I have been making the first large roadtrip yesterday. I invited Frank for his helpful support on organizing all my magazine scans regarding the 400. Instead of visiting the Limburg border we now planned to visit Zeeland. An area I rarely have visited and it's a fair distance to make a proper testdrive. First of all we went through the carwash as I wanted a shiny car on the road and also make some nice pictures. And furthermore I had the oil and tyre pressure checked. All was ok so on we went around 10 o'clock. After about a small two hour drive we arrived in Domburg for which we planned to make a nice picture at the badpaviljoen and have a lunch as well: http://www.hetbadpaviljoen.nl/ Till then the car had driven and behaved quite well. However the car still remained to have these typical vibes and noises. Next to this the gasmeter developed a new issue. Now it remained stuck at 75% full without dropping. Typical. In the morning it was a bit chilly so turning up the temperature in the car, this didn't worked out either as no hot air came out, not sure what's the culprit here. And lastly a strange rattling noise was coming from the back. I figured out later that I didn't had the spare wheel in the trunk properly mounted, causing the rattle. So only two "minor" issue's added to the list. The airco was one of the oustanding items on my list to fix, so potentially that would fix the heating issue as well. It's a typical job I need to outsource as it's a specialist job and requires equipment I don't have. So time to make some nice pictures.
As it was parked on a ramp Frank used the handbrake to Ensure it would not move. This resulted in a new issue as apparently the handbrake remained stuck. The handbrake lever itself dropped and more or less was inoperable. I advised not to pull it again as I feared it would firm up the brake even more. My gut feel said that some kind of spring was broken (or rusted parts) and we decided to slowly drive the car and hoping it would come loose by itself. I found it remarkable though as the car was checked last month for the MOT, would they have overlooked the handbrake functionality check? The car was moving though with the handbrake on but at some point it started making a squeeking noise. So it was decided to park it to avoid any further damage. So for the first time in my life I had to call for road assistence (ANWB in the Netherlands). They showed up after 30 minutes waiting. We explained the problem and the guy checked the handbrake lever, pulled it up and pushed the button which released the brake. It was that simple. The embarrassment! The ANWB guy was gone in less then two minutes - he must have had a laugh on his return and likely broadcasted the message to his collegues for an additional laugh. Never ever did I feel so stupid. I hadn't used the handbrake so far, so I was clueless about this functionality. It makes perfect sense though as it will allow the driver easy access to and from the car.
As Domburg was really crowded we decided to drive to Burgh-Haamstede and get a lunch if we would spot something decent. After 5 min or so I smelled something strange but I couldn't identify it. Was it this old Opel Rekord driving in front of us? We stopped for a moment, was the handbrake perhaps somehow still stuck and caused overheated brakes and explaining the smell. The smell was definately not coming from the brakes so we continued. The smell remained and this time a new intermittent squeeking noise appeared. We stopped again but decided to continue again. But within the next minute we had to stop again as smoke came out under the bonnet. Frank struggled to get his seatbelt unlocked and also struggled to release the bonnet. Once opened up it became clear the aircopump belt was snapped. I suspect the aircopump must have locked up resulting in a slipping and snapped belt. Damn! Well, at least not a serious fire or such.
The belt was removed and we could continue again. I suspect it locked up as I expect there was no more refrigerant and oil in it. Meaning no lubrication.
Then we noticed the mileage counter remained stuck at 134999. It failed to turn over to 135.000, also the daytrip counter locked up. Which I was using to timely fill up the gas since the fuel gauge was still malfunctioning. After another 50 kilometer or so the counter started working again but the day counter couldn't be resetted. I guess I can have this fixed with some teflonspray. As this requires to remove the intrument panel again I can have another look at the light indicator bulbs and check all contacts and threat them with contact spray or such.
When we arrived in Burgh Haamstede we filled it up again with nearly 50 liters. I estimate we had driven about 300 km by then. This time the fuel gauge went up even higher (and remained stuck as well). We had a nice Italian lunch break and decided to drive back home via Renesse. For me Zeeland wasn't really an inspirational area to drive around. Adding the failures we encountered this resulted in a slightly dissapointing but remarkable day. On a more positive note I have learned more about the car again and feel it's worth while to continue to get it in a good working shape. The engine ran very smooth, didn't overheat after a 2h steady driving, oil pressure remained steady and ok. First items on my to do list will be to check the rear break calipers and to fix the airco system. So definately to be continued.
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