What was the most common breakdown on either truck or trailer,apart from punctures, during the trip to the M/E?
Rgds,
David 
Nervous or Financial, normally in the Hotel National Beograd 
I will watch this thread with interest to see if Ron the Con and Theo are mentioned 
The driver losing his wallet, allegedly it still happens nowadays 
.
The worst thing that happened to me was overheating when the head gasket on a M.A.N. started leaking near Diyarbakir in Southern Turkey. Luckily I was running with Big T Tony Gibbons, we stripped down the two tilts, chained up the back axle due to us having a bit of an overhang and he piggybacked me up to Aydins garage in Istanbul where a new gasket was flown out.
Regards Steve.
mushroomman:
The driver losing his wallet, allegedly… Regards Steve.
But they fall prey to roaming rogue anaesthetists these days Steve 
jj72:
mushroomman:
The driver losing his wallet, allegedly… Regards Steve.But they fall prey to roaming rogue anaesthetists these days Steve
Hi Andy, the first time that I heard that one was in 1980 but then it was about a driver crossing the desert somewhere in Saudi and somebody had used a tin of Easy Start. Now it’s an Eastern European somewhere in France parked up in a layby, you think that the Health and Safety people would have put a stop to it by now.
Regards Steve.
jj72:
mushroomman:
The driver losing his wallet, allegedly… Regards Steve.But they fall prey to roaming rogue anaesthetists these days Steve
It makes you wonder why they do not put Tetrahydrothiophene in these proprietary sprays. It was enough to stop mothers putting their head in the oven
other breakdowns include injector pipes always splitting with the rough roads. of course punctures, especially on a step frame with the small wheels…hoses splitting…thermostats…loads of bulbs blown…brakes overrunning the cam, wheel bearings seizing through lack of grease, fuel filters blocked, water traps not emptied…of course a lot of these faults could be prevented with a service before the vehicle left the uk. and not all of these happened to me or every driver, but i did have an extensive tool box, and a variety of spares and therefore able to get out of most situations without outside help.
truckyboy:
other breakdowns includeinjector pipesalways splitting with the rough roads. of course punctures, especially on a step frame with the small wheels…hoses splitting…thermostats…loads of bulbs blown…brakes overrunning the cam, wheel bearings seizing through lack of grease, fuel filters blocked, water traps not emptied…of course a lot of these faults could be prevented with a service before the vehicle left the uk. and not all of these happened to me or every driver, but i did have an extensive tool box, and a variety of spares and therefore able to get out of most situations without outside help.
As you say truckyboy,most of these common breakdowns were due to lack of a good service before doing a trip.
I was lucky in that all the firms I worked for had good tackle and it was well serviced before every trip.
Most of the breakdowns I was involved with,either my own truck or someone else on the same firm as myself,were unplanned mechanical failures,for example:
Broken gearbox selector forks on a colleagues F88 290 down by the Dead Sea.
Clutch failure on a colleagues FIAT 619 at the Telex motel in Ankara.
Dropped valve on my Scania 111 halfway along the Tapline.
Clutch hydraulic failure on a colleagues F88 290 at Zhako.
Propshaft U/J failure on my Scania 142 at Turaif.
Luckily being a former truck fitter and having my tools with me,if I didn’t have the spares with me,I was able to get them and get the vehicle home again.
Was there a couple of guys from Britain,set up a recovery business,somewhere in Turkey,using a Scammell?Don’t know if its for real but sounds intriguing?And the stories of trucks getting towed to be repaired?Fascinating thread this!
This is the Scammell.
If I remember correctly,it was parked on a garage somewhere up near Erzincan.
There were some cases that even the Scammell could not do owt with:
lynchy:
Was there a couple of guys from Britain,set up a recovery business,somewhere in Turkey,using a Scammell?Don’t know if its for real but sounds intriguing?And the stories of trucks getting towed to be repaired?Fascinating thread this!
I seem to remember that Ron had this plan to recover Brits but he got stopped at the Syrian border. I met him in Greece when he was living with a travel agent bird and she arranged cheap weekend trips to Egina and Agisistri
He’s still there now Mr Rivett is, I remember that old MAN with its recovery trailer that He built. Nowt wrong with his welding/fabricating, I’m told He’s just doing odd job work now but I suppose He’s past 65 & is enjoying the sunshine.
I remember one trip on my way home, the splines went in the end cap on my driveshaft. i was just coming into Yugo from Bulgy, and I lost drive right in the customs compound. I got a lift to Belgrade but no joy, so i got another lift to Thessaloniki where I found one in a scrap yard. Got another lift back to Nis and then another lift back to the border where I fitted the cap and got going. All this with twenty tons of Bulgarian wine for Alison Moss.
Gs
Wasnt brake bind a problem. . . best take the hubs off. “we wont be going far tonight”
Suedehead:
Wasnt brake bind a problem. . . best take the hubs off. “we wont be going far tonight”
When I thought of this as a thread,I knew I would get some interesting ME stories,keep it up lads!!
Rgds,
David
spot on bud . never had the chance to go that way but nice to read the tales.
I think anything to do with the fuel pump diaphragm and seals, probably caused by filling up from drums and rusty tanks.
As Ian said, if it was serviced beforehand, it should cope better, especially things like injector pipes and radiator hoses, if the clamps are suspect, tighten them or change them… I still have a cantilever toolbox full of nuts bolts, screws, olives and pieces of wire and wire connectors, anything you found on the workshop floor, went in the box.
The mechanic that used to service my 142,he emigrated to Oz,and told me that the engines caught fire if there was a fuel leak,with the intense heat,did this ever happen on ME trips?
There wasnt talk of intense heat to be exact, that would cause a truck to catch light…the only one i knew of was a scania 141 left ■■■■■■, that was in romania…the driver ( Dirty ■■■■ ) bless im, thought he could run through a puddle under the bridge on the Bucharest ring road…unfortunately it was very, very deep…so deep that he had to swim away from it…anyhow…the boss mr bradford
sent a tractor unit out to collect the trailer to continue in to turkey…we had the amiable job of stripping what we could, and setting the poxy thing on fire…whereby he could claim the insurance, and save the recovery costs…We ended up taking ■■■■ to roy haxels place in Bucho, where he was able to shower ( thats a first )…and eventually fly back to the uk…i suppose the moral of the story is…its all water under the bridge ha ha ha
From the stories I have heard about Roy Bradford I imagine “Dirty ■■■■” was welcomed home with a loving embrace and a nice cup of tea!!! 