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RENAULT MASTER Dylan Gray
Page 86
Page 87
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My purchase was an M-reg Renault Master -135D, the only full-sized van in the challenge and bought on eBay for 2510. The Master had to be collected from Sandwich, Kent, and Will Shiers was kind enough to take me. Thankfully he had satnay as our destination was out in the sticks.
We turned up at a small field with a few old bangers on It and a guy waiting in a van The beast was parked up next to him and looked as banged-up in real life as it • did in the eBay photos. it was pit& dark and the interior light didn't come on, but the engine started up straight away and all the vital functions worked.
We did the deal and drove off. The gears and stiff pedals look a bit of getting used o. and I now have thighs like a rugby prop. After filling up the van, Will led the way until we hit the A-roads, where he let me pass. A five-minute overtaking manoeuvre and 20 annoyed motorists later I was past. The van was happy at lust under 60mpri,. yet we drove at around 65mphf The radio went first, then the indicators, then it seemed as though the headlights had been substituted with a set of candles We decided just to make it back and de with it later. Wishful thinking -400m from home. it died. My suspicions were that the battery warning light was broken and didn't warn me that the alternator wasn't up to scratch. This was confirmed when RAC man Dan turned up. He charged up the vansuit iciently for meta move it to a free parking. zor e and went on his way.
A few days later and the rehabilitation process began. I procured some latex gloves to stop myself getting an RTD (Renault Transmitted Disease). Armed with a toolbox and bin bags for the mountain of rubbish in the back. I donned a German Bundeswehr jacket to deter nosy onlookers and began concentrating on diesel engine surgery.
Removing the passenger seats and engine, cover revealed that the new-looking fan belt was loose, so I tightened it. As my entire tool kit came out of a Christmas cracker, I had no way of knowing whether this was the problem. Only one way to find out accept the kiss of life from Will's now shiny LDV. We hooked up the jump leads and turned the ignition. White smoke aria lots of noise-the beast was running. The real test was whether it would keep doing so. And it did!
On the dark journey home, I had noticed a few noises but put them down to a screwdriver or something similar that someone had forgotten to take out. How wrong I was. Tinsel from a Christmas tree, a bucket, bits of newspaper, a bag of sweets 'and Ma"nci more items a the rear. From the exterior sticky-tape marks I'm guessing the van used to be a frequent visitor at car boot sales One last thing The rear windows were covered in black plastic bin liners and found some interesting 'tools' in the back This might turn into Desperate Forensic Investigation Challenge!