Horsham to Halls Gap
Day 3 was planned to be a relatively leisurely day. Just over 400km of driving, interspersed with some sightseeing, photography stops and a visit to the Benz Shed for some car parts shopping.
We departed the hotel at 6:00 and made our way to Halls Gap. The weather was quite damp with quite a lot of fog which made for poor visibility and sight seeing. This meant we were only able to go to the carpark and not head to the lookout or see the waterfalls we were hoping to see. But this was the least of my problems. As we came to leave, my car had some difficulty in starting, requiring a lot of cranking the ignition before finally coming to life.
I was concerned at this point but not overly alarmed as I had experienced the same on Day 2 and knew what to expect.
Halls Gap to Dunkeld
The drive to Dunkeld was saw us traversing around the aptly named Mount Abrupt with its harsh cliff face jutting out of the for some absolutely breathtaking views made only more dramatic by the fog. It was an exhilarating experience as we had the view of Mount Abrupt on one side, while we had a steep drop and little in the way of a barricade on the other side.
To get there, we travelled via Lake Bellfield where we were greeted by some of the native fauna – a family of wallabies and the lake itself. It’s interesting to note that the lake is actually 450m above sea level. After stopping for a quick look around and the customary photos of the cars, the lake and us, we continued on. This is where my normally extremely reliable 380SEC started to get worse. Where I was previously able to get the car running through perseverance and patience, I was now not able to get the car started no matter what I did.
The great thing about the guys I’m travelling with, is when someone has a problem we all get together to offer whatever help we can to get the cars moving. We put our thinking caps on and concluded that the car must have an electrical problem that is preventing the fuel pump from running properly and providing adequate fuel supply to the engine. The likely culprit being the Fuel Pump Relay.
Given that no one had a spare fuel pump relay, we knew that there was an option to jump 2 of the pins that the relay plugs into to give a constant electrical signal to the fuel pump to push fuel to the engine. Will had planned for this common issue and had provided a makeshift device that had 2 pins some wire and a fuse that I could use. We plugged it in and the engine roared to life. Easy!
Dunkeld to Enfield or Ballarat
After Dunkeld there was an optional side quest to visit a fabricator who is hand fabricatiing one-off custom cars or to head to the Benz Shed for some parts shopping. Given the issues I was having, it was a no brained and I went to the Benz Shed. I would have like to have visited the fabrication workshop, but it wasn’t meant to be.
When we arrived at the Benz Shed we met with the owner Steve Miles who was a great host. Before arriving we had sent him a list of the parts we wanted and he dug up what he had in preparation for us. He was also very friendly and happy to have a chat with us all and let us rummage around his sheds and yard looking for whatever we needed.
When we told him I needed a fuel pump relay he was only too happy to oblige and set about finding me one. Since there was nothing in the yard that was suitable, he led me to one of his huge sheds where we looked through some of the parts boxes he had. As luck would have it, he had 2 – a genuine Mercedes-Benz part and an aftermarket branded one. I took both out to the car to test them out. I started with the genuine item first and plugged it in, but that car would not start. I switched to the aftermarket one, and the car started first go. I was elated! I no longer had to concern myself with this issue until I got home.
We left the Benz Shed and headed to Bendigo where are spending the night with a quick refuel stop. At this point I was starting to get alarmed again as the car di stall on me, but restarted again immediately after. So perhaps the fuel pump relay is fine!
We drove on and headed to the hotel in what I can only describe as biblical levels of rain! Visibility was reduced to the end of the bonnet of my car. We took it easy for this portion , driving to the conditions until things cleared up again.
After the biblical rains cleared, I really just wanted to make it to the hotel. I was feeling exhausted at this point and was looking forward to settling in to my room. It wasn’t helping that I was experiencing micro-sleeps while driving. Something extremely dangerous as pointed out to me when discussing with Peter at the hotel. If I experience this again I will definitely stop for a few minutes on the side of the road to clear my head.
We finally made it to the hotel with a quick checkin to our rooms. I decided to move my car to a parking spot closer to my room, but it refused to start – not with the new relay or the improvised device. This is not good. After leaving the car for a short while I managed to get it fired up again with the improvised device.
But this isn’t where my problems ended. We’re heading to the Euroa Show and Shine tomorrow so it made sense to get the cars washed. As I headed off to the car wash the car stalled on me again, and refused to start. This may be a fuel accumulator problem as well as a fuel relay problem. After chatting with the crew again we figured that if we connect the improvised device and left it for a few seconds before starting the car, it should start OK. This was a technique Bryce was using on one of his cars that had an accumulator issue. I tried this and the car came to life.
This is currently the plan going forward until I get home. We’re visiting the MBCVIC clubhouse tomorrow for a BBQ and they’ve kindly offered us the use of their hoist. I’m hoping someone from the Victorian club will be able to offer some insight on this issue and help me to resolve it – even if it’s a temporary solution until I get back to Sydney.
