Las Platas to Puerto Madryn, Argentina

So, it’s fair to say we have encountered some unexpected challenges. The emissions warning indicator that illuminated on the short drive to Buenos Aires from Zarate (where we collected Miss Adventure) was really a warning of the challenges that lay ahead. 

I was annoyed with myself for not buying an OBD scanner in the UK, but the task of doing so was de-prioritised as our exit date neared.  With the help of a German car specialist in Buenos Aires, we determined that the emissions sensor had, for a fleeting moment, detected higher than expected NOx emissions, something they attributed to the fuel.  While I had expected this to present at some point during our trip, I wasn’t expecting it in Argentina where ULSD (compatible with Euro 6 engines) is available.  After much discussion with the mechanics, we decided to follow their advice and stick to Shell (and a couple of other suppliers) for as much of the journey as we could.  I also re-prioritised the task of sourcing an OBD scanner to the top of my todo list.

With a few engine-warning-light-free day trips under our belt, and Miss Adventure driving well, we decided to start venturing South.  Our first two nights were spent at an unusually located campsite – in a largish traffic island in between two motorways – about 15 miles from the town of Las Platas.  There was really nothing within walking distance, but the campsite had a pool, and this was the most important thing as far as the little people were concerned.  We were a great source of intrigue for the otherwise Argentinian campers, many of whom were interested to learn more about us.  Even the little people managed to make friends with some of the other children there.  Despite the lack of scenery, or really anything interesting about, we had an enjoyable stay and the two days flew by.

Our next stop was Pinamar, a beach town very popular with tourists from Buenos Aires.  Our arrival however, was greeted with an epic storm.  Setting up a campsite in the rain is a special type of self-harm, however, we were rewarded the next day with glorious sunshine.  We made the most of it by spending the day at the beach where the girls enjoyed practicing their body surfing and playing in the sand while Mel worked on trying to be less white.  I managed to temporarily lose my glasses in the sea, but to my amazement, they were returned by a wave about 20 minutes later!  What are the odds?!

Following Pinamar, we travelled further South along the coast to Mar del Plata.  Here we decided to stay at a campsite a bit inland because it also featured a largish water park with dozens of slides.  Part way through cooking dinner on our second night, our gas (which we’d actually bought on a prior trip in Germany) ran out.  A little annoying.  We spent most of the next day trying to find a gas supplier with an adaptor who could refill a European gas bottle, without luck.  In the end – and after much Googling – we found a local gas fitter who agreed to change the adaptor in Miss Adventure and sell us a local gas bottle. Any apprehension I felt about the quality of his workmanship was alleviated when he undertook a final “safety test” by waving his his lit cigarette lighter over the new connection and throughout the gas locker. Nothing caught on fire or blew up, thankfully.

Bahai Blanca was our next stop, a few hundred miles further South On Ruta 3.  We treated ourselves to an AirBnB to give everyone a break from camping, do the laundry and run a few other errands.  We were able to complete precisely none of our planned tasks owing to the fact our stay coincided with a back-to-back public holidays which, it seemed, all local shops and businesses observed.  On the upside, the little people and I did manage to find some Carnival street celebrations which were quite fun to be part of.

At this point we decided to speed up our push South, to maximise the amount of remaining ‘summer’ to reach Tierra del Fuego and some of the more interesting parts of Patagonia.  Together, Mel and I planned for a few long days of driving – the little people in agreement, particularly because they had (incorrectly) assumed they would get to watch some movies on the longer travel days. 

The first stop on this push was Las Grutas, a tiny dusty town along Ruta 3.  We pulled into a camping ground I’d found on iOverlander (a very handy app for those travelling by vehicle) and stopped Miss Adeventure outside the administration building to go and organise our campsite for the evening.  When I returned, I turned the key in the ignition and… Miss Adventure wouldn’t start.  I tried to start the vehicle a few more times – the starter motor would turn over, but the engine simply wouldn’t fire up.  I checked the battery with my multi-meter, and it was fine.  I looked around everything in the engine bay and it all looked fine too – at least as far as I could tell.  My evening mechanic’s class at the Hammersmith learning centre last year had taught me how to deal with basic mechanical issues on cars from the 1970s, so not super helpful in this situation!   

As night fall approached, Mel and I started to discuss accommodation options, particularly if Miss Adventure couldn’t be moved to the campsite.  Miss Adventure was parked on the access road leading in and out of the camping ground – pretty much in the centre of it actually.  This was, we both agreed, not an ideal place to make camp.  We hastily decided that we’d take the awing tent – that ordinarily attaches to the vehicle for “a bit more room” – around to the campsite and make that our residence for the night. 

Mel took the tent to begin setting up camp and the little people started ferrying the various things we needed from Miss Adventure to our campsite – food, clothes, chairs, etc.  About 5 minutes later, Mary came back with an important message from Mum.  “Mum needs the pump”, she barked.  And then I remembered – in my quest to optimise space for this trip, we had replaced the (much larger) manual pump required for the tent’s air poles, with an electric pump that was powered from the vehicle’s leisure battery.  Oops.

Before having the opportunity to respond properly to Mary, some mechanics arrived!  The camping ground staff had helpfully called some from a nearby town.  I rejoiced.  The two mechanics were wearing uniforms with hats – my confidence in their ability grew.  The younger of the two mechanics opened the passenger door and was very surprised to not find the steering wheel.  This led to a fairly lengthy conversation about the vehicle, where it was from, the challenges of driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road, etc.  He was very surprised that vehicles in the UK are right hand drive.  And then he proceeded to open the passenger door again. 

20 minutes later, the uniform wearing duo had tested the battery, attempted to start Miss Adventure a few more times, and inspected the engine bay.  They had run out of ideas.  My (obviously premature) confidence waned as I realised uniforms should not be used as a measure of competence.  Eventually I convinced the mechanics to connect their OBD scanner to Miss A– to see if there were some diagnostic trouble codes that were preventing the vehicle from starting.  (I had a suspicion that there might be some faults, possibly caused by the fuel quality, the DPF or diesel exhaust fluid delivery – possibly preventing the vehicle from starting).   Lucy then arrived, announcing she had an important reminder about the yet-to-be-responded to important message that Mary had delivered earlier.  As I contemplated how to respond to the air tent dilemma, and no doubt Mel’s growing impatience, my thoughts were interrupted with the sound of Miss Adventure’s engine turning over.  What a glorious sound!   I walked around to the driver’s door to ask the mechanics what they’d done.  “Nothing, we cleared some error codes and now it starts”, the older mechanic replied.  “What codes?”, I asked.  “Don’t know, we didn’t store them, we just cleared them”, the younger one replied simply.  After a few more minutes of charades and (my) child-like-Spanish, I conclude that neither knows what the problem is or was, they don’t know if it will come back, but for now the vehicle seems to start without problem.  They suggest we drive to Trelew – a town with a VW service centre, 350 miles further South.  By morning we had a plan.  I had managed to get in contact with the VW service centre in Trelew via WhatsApp and we had an AirBnB organised.   The drive from Las Grutas on Ruta 3 was surprisingly smooth and we made it to a service station about 100 from Trelew by lunch time.  Given Miss Adeventure was due at the mechanics at 4pm (for the evening shift to start), Mel suggested we all stop and relax for a bit.  “Let’s go inside for lunch together.  Turn the car off, it will be fine”, Mel encouraged.  In fairness, I didn’t need much convincing, so I did.  To reassure myself it really would be fine, I attempted a restart.  I turned the key in the ignition… and nothing.  If only we had stuck to the plan.

Mary surprised by our thee hour stop at a fuel station

A few hours later, with the help of a truck mechanic, Miss Adventure was running once again.  The truck mechanic’s OBD scanner translated the error code to a possible issue with the fuel pump.  However, since the code was manufacturer specific and we were without mobile coverage, we had no way of knowing for sure.  In any case, I didn’t want to risk the fuel pump failing in the middle of nowhere, so we decided to divert to Puerto Madryn – the next closest town.

To our surprise and relief, there was also a VW service centre in Puerto Madryn which agreed to try and fix Miss Adventure.  I spent the next couple of days Googling Volkswagen diagnostic trouble codes, looking up the Spanish translations for various car parts, and speaking (like a child) with the mechanics.  I also spent a lot of time trying to source an OBD scanner, completely unsuccessfully.  It seems that I have lost the ability to shop in actual stores, for which I blame Amazon.    

Mel and the girls wait at VW patiently.

A couple of days later, the VW team had diagnosed the issue as a fault with the ignition and replaced it.  They had even made arrangements to recover the cost from VW upon our return to the UK as the vehicle was still under warranty.   The chief mechanic assured me that everything was “perfecto” now.  I wasn’t entirely convinced, but we drove a few small trips around town without the problem recurring.  Still, erring on the side of caution (for once), Mel and I decided that we’d take a longer test drive to Trelew.  While it was to be a rather long test drive, we figured if Miss A wouldn’t start when we got there, we would at least be close to another VW service centre.  And, to sell a 200 mile return journey to the girls, we made a day of it by including a visit to the Trelew’s dinosaur museum.

On the way to Trelew, we stopped by the “world’s tallest dinosaur replica” for the girls to take pictures. I didn’t dare turn Miss Adventure off.

The dinosaur museum turned out to be rather interesting, and not just because it featured a 40 minute BBC film following the team that discovered the Argentionsaurus – the largest dinosaur species discovered so far.  No prizes for guessing where it was found.    Our brains full of dinosaur facts, we hoped back into Miss Adventure to return to Puerto Madryn.  I turned the key in the ignition… and nothing.

Nick, 20th March 2020

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