After a stop in Villa La Angostura to see Suzy the Kombi again (Rose & Charly), we were to head back east to Buenos Aires to get Claudia to the airport. As I was mighty upset to be leaving Suzy for a third time, I again refused to start. The slaves thought they had eliminated all of my tricks of cutting electrical power, but I still had a few old standbys to use. I'm not immune to a push start however, and to my chagrin we were off. My little temper tantrum did result in a stop over in Bariloche at Beto the mechanic though; where I got my door hinge replaced, my perennial fuel leak stopped, and my electrical hijinks (battery post corrosion) stopped.
On we went eastward. Curt was still complaining about his insect bite on his hand; over one month of this never-ending attention seeking and hourly screaming. I'd had my fill of this uppity slave, so just when we were far enough away from Beto the mechanic to make turning around an unreasonable idea, I cut the power brakes. Yep, vacuum pump without vacuum. 2000kg of vehicle overladen with gear, no power brakes, and a driver with a damaged driving hand. To my surprise the slaves, though complaining, did not stop. I suppose that it was a weekend and getting repairs was impossible, so we made the 1200km journey in that condition.
On we went eastward. Curt was still complaining about his insect bite on his hand; over one month of this never-ending attention seeking and hourly screaming. I'd had my fill of this uppity slave, so just when we were far enough away from Beto the mechanic to make turning around an unreasonable idea, I cut the power brakes. Yep, vacuum pump without vacuum. 2000kg of vehicle overladen with gear, no power brakes, and a driver with a damaged driving hand. To my surprise the slaves, though complaining, did not stop. I suppose that it was a weekend and getting repairs was impossible, so we made the 1200km journey in that condition.
Upon arrival in Buenos Aires, Claudia was deposited at the airport, and Curt stopped at a pharmacy to purchase a syringe. I watched as this slaved attempted to suck the pus out of his swollen insect bite (which resembled an extra finger). No puss came out with the syringe. He used the needle to cut open the area and jammed the plastic syringe into the bloody open wound. A bit of suction with the syringe, and out came the white pus. Or was it pus? It was moving! It was alive! It was a botfly larvae!
I was so proud of this moment for my slave, that I let him reward me with a complete one week overhaul at Navas LandRover Service. I got a new vacuum pump (obviously), a new clutch, a rebuilt transmission, and a rebuilt transfer gearbox. Based on the looks of the insides of my transmission, I'd say that the 40,000km used transmission we got in Juiz de Fora for two arms and a leg, probably was a case of false advertizing.