Help, we are stuck in France!

We are currently near Ruffec, 60 miles south of Poitiers in France, on our way travelling to Spain to then head into Morocco.

However, we seem to have a major engine problem as we have a great lack of power and nasty knocking noise. This came on very sudden after oil warning light coming on. Checked oil and it was a bit low but nothing alarming.

We are guessing that it is probably main bearing or something else major, so we are not driving anywhere at the moment.

So basically hoping that someone on here might know of a Land Rover mechanic near-ish.

Failing that any ideas on bringing a car back to the UK? :-(

Car is 1963 S2A 2.25 petrol swb.

feel for you being that far down , are you an a toll road or "A" road's . no where open on sunday's out there and no lorries on the roads on a sunday either. i assume you have euro cover ( AA , RAC , ETC ) or lr assist ?, otherwise a pain full time , i think .

**** guys.... asking questions around for ya... will text or msg with any news

Sorry to hear of your trubbles wish I could. BE of help will scratch my head
For you

found 1 number dont know if of use , about 50 k away tho , +33 545 236 696 "first stop" this one is south near angouleme, doubt if available on sunday.

if you havent got brake down cover
just join asap and wate 2 days then phone and tell them you have just broken down lol

it worked for me as engen was beond rapair but if it is repaible thay will take you to a local garage

so depending on your budget it mite be better if your engen is beond repair so you get a lift home

IF you want to sling me a phone number by PM mate,
I may be able to put you in touch with a Series chap from OLLR in Aunac

Datatek is your way. Pm him your tel no.

If you have access to tools etc you may be able to get away with some new shells If your desperate you may get away with just taking the main caps off and replacing the lower half its a complete bodge but may just be enough to keep you going for £12 for a full set might be worth a couple of hours work but ultimatly your engine is Fubar'd Sorry

I did this when I was a student on my old 2.5 na diesel if the crank isnt too scored damaged you might just get away with it. I had no option as I needed the landy for work and was saving for my 200tdi. Its a bodge make no mistake but needs must. New Turbo diesel oil aswell as it has a much higher temp range being suitable for turbo's as it will not break down so easy when the engine gets overly hot.

Good luck.

Question you need to ask is why did you lose oil pressure to stop it happening again,
low oil,
pump not pumping,
overheating,
many more options.

If its knocking then I think you may just be better off finding a s/h engine locally in France. less time to change the engine than bo9dge the mains check out the Landrover monthly guys I'm sure they have people over there with spares.

ATB Jai

Not sure I would continue to Morocco tho!
Do yu have recovery?

Thank you all for your helpful responses. We're now trying some of your suggestions, sending PMs etc. Now in Angouleme, having limped there at 20mph if that. Looks like nothing will be open today.

I wouldnt drive it an inch if yu dont have to. running on knackered big ends is guaranteed to destroy an engine.

Datatek is in Poitiers.

Theres another member probably closer to you than Datatek, I (he has a 2.5DT Rangie and lives south east of Datatek possibly), I just can't remember his name, as stated before PM Datatek he may be able to advise/supply information about local garages or possibly help of some kind.

Did you manage to contact Drew mate ????

Hi all. Thanks for all your help. From that we did indeed get into contact with a local landie chap, Drew who was very helpful and hospitable as were his family. We were not able to diagnose fault fully with the time given but recognised as we suspected needs to be stripped down and looked at properly. There are one or two Land Rover specialists about but our opinion is it would not be a sensible option to take.

So our Moroccan trip is postponed...we are back in the UK, the landie still in France. But at least it is with trusted folk. Next is to sort out a way to get the car back...I don't have a towing licence but I am sure we will sort something somehow.

We did consider joining a recovery service but it just didn't seem "right" and our event is quite public so ruled that out.

Again thanks for the enthusiasm with the replies. Without it we would not be as far as we are now

Alex and Adam
Rusty Rhinos

I may be driving thru france to denmark and back after 6 july..i stress may be..but if i do i can tow it if you have a trailer available.

andrew j said:

feel for you being that far down , are you an a toll road or "A" road's . no where open on sunday's out there and no lorries on the roads on a sunday either. i assume you have euro cover ( AA , RAC , ETC ) or lr assist ?, otherwise a pain full time , i think .

Click to expand...

Hmm....perhaps next time we will take out cover :-D

storm99 said:

I may be driving thru france to denmark and back after 6 july..i stress may be..but if i do i can tow it if you have a trailer available.

Click to expand...

Not sure about the trailer in France...I might have an option there...if you do end up going through France any chance you could send me a PM or reply on here and I can check on the trailer situation in France?

Offer much appreciated

There are plenty of companies doing regular shared runs with cars through France and the rest of Europe. I looked at it when I was deciding whether to risk setting off without breakdown cover (I didn't)

It was cheaper than driving back with another vehicle and trailer, fuel ferries etc.

Cant remember what the cost was as it was a while ago. A quick google search bring up lots of them. Might be worth trying a few quotes. I could get a horse collected on a shared load in France and delivered here for a few hundred and they have more management needs than a car.

Have you thought about buying another engine and putting it in the back of a Disco with a engine hoist and driving back over to recover?

If you need a work horse I'm away for a few weeks in July and you are welcome to take my Disco... I can sort you out with a hoist too if required.