That's not fair...

So, plan is to service the DAF today. Forecast: Sunny.

Go outside to check the weather - it's cold, but dry.
Go inside to get jumper. Get jumper. Go outside. It's raining.

Pump up tyre on DAF hoping that it'll pass - ideally quickly.

It's still raining.

Damnit.

I have, however, looked at the manual and it appears that to change the fan/alternator(generator) belt you have to remove the bonnet(uh, hood) and the front panel, and the bumper. The bonnet is, apparently, a two person job, so I need to ask Kathryn to come and lend a hand; other than that, plan (such as it is) is to pop the car up on ramps and see if I can locate the source of the unpleasant noises - and then to set rocker valve clearances, change the oil, and theoretically change the fan-belt and check alternator tension.

Another distressing possibility revealed itself to me - perhaps the reason the alternator light comes on, and it's not charging, is that the alternator's dying. I've never had much luck with alternators, spawn of satan that they are, and the possibility that it may, in fact, be on route to the grave would not surprise me deeply, but it would be annoying. Anyway, it looks as if it's stopped raining, and the ground's now nice and damp, so I suppose I should go out there...

Unfortunate timing

So, I finally got Jejy up on ramps today; the weather - while not terribly pleasant- cleared for long enough for me to have a grovel on the cold, damp ground. I looked up through the little hole at the base of the clutch plate and gently rotated it - initially it rotated smoothly, but then I got the sensation of rubbing. And got sprinkled in dirt and dust - which looked very attractive on me.

I suspect then that there's something up with clutch shoes (it has shoes, not a plate, I think); and therefore it's an engine-out job. This being the case I decided not to continue with the service (since I might as well do all the horrid things all in one go). I did however spray the other sill with waxoyl... or at least I started. Then I lost the little injection straw in the sill. So that's slightly frustrating.

It is an unfortunate and unexpected expense coming at the same time as the TV licence and the Visa application. On which front we finished the first run of filling it in; now we need some photos and one small question answered and then some sendings. Hopefully, after that, Kathryn'll be able to stay in the UK for a couple of years; which should mean that we're fine to bugger off to Canada.

Still, the house is warm, the kitchen is lovely and we've got almost an entire sea-load of fish for dinner, so that's all good.

Distressingly I'm on nights next week. But hey, into each whatever, a bit of rain must fall.