Static in Peniche

1st Dec 2015

Well we have been here in Peniche just over three weeks, the days are spent lounging around in the sun or taking long walks along the many beaches that surround us. Peniche is on a peninsular and we have a beach either side of the campsite both are a few km long, it is famed for its surf, and there are hundreds of surfers from of all nationalities from far and wide here.
We had a few days of heavy winds last week and one evening the heavens opened up, but apart from that the weather is great although still chilly when the sun drops.

Max seeking shade from the midday sun

 

One of the many beach bars we tend to stop at for a coffee or something stronger!

Another day spent relaxing

 

I took the van to Peniche Auto to get the problem with loss of power and the black smoke that bellowed out when it was climbing in low gear, the mechanic started the engine, revved it up squeezed a few large rubber pipes then jacked the van up and slid underneath. a few minutes later he emerged with what looked like a stud/bolt that had a circlip attached, he told me it was kaput! and after much searching they did not have one, he then found a smaller stud and nut and brazed it onto the original, sawed a piece off and went back under and fitted it, started the engine and no more black smoke, he explained that the bolt was a part of the linkage on the turbo, well that's what I gathered from our conversation, his English poor my Portuguese abysmal! I asked to look under the van so if there was a problem in future I would know what I was looking for, it then came time to pay, he filled in his worksheet and put the time spent 1.25hr and took it to the office, the guvnor took it and they had a brief chat, then wrote the figure down and handed it to me, €38! to say I was happy was an understatement, I quickly paid up and dropped the mechanic €10 and drove off well pleased thinking how much I would have been mugged over for in the UK.

photos I took of the linkage from under the van

 

Anyhow I had asked previously on the WC forum if anybody had suggestions, and was told it could be the turbo or EGR valve? when I updated the thread one chap who obviously is mechanically minded replied this,

 

"From your photos you have a variable vane turbo fitted to your van. The boost pressure on these is controlled by the vehicle's ECU rather than the old style waste gate. The ECU switches a vacuum solenoid on and off, which in turn operates a vacuum servo (the silver cylinder on the left) and this in turn pulls a linkage (which is what failed) and operates the variable vanes inside the turbo. The default position for the vanes is no boost, so when the linkage failed it effectively switched the turbo off, hence the knackered turbo symptoms. When the guy squashed the large pipes he was checking to see if there was any pressure in the inlet system and presumably finding soft pipes he realised that the turbo wasn't working. If you had been at a plug and play main dealer I recon you would have been ripped off for a new turbo and wouldn't have seen much change out of a grand"

 

We had been using our 3 data sim card we had been using in the UK all the way through France and Spain, it worked well and we were able to top it up, but 3 does not have a partnership in Portugal so we bought a Vodaphone data sim card again like last year for €12.50 for 4gb valid for 7days once activated, we then found out about MEO a new Portuguese provider and found out we can buy a 15gb card for €15 valid for 15days,  and 4g also super fast, needless to say we have now kicked Vodaphone into touch, "thieving barstewards" 

 

One day we took a ride up to the headland to a place called Cabo Carvoeiro, another place you can wildcamp, the coastline in Portugal is fantastic.

 

 

 

We have also been geocaching here, there are over twenty in the area although they seem a tad harder to find than back home?

Our first find, it was supposed to be a small container? we unearthed a ovaltine jar! It was easy to find so I put a clump of earth and weeds to make it a little trickier.

 Our second find was again easy once we were in the area and with the given clue

 

 

 Pics taken from Baleal the other end of Peniche

 

Well that's about it for this update, we are planning to stop here for another week who knows maybe longer, then hug the coast down to the Algarve, unless the weather changes and force us to move sooner, we may wildcamp a few days on some of the places around here before we leave?

We also hope to meet up with a couple we met this April at Monsaraz Dave & Sue, they are making their way down from their home in Brittany, and are heading straight to the Algarve to spend winter, it would be nice to catch up with them again.