81. The Earthroamer under repair

Sunday 2 September 2007

Dick met Bagdat Akimbayev and his mechanic Zhenya from M Auto, the Ford dealers in Almaty at the Earthroamer in the Dan Ko yard.  Zhenya plugged in a special Ford data logging computer and unloaded the data from the vehicle.

It appears that there is a special oil pump which needs to give about 800 pounds per square inch (PSI) to the fuel system for the vehicle to start.  This 800lbs needs to be there when the engine is cranking but the computer showed that it was less than 10% of that.  The problem is, where could the fault lie?  There are no similar engines in Almaty so Zhenya is doing everything he can from the manual and advice from Ford. Zhenya is obviously a very experienced and capable mechanic, however even if he can diagnose the problem it is unlikely that the parts will be available here in Almaty.

Dick was on the phone regularly with John Mueller, Ford’s expert on the 6 litre engine.  John is normally in Dubai but at this time was in Saudi Arabia. Data has now been sent to John so a decision can be made as to where we move from here.

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