The McIllwraith range has intrigued us for years -it has large patches of rainforest which should have Eclectus parrots, palm cockatoos, striped possums and possibly Cuscus. It is an almost inaccessible area west of Coen. We took a road towards Point Stewart in the hope of onding some rainforest but there was no luck -only the dry eucalypt vegetation of the Cape, and views of the range with its inaccessible rain forrest. We did however find a great view from the pass towards the coast -pristine wilderness as far as we could see.
However we started to get an "Eng. sys" warning light, and at the same time the speedo dial went to 0. This was momentary only and then everything was normal again. This happened three times so we got a bit nervous and decided to head for Coen.
We knew that Stuart and Nira were probably there too. We caught up with them at "The bend" about 2 km north of Coen, in a lovelly shady bend in the river. Since it was the weekend we couldn't do much about the car so we just chilled. There were quite a few birds to see including a great bower bird male in his bower. He was very busy sorting his treasures and calling incessantly hoping to attract a female to his lair. This is the first time I have seen a bower.
We had a nice social time around the campfire with Stuart and Nira and another couple of their friends who called in on their way to Cairns.
Joe checked the oil and the water and anything else he could see in the engine bay, and on Sunday morning we took off for Wiepa where we hoped to find someone who can work on this vehicle. On the way we took a detour towards to water hole in the hope of seeing new birds. Suddenly there was a crunching sound and it turned out the steps had come down and then caught on a passing tree. The clip was still in place so it was not a case of forgetting to clip the stairs up-it must have bumped out of position on the corrugations, letting the stairs sag in their usual manner.
Monday 27th October
Well it's a good thing there is a new set of stairs waiting for us in Sydney. These ones are past repairing. Joe took them off. Next day in Wiepa we took them to a fabricator who studied the problem and advised us to get a foot stool or ladder :(. He said it could cost us $1000 to get them straightened out and reattached! So foot stool it is.
The Repco mechanic has booked us in for 7.45 in the morning to run a diagnostic on our engine to see what the problem is. Since Joe isolated the battery in Coen we had no problem in 7 hours of driving, so maybe it has righted itself. But there is a chance that the problem is dirty fuel. We filled up at Musgrave roadhouse! where the fuel is normally good according to the Repco man.
So we are in Wiepa for another night.
Tuesday 28th October -the fault in the engine has NOT gone away. Yesterday afternoon it recurred, this time stopping the car for a few minutes. When it started again we headed back to the caravan park and stayed put until our appointment this morning. The diagnosis is " communication problem between the dashboard and the engine management system". The Repco man thinks it will need to be taken to Cairns!
After a number of phone calls I located the Fuso person who makes the decisions -and that turns out to be the nearest Fuso service centre -in Cairns! After being too busy for some hours he finally phoned our Wiepa mechanic and it was decided that the search for the fault would be done here. But of course we will be homeless until it is finished.
Wed 29th. The car is at Repco and we have moved into a villa in the caravan park. It's not too shabby though....nice view. Courtesy of RACQ.
The Fuso people have decided that it is the vehicle speed detector that is faulty. They are sending another one up from Melbourne. It should be here Friday or Monday. And so we wait.
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