How to plug a holeA Romanian truck driver took one look at the engine and said: "Serviss! silinder kaputt." He looked at me like I was dead on the road, ready for the hospital or grave.
I tried turning the key to start the engine and by miracle it choked back to life. He probably couldn't think that anybody could be stupid enough not to close the engine lid properly.
He said: "Moment!". He came back with a pair of old gloves and a bin liner. I gave him some duck tape. He wrapped the gloves in the bin liner and tightened it with duck tape to plug the hole.
Later we drove to a petrol station and the attendant kindly gave us the lid of a petrol canister to use instead. In the afternoon Zoltan found us a lid for a Lada that did the trick.
You might ask yourself why we decided to drive across Europe in an old campervan. First becasue it's cheap. Second, because the Fiat Ducato 2.5 litre engine is simple. It's a tractor engine and it's easy to repair. And in poorer countries you can find spare parts for a Fiat Ducato easily or something similar enough to fill the hole. There are many stories of repairing a cam belt with a pair of tights. Break down with an Audi R8 in Romania or Bulgaria and you're toast!
I tried turning the key to start the engine and by miracle it choked back to life. He probably couldn't think that anybody could be stupid enough not to close the engine lid properly.
He said: "Moment!". He came back with a pair of old gloves and a bin liner. I gave him some duck tape. He wrapped the gloves in the bin liner and tightened it with duck tape to plug the hole.
Later we drove to a petrol station and the attendant kindly gave us the lid of a petrol canister to use instead. In the afternoon Zoltan found us a lid for a Lada that did the trick.
You might ask yourself why we decided to drive across Europe in an old campervan. First becasue it's cheap. Second, because the Fiat Ducato 2.5 litre engine is simple. It's a tractor engine and it's easy to repair. And in poorer countries you can find spare parts for a Fiat Ducato easily or something similar enough to fill the hole. There are many stories of repairing a cam belt with a pair of tights. Break down with an Audi R8 in Romania or Bulgaria and you're toast!
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