Van break down in Mexico

It happened a couple of times in the past year and a half.  And not at the greatest times.

We were working ourselves to the bone trying to get out of our apartment in Calgary, and our van died – no power, battery dead.  We blamed it on bad electrical work in a trailer, got a boost, and were fine.

Fast forward a year later or so.  In one of Cuernavaca’s busiest intersections, the van died.  No power, battery dead.  This time, I wasn’t pulling anything.  For a few minutes I blocked traffic (I imagine everyone I know must have driven or walked by) until a friend came and gave me a boost.  The van was fine for a few more months.  Afraid of complicated electrical work, we decided to wait and see what would happen.

Fast forward to December, several months later, in the midst of Christmas preparations.  On my way home with the turkey, the battery started to die.  Armed with experience, I wasted no time and made it home.  Now what?

I decided to drive it (downhill) to a Christmas party, knowing that there were people there who could help if I needed help.  I did.

This time, though, the boost did little good.  I just barely drove it out of the gated community, and it died again.  I had a couple of very generous friends to help, parents of Hannah’s classmates.  One gave my family a ride home, while I talked to the other.  He (Alberto) suggested I leave the van there for the night, near a 24 hour store and the securities guards at the community gate.  We talked to the store owner and the security guard, and I do believe I saw some "thank you money" pass hands.  Everyone helped me get the van to the side of the road.

The next morning, on advice, I pulled out the battery and took it by foot and bus to the store, and had it replaced.  Via a lot more walking up and down hills and another bus, I got the new one back to the van.  From the symptoms I figured that, even if there was a cable or alternator problem, the battery was likely part of the problem.  It gave me enough juice to drive it a little, but it was clearly not the whole problem.

I called our landlord to see if he could recommend a nearby mechanic, but he didn’t call back, and it was now the weekend – Sunday, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day…

I saw Lisandro (our landlord) on Boxing Day (26 December).  He generously went with me to a little shop where electrical work was done – a typical, greasy place with pin-ups on the wall and a big wooden skeleton to hang things on.  Oh, and some guys that seemed to know their stuff.  They tested the obvious things, and this morning we went back (before Lisandro went to work).

After hanging around for an hour waiting for the owner, watching another guy get his car fixed and chatting with him and a mechanic, we found the owner and talked to him.  Lisandro left, and after about 45 minutes the owner (maestro) took a look.  Maybe the alternator – let’s take a look.  We talked about new engines, Calgary, and the Winter Olympics that Calgary is still remembered for.

I hung around and watched the whole procedure – it was the regulator in the alternator.  I helped him replace the belt (why not?), started up the van, and voila!  I mean … ¡que bueno!  It worked.

After a bit of driving today, it looks like it still works.  So far so good.  It’s nice to have a van again.

Tonight I’ll probably swing by and thank the guy in the 24 hour convenience store and the security guards.  Maybe I’ll give them some Coke and cookies as a thank you.

So that’s a van break down in Mexico – generous friends, a few interesting experiences, and even a few more Spanish words.  Not a bad holiday season so far…