Couple more days in normandy.

[darin]

My kid and her pal drove to normandy...


Instead of renting a car i decided to take mine - 18 years old with 160k miles. As a precaution i purchased ADAC - like AAA - the day before we left.

We piled in my 99 320i and headed east! Things were perfect until just past forbach - my car's battery/charge light illuminated on the dash. I eased off the gas and took the first exit - because turning the car was a chore i suspected a broken belt. Opening the hood confirmed things; but what troubled me was steam and water - and the water pump pully was wobbling as i messed with the belt remnant. ADAC showed up to tow me back to Germany, and said they have a loaner car for me, free of charge, for one week.
That ADAC membership saved me €300 towing, and €50/ day for a rental. Best €109 i've spent!

We transfered stuff into the loaner and made our way to the Normady region. Few cell pics attached:
Mont saint michel, the cemetery, and our hotel.

[darin]

More

[Kathianne]

Beautiful! I was right, the hotel is like a mini-Versailles!

[NightTrain]

Great pics!

Your first post, #4... what's the story?

Also, first post #3 : that's really cool with the battlements & fortifications - what's the name of that complex?

[NightTrain]

Oops... Mont St. Michel. My bad.

[darin]

Thanks! No story on the grave marker - thought it was neat :)

[NightTrain]

We piled in my 99 320i and headed east! Things were perfect until just past forbach - my car's battery/charge light illuminated on the dash. I eased off the gas and took the first exit - because turning the car was a chore i suspected a broken belt. Opening the hood confirmed things; but what troubled me was steam and water - and the water pump pully was wobbling as i messed with the belt remnant.

Water pump bearings went out, overheated and seized while you were driving and shredded your belt. When you stopped, it cooled and released.

Hopefully you didn't blow a head gasket or crack a head when she overheated.

Whenever I lose a belt, I'll shut her down immediately and coast over to the shoulder. Overheating engines get real expensive by the second in that state, I've learned the hard way.

I haven't lost a belt or overheated an engine in many years... hope it stays that way!

Good call on buying the Euro-AAA. Very wise investment!

[darin]

The pully was still spinning - but wobbly. The shop called and said 350 euro for parts and labor to replace both service belts, the water pump, and fluids. Not terrible - so I told them to do it. The next day they said it's all fixed - I'm positive if the head gasket or other damage was done they would have let me know...I coasted for about 2 miles once the snap happened (was going about 160km/hr) then used power to pull into the parking lot where it sat, so I'm really hoping all that wind helped keep temps down - I didn't even think to look at my temp gauge when this was all going on.

Will get the car tomorrow and have my fingers crossed.

[Abbey Marie]

I really like the atmosphere in the French flag/Normandy (?) Beach photo.

[NightTrain]

Just found an interesting story about Mont St. Michel, liberated from the Germans by a solo US soldier with a couple of reporters in WWII :

http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/freeing-mont-saint-michel/
darin