Thursday, October 09, 2008

Van Issues...again

Yesterday the plan was to take CAM president Dan and Sue Wicher and friend Jon up to the Paso de Cortez, a site that affords an incredible view of both volcanos, Popo and Ixtla.

We left here around 9:45 a.m. after enjoying a nice breakfast, and got as far as a town called Amecameca, about 30 minutes from our house. Suddenly the van started to sputter and finally died, right at an intersection, and in front of a taco stand (God is good). The man at the taco stand had a car and offered to bring a mechanic. The mechanic showed up about 15 minutes later with a little trailer with ramps to pull the van back to his shop. Well, the Astro was too wide, so after another 10 minutes he returned with a chain, and pulled the van the mile or two to his shop.

Turns out the fuel pump was bad. Meanwhile, the Wichers and Jon and I found a nice coffee shop/restaurant near the center of town. The small town where the van broke down did not have a decent auto parts shop...the part had to be brought in from Mexico City. I called Mayra, and Jim Cottrill and her bought the part and brought it out to us. Guess what...the part they bought wasn't quite right...I had needed to buy the whole cylinder/pump, not just the little element inside.

Jim brought us all back to Ixtapaluca, and after several intents, I finally found (I hope) the part I need...for $430! The only thing is that the floatation device for the gas gauge is on the opposite side. I go back this morning, hoping that this part will work. I'll let you know.

In other news, the church organized a surprise party for my birthday on Tuesday. Good time...around 30 people in the house, etc... A good cake. Lots of friends. Thanks for all of you who sent messages on Facebook, etc...

4 comments:

Alan & Beth McManus said...

fuel pump? sounds like it's getting close to go back to leaded...ammo that is...take this turkey out and shoot it...ha-ha...sorry about your spate of van problems...we all hate them and we all have had them and it ain't no fun.

CAM Mexico should start (if it doesn't already exist) a Chevy Astro Van Club....Beckers have one, B. Smiths have one and of course, Cottrills have theirs as well...I think there are probably others around CAM Mexico too (although it appears that some are changing out of them too). I suspect ya'll could compare notes on some of these issues and maybe see a problem coming before it arrives.

Luis Penieres said...

Pero para que la historia este completa tienen que ver el video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBPRz5PZqXg

Debbie M said...

Sorry Rod.. the taco stand was fortunate... but did they have coffee? I finally added your blog to my favorites so I'll remember to check in more frequently. Hope you guys are doing well! enjoyed your spanglish... ('after several intents').
Debbie Murphy

Rod said...

Ha! After several intents? Isn't that right? I honestly thought it was... Maybe...after several tries? Tough when you start using your native tongue.