The Crittenden Automotive Library

Blue And White Van Man 7 - Exhausts Take Their Toll

Blue And White Van Man 7 - Exhausts Take Their Toll

Stan Potter
DriveWrite
December 12, 2013

Stan Potter writes: When we first started on our travels we stuck to routes with which we were familiar. But as time went on we adjusted our route to minimise tolls and optimise fuel and coffee stops. As we travelled overnight the only places to get coffee were Autoroute service areas. We settled on Route National from our stop for diesel at a Boulogne supermarket just before the toll section of Autoroute. Then by Route National to Abbeville. Then on the toll free Autoroute to Rouen. From Rouen we drove on the toll free section of the A11 to the service area we have used many times in the past and thence to the A28 towards Le Mans.

This led us to the most incredible coincidence. As this is a toll road we only use it to the first exit. But just as we pulled away from the toll booth the silencer on the blue and white van became detached from the exhaust front pipe, within 100 metres, exactly what had happened with the Mondeo on an earlier trip. Spooky or what!!!! This time, knowing the problems we had last time, I drove to the first exit. There I removed the silencer and put it in the back of the van. Then we drove about 300 miles with no silencer. If you have a vehicle with a turbocharger, the turbo does slightly reduce the exhaust noise by taking some of the energy out of the gasses and, using a very light right foot when driving through populated areas, we drove as quietly as possible.

The biggest problem was Alencon, Where we always stopped for diesel. We had no option as this was one of the supermarkets on our route that accepted a UK credit card. Normally when we approached this town the low fuel light had just started flashing. This time due to the light throttle openings I had employed we could have gone several miles further. But to get to this stop we had to drive from north to south through the centre of town. We managed this without attracting any untoward attention. This done, we managed to finish our journey with fingers crossed and no other problems.

When we arrived at Fenioux we visited our neighbours to deliver their groceries that Tesco’s had delivered to our house in UK the day before. We have a fridge-freezer in the van, wired through an inverter for power, so we can safely carry chilled and frozen foods. And while we visited he was able to weld a temporary repair using an odd piece of pipe I had lying around. While we were at our house we used our VW Golf for shopping and social trips around the area. That is why we bought it, it fits in supermarket car park much better than the van and some of the roads are rather narrow (single lane). Ken (our neighbour) is a kindred spirit in that he also hoards things that could come in useful. We have helped each other out on several occasions.

On this trip we only stayed two weeks and when we set off towards home we got just past Angers when we encountered monsoon conditions, torrential rain. The driver’s windscreen wiper decided to self-destruct, fortunately I still had the old one under my seat and it was pressed back into service. We set off towards Alencon, to fill up with fuel again but just before we reached the filling station the silencer fell off again. I made a temporary bodge with a ratchet luggage strap which got us all the way home. When we got home I purchased a new silencer on E/bay for £77 and fitted it myself hopefully that will end any problems in that department.

Exhaust components on diesels tend to last longer because when compared with petrol powered vehicles there is nowhere near as much condensation, so this unit should last as long as the vehicle. Since this episode we have thought about trying to avoid that section of the A28 but if we want our coffee there is no practical alternative so wish us good luck for the future, or am I being paranoid?