May 15th 2024

After several years in planning and getting to know our Swagman Motor-home the day had finally arrived. We were hitting the road from our home in the Somerset region of SE Qld.

The gate at the rear of our block was opened and the engine had been warmed up. Lets Go! we yelled………………and it didn’t 🙁

Alfie the Swagman didn’t budge an inch, no matter how much I gave the ‘go pedal’. Park brake was off. Self levelers were raised. Nothing appeared to prevent the mighty Alfie from moving……

On inspection it appeared the 9 tonne vehicle had settled into the lawn after all the rain we had seen over the past few months. “it’s simply bogged” I thought and called a neighbour to assist with a tow line to his SUV. He was able to drag Alfie out of the yard and onto firm ground, so a drive around the block was in order to check all was well. But it wasn’t!! Alfie was still unwell and could only achieve 20km per hour.

Luckily I had joined Truck Assist only days before this and called for help from them. Help would arrive tomorrow they said, so our first night was in Alfie at the front of our house.

The next day the mechanics arrived from Caboolture to help us out. They ran diagnostic checks with their computer and gave the motor a thorough visual and running tests. “Take it for a test drive” they said, and so I did. Alfie performed as he should and I was convinced that all had been resolved by the 2 young diesel doctors. So after some words of thanks and more goodbyes we were on our way.

A short distance from our home town we encountered the familiar climb up the steep Blackbutt range. At first all looked good, but half way up the hill Alfie went on slow strike again …….

An agonizing few minutes later we reached the top and pulled into a clearing to allow the much relieved traffic to pass us.

There was steam and an alarming sizzle sound coming from the mighty Cummins engine. Alfie was extremely overheated.

After waiting a suitable cooling period the drinking water supply was raided to top up the coolant header tank. All appeared normal again and we set off for the third time.

Stopping at the next town I purchased some coolant (just in case) and then headed for the next town along the range. Almost there I checked the temp gauge and was alarmed to see it ‘in the red’.

A nice wide road was spotted and Alfie limped to the curb for another rest….and another call to our rescue partner Truck Assist.

“We can’t get a tow truck to you until tomorrow” they said. So a night was spent in our luxury mobile home in a small country town, on an acute angle.

At 3pm the following day the tow truck arrived …… and it was too small for Alfie!! So a bigger truck was immediately ordered, and we waited again.

Ralph arrived exactly 2 hours later after dark in a huge tilt tray truck. He quickly positioned his truck and had Alfie on his winch very soon after.

We had been communicating with Dirk the diesel mechanic all day and he was expecting us at his workshop in the morning.

It was very disturbing to see our pride and joy forlornly strapped onto the back of a big truck.

We drove to the mechanics workshop 1.5 hours away in our ‘tow car’, little Ruth (a Suzuki Jimny) in almost complete silence.

Ralph arrived soon after and unloaded the motor-home expertly on the street, and that’s where we spent Friday night.

Dirk the mechanic arrived in the morning with the news that he couldn’t get mechanics in to help us until the Monday…! Another 2 day wait next to a busy highway in Caboolture 🙁

Seeing our crestfallen response, his wife must have ‘had words’ with him, and Dirk began to investigate the issues. After 30 minutes he found a small coolant connector pipe had lost it’s clamp and had been spilling coolant. It was difficult to see behind the filler cap. The header tank that we had filled up with water had completely drained. After fixing a new clamp to the hose we topped up with more water and another test drive at speed brought an ‘ear to ear’ smile to my face.

Arriving back at the workshop I was directed into a repair bay where the water was completely drained out and an approved engine coolant added to the radiator.

With many thanks, an exchange of gifts and smiles all round we hooked up Ruth the little Jimny and we were finally, at last, on our way north.

Without going into the actual total cost of this saga, I can say it was a very expensive lesson. The tow truck cost alone was $1500 but was covered by Truck Assist with our gratitude.

The lesson of-course is to thoroughly check EVERYTHING before heading out onto the roads. Look for even the smallest fault, and look in behind other machinery parts. The fault could be hidden from view. A $2 hose clamp had just cost well over $2000 and a 2 day delay in our schedule. 

The result of the loss of coolant from the engine had switched the engine into ‘limp’ mode, hence the 20km/hr max speed. It was a relief to be told by several mechanics that this short time in limp mode and subsequent overheating would not have damaged the engine. My respect goes to the engineer who invented this function.

We have now reached the Atherton Tablelands without further mechanical issues. Alfie has performed very well all the way, but boy am I watching those warning gauges regularly.

He will be booked in for a full service in Atherton, and that will be another chapter.