As sometimes happens, all did not go smoothly though. I had driven to Waterloo yesterday and stayed at our daughter's place in Waterloo for the night, to make it easier to get to the early van appointment. This morning the van wouldn't start! It had started and run fine yesterday, but wouldn't even turn over today, not even a "click". The Check Engine light was on, but no other diagnostics. The battery was fine.
After some fruitless head-scratching and discussion with the dealer's service manager, it was clear I needed a tow to the dealer. For the first time, I tried out our Good Sam Roadside Assistance service, and it worked fine. They had an Active Towing truck on the scene within an hour.
In the process of hooking up the van, the tow operator accidentally turned the key to Start, and the van started right up! This after at least 1/2 dozen earlier tries. The Check Engine light stayed on but it ran ok all the way to the dealer. The tow guy followed behind in case of problems. Cost of the "tow" covered by Good Sam.
Even with my late arrival the techies still managed to find and fix the leakage problem. However no reason for the non-start was found, so no fix for that. Hopefully it was related to the Check Engine light, which was caused by the bad water pump.
I know people talk about how expensive maintenance is for Sprinters, but today was a good example of getting our money's worth. This coolant leak was hard to track down, but they stuck with it. Once they found the problem, they had the parts to fix it, and they squeezed our van into their schedule and fixed it today. All this covered under warranty for our 4+ year old van. Good service and zero dollars today, great combination!
I did feel that I earned this very late breakfast, a short walk from the dealer. It was a long cold morning:
Those unknown 'no starts' kinda shake one's confidence in their vehicle but hopefully it was a passing fluke and will not repeat itself and especially not if there is no handy tow truck driver standing by.
ReplyDeleteYes, I sure would have felt better if the no-start was diagnosed and fixed. There's a good chance it is, and I'll be starting the van regularly until we leave.
DeleteGlad it got done, that's what counts.
ReplyDeleteYou did end up having a good day Gord. That water pump would have been a real problem on the road. Glad it's fixed.
ReplyDeleteI know how you feel about not starting. I had the same problem the day I left home. Haven't had a problem since, knock on wood.
Time to get out of that cold and snow.
I remember you had starting problems Doug, battery related right? I thought you were brave starting out that way.
DeleteGord.