No lights, no heat, no brakes.

This morning at El Tomatal, at the Pacific Ocean, the landscape was covered with a heavy fog.
Like other cars do as well, the lights of the Fuso Santek were switched on to be optimally visible in the thick fog.
Checking the expedition vehicle before taking off, which is the standard procedure, it was noticed that only the headlights were on.
The lights on the top of the truck cabin were not working.
Neither the lights on the back of the camper box nor on the sides.
Obviously the wiring is confused.
And it seems that at Santek Trailers after the wiring had been completed, no testing was done to see everything was working, as it should.
The trip was started anyway, with only the headlights, but the problem must be solved.
All the fuses were checked and they are OK.
Because the way the wiring of the Fuso Santek is done is unknown, there is no idea where to start looking to find what is creating this problem.
Maybe the best is to find a mechanic in La Paz specialised in electricity for cars.

The next surprise was the heating in the cabin of the truck.
It was cold this morning and the heater in the cabin of the truck was switched on.
No heat was coming from the vents…
In order to install the radio, the whole panel with the switches for the heating and cooling had to be dismantled by Santek Trailers.
Behind this panel were many wires and cables and connectors and probably during the reassembling the heater got not connected well.
Later an effort will be made to dismantle the dashboard and see if the heater switch is correctly connected.

All these issues are not vital although lights not working eliminates the option to drive in the dark.
Originally it was planned to first make a trip of one week inside the USA to test if everything was working well.
To be able to return to Santek Trailers for adjustments if needed.
But because of schedule and engagements elsewhere this plan could not be performed.
And it was actually not anticipated to have these issues like water tanks overflowing and lights and heating not working.
Some testing in case of the lights and one test drive with full water tanks would have brought these issues to the surface immediately.

A stop for lunch was made next to a rural Mexican house of which the inhabitants were selling home made sweets.
For Alfredo Gonzales, soon to meet in Punta Boca del Salado, a “Dulce de guyaba” was bought.
For own consumption a supply of fresh dates.





In the afternoon was a very scary experience.
Before to reach Santa Rosalia the road passes a mountain.
It is a very steep road there and locally known as “The wall of death”.
Coming down on that road the Fuso Santek had a truck loaded with an earth-moving machine in front.
Because that truck was going very slow, repeatedly the drum brakes of the Fuso Santek needed to be applied.
At one point the truck in front stopped along the road before a curve because another huge truck was ascending the steep road.
The Fuso Santek’s brakes were applied heavily and to high consternation no braking occurred.
The Fuso Santek just continued rolling towards the trailer with the earth-moving machine.
The brake pedal was pushed and hit the floor of the cabin but no slowing down occurred.
There was a total loss of braking power.
It looked the Fuso Santek would crash in the back of the trailer but somehow this didn’t happen.
As of then a very large distance was kept to the trailer and the engine kept in a low gear.
Later, the brakes worked normally again.
According to good friend George, later met in Santa Rosalia, the loss of braking power occurred because the brakes had been overheating.
When drum brakes get too hot, they simply do not work anymore.

It had been 2 months good friend George was met and so good to see him again.
To spend time chatting and exchanging experiences we have in life.


Of course George wanted a tour of the Fuso Santek and was highly impressed by the design and the craftsmanship.
However, when one of the cargo doors was opened we discovered that all three screws of the hinge had been broken off.


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