March 18, 200817 yr Driving along in the dark late last night and I see the temperature gauge rising rapidly. I topped up with 5 litres of water only for it to happen again a couple of minutes later Took the risk and drove on home. This morning I topped up with 6 litres of water only to see it flowing back out under the car Took it to the garage and was informed (as I had already guessed) the water pump was fooxed. Fan belt was partially shredded also and one pulley not in the best of shape. As the mechanic inspected the car he noticed one radiator fan not working also. On stripping down the car I looked at the cam belt. Not in the best of condition either. 1 new water pump, 1 fan belt, 1 cam belt, 1 new pully and 1 new radiator fan. All work done in 4 hours and it only cost 6,000 baht to fix the lot. And done by a garage I know. Got all the old bits and pieces back too. Can also drive in the knowledge the cam belt won't go in the near future UK cost? Astronomical. And certainly not done the same afternoon. The benefits of car repairs in Thailand I am thankful it happened near home and not several hundred kilometres away where I would have been stuck. Considering I had driven to the bird zoo at Chai Nat 3 days earlier and to Uthai Thani 2 days before, I feel Buddah must have been smiling on me.
March 18, 200817 yr The timing (cam) belt must be replaced every 100,000 kms; if that breaks on you, it's a BAD deal. Some modern vehicles are designed so that the water pump has to be replaced along with the timing belt (they're interconnected). In the States or UK, the garages are having a field day with these new designs. Now they can sell you more parts and labor. The average hourly shop rate in America now stands at $70/hr. I'm sure the UK is even more than that.
March 19, 200817 yr Author $75 per hour is about the same in the UK though if you have a Merc or similar then you pay a lot more.
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