...

'Should have a tow-rope you can borrow.'

'Whaddya mean, 'borrow'. Are you not going to tow my Land-Rover off the road, out of harms way?

'Sorry sir, we're not authorised to carry out that procedure'

My face (not to mention my mother's!) went beetroot red with rage. Surely it would be common sense to get a stricken vehicle off a public highway?! Apparently not. Blunkett's Bobby was quite prepared to lend me a rope, but would not provide a vehicle to use with it! I was incredulous. I politely informed her that I was already in posession of a tow-rope, It was a tow i needed! No dice.

After much discussion, It was decided that, whilst I returned home to hunt for my insurance details, SHE would take a panda car and PLACE CONES around Charlie to 'make safe' and warn of the danger to other motorists. She also WARNED me that unless my vehicle was moved within half an hour, she would make recovery arrangements and charge me for the privilege!!! She asked me for my contact details. I gave them. I asked if she had a contact number to ring for when recovery was arranged. She said:

'No, we don't have anything like that. We're not allowed to give that out.'

She then gave me what seemed like a 40 digit number followed by some phonetics which i had to quote when calling 999?!!? I left confused.

True to form, I arrived home and could not find the important bit of paper with the recovery number on. Directory inquiries heralded no fruits either. Mrs. PCSO rang me during this time to remind me to get a move on, as she was 'on her own guarding my vehicle' (bloody cheek). In desperation I rang an acquaintance of my father's in the village, a man who possessed a Ford Ranger. To my eternal gratitude he dropped everything and sprang into action. I told Mrs. PSCO of the arrangements(by cunningly re-calling her number from my mobile, which she'd called) and she asked me if I could bring along a spare torch as she hadn't got one!!!

20 minutes later Charlie was hooked up, ready to move and aside from a couple of heart-stopping moments (both due to the old Landie habit of how, without power, they steer rather less well than your average battleship) we reached home safely.

I'm sorry for the rant, but I felt i needed to vent as I have come away from this experience feeling deeply saddened for a number of reasons:

First, the bureaucracy of the modern police service - which up until today I assumed to be an anti-Labour lie perpetrated by the Daily Mail - was sadly proved true. Why they couldn't have come and yanked Charlie off the road in their 110, thus saving a good hour of hassle for all concerned, I'll never know. I came away feeling like a villain for simply being a good citizen and doing (what i thought) was the right thing.

Secondly, I was standing by the road, in the cold and dark with the bonnet up and hazards flashing for a good 30 minutes whilst a constant stream of traffic (including, it must be said, some Landy owners) cruised past. Not ONE person stopped or offered assistance. That's depressing.

Third, and perhaps crucially - My Landie is broken!!! Anyone take a guess of what it could be? I know it could be a number of things. Visually, there doesn't appear to be anything externally wrong. Although the electrics are all fine and when I tried cranking the engine the starter motor whirred over as if there was no resistance at all. Also, yesterday I noticed the coolant had gone brown (I check it weekly.) And when under tow in neutral there was a distinct rattling from the engine, like bolts being juggled in a paper bag.

It feels like a major repair... The engine was stripped and reconditioned 6000 miles ago so I'm annoyed a major problem has risen so soon!

Hope you can help!

Gup.

[RRX]

Sounds like most public services now, common sense missing in vast quantities.

[Les Henson]

Timing belt has snapped

If you are getting rattling from an engine that isn't running, it must be coming from elsewhere.

Les.

[David Sparkes]

Two things.

You spoke to a "Community Support Officer". They are not Police. Much less well trained, much less able to take action on their own initiative, much cheaper to run. So the papers are correct, we are being short-changed, but your complaint is not against the Police.

Secondly, accept some blame yourself.

The documentation that allows you to contact the breakdown service should always be with you, or the car.

Re-read what you have written, think how different it would have been if after "I had breakdown cover," you had been able to call them.

It doesn't make any difference that you haven't used them before, what was the point of paying them if you don't have their details?

Most breakdown companies give out windscreen stickers, or tax disc holders, that have their phone numbers on. They do this for a good reason, which you now know. When you find the paperwork you may find something like that. Use it.

What you have experienced is learning by mistake, we have all done it, and it's often painful and expensive, so no surprises there. Hopefully the next episode won't be so bad.

Good Luck.

[Guest diesel_jim]

I bet if you had said to her "there is a land rover up the road parked on double yellow lines" they'd have soon shifted it!

[Mo Murphy]

... or a landy without a tax disk ...

Mo

[T1G UP]

I bet if you had said to her "there is a land rover up the road parked on double yellow lines" they'd have soon shifted it!

Not shifted it Jim,given a ticket!

[SiWhite]

I concur...

grumpy and surprised looking female Community Support Officer

That is quite clearly the problem. Ours create far more problems than they solve. Some even think that PCSO stands for 'Please Call Sworn Officer'

Sad about the other LR owners driving past and not helping.....

[alantd]

Guppy,

Your tale is one of woe but the way you told it made me laugh

Hope you find the problem - I assume you've checked the fuel pump.

[JST]

Timing belt.

cant say i have seen a landy with a bonnet up around here (on a public road) for a while now. helped two blokes in a 'super' fiesta change a wheel the other day thats about it.

[Jos]

Most forces require a specific level of training for drivers before they let them drive Landrovers so it's unlikely that a PCSO would have been allowed to drive it... As for attitude, if you thought it was inappropriate take the shoulder number and write a letter...

[ronnie_rotten]

Two things.

You spoke to a "Community Support Officer". They are not Police. Much less well trained, much less able to take action on their own initiative, much cheaper to run. So the papers are correct, we are being short-changed, but your complaint is not against the Police.

don't think plastic pigs are alone in their uselessness, i had to go and rescue a mate who's silly french gearbox had spat it's silly french guts all over the m5 the other week. when i arrived my may explained that a HIGHWAY PATROL vehicle had advised him to push his car containing his girlfriend, 2 dogs and 2 YEAR OLD SON back to the last police pull in about 200 meters back and wait for someone to arrive to help! they then Mildly miffed off in search of donuts and cars over the age of 10 years to pull. 2 minutes after i arrived, a different HIGHWAY PATROL vehicle turned up. he explained they didn't do things like tow vehicles or help stranded young families. talk about utter impotence. i did manage to persuade him to follow behind for the short tow to safety with his lights on in case something unthinkable happened to the car in tow. so two thumbs up and a double helping of swill tonight for the boys in blue! worth every penny, i'm sure.

[GBMUD]

don't think plastic pigs are alone in their uselessness,

I thought that a plastic pig was slang for a Reliant 3-wheeler?

Chris

[ronnie_rotten]

I thought that a plastic pig was slang for a Reliant 3-wheeler?

Chris

a fair point and well made. perhaps a little unfair in the old reliant aswell. after all, sounds our friend would have had more luck recovering his landy with one than a CSPO any way.

i should at this point appologise in advance for any offence that is taken with regards to my remarks about this country's fine, upstanding, uncorrupt and generally most useful police service. whom i like a lot. i would be proud for my children to join them. but i have no children. my children (if i had them) would also be allowed to use a reliant robin as transport. maybe the police could utilise them on their motorway patrols? not my children, i have none. the reliant.

[Guppy]

Eee! Timing Belt failure!? Heck!

Could anyone who's had this issue before give me a ball-park figure of the bill i'm likely to face? I know it's gonna vary from place to place but a rough estimate would help! Low hundreds? High hundreds?

[nas90]

Last week I drove from Burgess Hill to Margate via M23 / M25 / M26 / M20 / M2.

I knew from an early stage, Radio 2 and M25 overhead signs, that there were long delays on the M2...................

When after 30 mins stationary on the M2 I eventually got to the scene of the minor accident, both vehicles had been moved onto the hard shoulder. However, there was one of those new motorway Disco 3 or Range Rover vehicles with flashing lights and it's cargo of cones spread around the vehicles in the 1st of 2 lanes with the occupants of the motorway fast response team (or whatever thay are called) standing around waiting to shut the whole motorway (probably) of 2 lanes when the recovery trucks arrived! My interpretation of their task when the (good) idea was first introduced was that accidents and incidents would be greatly speeded-up.

Oh, how silly of me to think that

[rob90]

as always Health and saftey rules, No need for common sence

[GBMUD]

Low hundreds? High hundreds?

High tens? You will need a new belt, new tensioner, some gaskets and seals, some new push-rods and some patience and mugs of tea. Take a look at 200Tdi belt changing in the tech archive. The job is very similar and you will get all the answers and support you need from this forum.

Chris

[Les Henson]

There's a thread in the archive for the 2.5 N/A, TD timing belt replacement. Chris's thread relates to a snapped belt and other issues caused by the breakage.

Les.