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Road Trip Check List


blkr6

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Getting your car ready for a long trip:

I have an 98 Toyota Avalon with 140k miles (224km)and i have driven my car to Canada two times and Florida one time from Washington DC, USA. when i drove to FL i pushed my car speeds upwards of 125Mph (200kmh) and i have proved over and over that any car can travel any distance without any problems if you are well planned and prepare you car. here is a guide if you are driving to ......lets say Jaffna to Galle.
Things you Need:
Tool Kit, Jack, gallon of water/coolant, jumper cables, portable air compressor, tire patch kit, extra set of headlight bulbs, Liter of oil if you regularly don't loose oil if you loose oil take more, assortment set of fuses, Torch, glass cleaner
Things to check:
The Rubbers- Fan belts, timing belt (remove the timing cover and inspect), vaccume hoses, Radiator hoses, power steering hoses, ATF cooler lines if its a Auto trans, Tires (thread, and abnormal wear paters), CV Join boots, Rack and pinion Boots, Tie rod end rubber parts, Sway bar bushing, way bar links, lower control arm bushing, Wipers
Check For plays: lift each wheel up move side to side and up to bottom and check for plays.pay attention to Wheel bearing, tie rod, ball joints.
Leaks: look through the engine and check for Engine Oil, ATF, Coolant, Power Steering leaks, windshield washer fluid
Maintenance items- Change oil and Filter, Inspect and change Air Filter, Check/ Change Coolant, Change Fuell Filter, check replace ATF and Differential Fluid, inspect spark plugs and wires, CHECK THE SPARE TIRE FILL IT UP WITH AIR,
Electrical: Check all the lights, Check operation of Wipers, Windshield Washer, Check the Alternator output with and w/o loads,
Clean all the Glasses and mirriors, wash the radiator fins if there is any dirt or leaves, clean your headlights
During the trip tip i lost one liter every 1000miles (1600km) i guess heavy load and high speeds did that because my engine don't loose oil at all. So check all the fluids while you are on the trip.
Please try not to speed!
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Good info. You've missed a tow rope in your list. May I add that it's a good idea to carry a spare spark plug or two and a spare drive belt if possible (even a belt that has been used, but is intact). My dad used to always carry them in his vehicles and they certainly have come in handy many times.

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all so to add to the list carry a bluetooth diagnostic Scanner if you have one it may come handy during the trip and others are a grease cup a empty gallon this is useful if you run out of gas and need to get some from the petrol shed and extra set of brake bulbs and some plastic pins for inside front wheel arch they are usefully to have around.

and most importantly drive safe and obey the rules of the road all ways.

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Advice is good mate, but its not that practical... You see this is a small country, you could travel from one corner to other in less than 24 hours..

Galle to Jaffna would take about 8 to 9 hours depending on time you start the journey and your stops.. My point is, you dont have to be prepared to this extend to travel in this country.. If the car breaks down during a long haul its just a matter of towing it to a place where there is a mechanic..

Last week i drove from Arugambay to Kalutara via Hambantota in 7 hours.. 4 people in da car with our baggage there was not enough space in the trunk to put anything else..

So thats why i'm saying its not that practical to carry all those things when you are travelling long distances...

My motto, love the car, take care of her the best you can, and she wont let you down ever!

Yes this may be use ful for a person on a road trip let's say from sydney to melborne and the to adelaid,

But in Sri Lanka where people stop for a snack in the 45minute cruze in the highway this is not much of a use.

The only thing in the checklist should be to fasten you'r seat belts.

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<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="trinity" data-cid="237611" data-time="1365851963">

My motto, love the car, take care of her the best you can, and she wont let you down ever!</p></blockquote>

Spot on mate!

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Advice is good mate, but its not that practical... You see this is a small country, you could travel from one corner to other in less than 24 hours..

Galle to Jaffna would take about 8 to 9 hours depending on time you start the journey and your stops.. My point is, you dont have to be prepared to this extend to travel in this country.. If the car breaks down during a long haul its just a matter of towing it to a place where there is a mechanic..

Last week i drove from Arugambay to Kalutara via Hambantota in 7 hours.. 4 people in da car with our baggage there was not enough space in the trunk to put anything else..

So thats why i'm saying its not that practical to carry all those things when you are travelling long distances...

My motto, love the car, take care of her the best you can, and she wont let you down ever!

Trinity,

Your post is correct to some extend in this era. As you say we live in a small country. There can be always road side help.

Any passing motorist will stop and offer help. I have helped to pull out cars which are gone off the road due to bad weather, slippery conditions.

Once I pulled a car about 10 miles it was belongs to a army Doctor. He was clueless, stranded on the road to Nuwaraeliya.

It was a Diesel car he had run out of Diesel I pulled his car up to the next closest Filling station.This was in 1980.

During dark era there were no imports. I used to carry all what blkr6 had mentioned on his post.

Even carry welding rods electric and gas. once at Rambava on Anuradapura road one of my ball joints came out.

Fortunately the speed was about 30 miles/ hour. Managed to stop using gears and applying brakes very carefully.

Fitted the joint back to the rod tied with wire and managed to go to Madawachiya. they had electric welding no rods I gave the rods

Got the ball filled had to use a grinder to get the round shape because that town did not have a lathe. Fitted the ball back. Proceeded to Jaffna.

Last Easter Sunday I did 300 kilometers to Puttlam Kalpitiya St Anes church back to Colombo in two days. With no attention to the vehicle.

Every 7 days I check tire pressure top up the tank every 150 kilometers. I filled the tank before I left Colombo.

After coming back I filled the tank our speed was never more than 60 kilometers I managed to get 18.37 kilometers per liter.

only four of us and our luggage.

Advisable to have fan belt, jumper cables, tow rope. and extra gallon of fuel.

YOU LAST SENTENCE ( My motto, love the car, take care of her the best you can, and she wont let you down ever!) I TOO AGREE WITH YOU.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

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Advice is good mate, but its not that practical... You see this is a small country, you could travel from one corner to other in less than 24 hours..

Galle to Jaffna would take about 8 to 9 hours depending on time you start the journey and your stops.. My point is, you dont have to be prepared to this extend to travel in this country.. If the car breaks down during a long haul its just a matter of towing it to a place where there is a mechanic..

Last week i drove from Arugambay to Kalutara via Hambantota in 7 hours.. 4 people in da car with our baggage there was not enough space in the trunk to put anything else..

So thats why i'm saying its not that practical to carry all those things when you are travelling long distances...

My motto, love the car, take care of her the best you can, and she wont let you down ever!

Trinity, even in SL, its very useful to carry a limited toolkit and things like some brake oil, engine oil and coolant and most importantly some duct tape!. Thanks to failing hoses and mechanic mistakes cars owned by my family has overheated on long journeys on two occasions. On both occasions I managed to get the car fixed on the road side and proceed to the destination (one we had to run to the nearest spare parts shop and buy a hose).

Duct tape is so important because particularly on longer journeys where road conditions are not well known, bits and pieces might pop out particularly trim, thanks to bumps, pot holes etc etc and you need to have some mechanism of sticking things back on or preventing things from leaking until you can get to a point to attempt a proper repair!

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Trinity, even in SL, its very useful to carry a limited toolkit and things like some brake oil, engine oil and coolant and most importantly some duct tape!. Thanks to failing hoses and mechanic mistakes cars owned by my family has overheated on long journeys on two occasions. On both occasions I managed to get the car fixed on the road side and proceed to the destination (one we had to run to the nearest spare parts shop and buy a hose).

Duct tape is so important because particularly on longer journeys where road conditions are not well known, bits and pieces might pop out particularly trim, thanks to bumps, pot holes etc etc and you need to have some mechanism of sticking things back on or preventing things from leaking until you can get to a point to attempt a proper repair!

Hi Machan,.

I do agree with you. By saying that we dont need to go to such extend as OP mentioned, didn't mean to say that one should not carry an emmergency tool kit in their car. You never know what you'll face during a journey. So its essential to have few items in the car that could save you lot of hassle. And some times your practical knowledge also comes in handy in situations.

One of my frieds sticked back a loosen Toyota Emblem using chewing gum when he could not find anything to paste it at that time.

I carry a Powerful Torch, Couple of Used Drive Belts, a tow cable and a bottle of brake oil in addtion to the spare wheel and the Jack. Its always good to be prepared. But to what extend, is up to you it think ... :)

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Hi Machan,.

I do agree with you. By saying that we dont need to go to such extend as OP mentioned, didn't mean to say that one should not carry an emmergency tool kit in their car. You never know what you'll face during a journey. So its essential to have few items in the car that could save you lot of hassle. And some times your practical knowledge also comes in handy in situations.

One of my frieds sticked back a loosen Toyota Emblem using chewing gum when he could not find anything to paste it at that time.

I carry a Powerful Torch, Couple of Used Drive Belts, a tow cable and a bottle of brake oil in addtion to the spare wheel and the Jack. Its always good to be prepared. But to what extend, is up to you it think ... :)

You should also have a roll of insulation tape, pliers, flat and philips screw drivers (or a combi one) and a couple of bulbs and fuses. These live in my cubby hole!

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Trinity, even in SL, its very useful to carry a limited toolkit and things like some brake oil, engine oil and coolant and most importantly some duct tape!. Thanks to failing hoses and mechanic mistakes cars owned by my family has overheated on long journeys on two occasions. On both occasions I managed to get the car fixed on the road side and proceed to the destination (one we had to run to the nearest spare parts shop and buy a hose).

Duct tape is so important because particularly on longer journeys where road conditions are not well known, bits and pieces might pop out particularly trim, thanks to bumps, pot holes etc etc and you need to have some mechanism of sticking things back on or preventing things from leaking until you can get to a point to attempt a proper repair!

And a tube of super glue if using a VW or Audi :sport-smiley-004:

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<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="Clark's son" data-cid="237767" data-time="1366120400"><p>
And a tube of super glue if using a VW or Audi :sport-smiley-004:</p></blockquote>

When talking about super glue, it helped me once in an accident.. One Valentino Rossi riding a Bajaj Pulser broke one of my side mirrors.. Arm of the mirror broke in to two and whole mirror was hanging by the wire.. Bought a tube super glue and glued the separated parts back.. Although it was temporary, it held for about 5 days baring the whole weight of the mirror..

Anyway, super glue melts the plastic and mess up things..so i do not recommend it for plastics in your car.. I did it at that time cuz i got the insurance claim for a new mirror.. :-)

Edited by trinity
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<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="Clark's son" data-cid="237767" data-time="1366120400"><p>

And a tube of super glue if using a VW or Audi :sport-smiley-004:</p></blockquote>

When talking about super glue, it helped me once in an accident.. One Valentino Rossi riding a Bajaj Pulser broke one of my side mirrors.. Arm of the mirror broke in to two and whole mirror was hanging by the wire.. Bought a tube super glue and glued the separated parts back.. Although it was temporary, it held for about 5 days baring the whole weight of the mirror..

Anyway, super glue melts the plastic and mess up things..so i do not recommend it for plastics in your car.. I did it at that time cuz i got the insurance claim for a new mirror.. :-)

Since we are on the subject of Super glue I think I should contribute with my story :)

It was my wedding day and we were flying off to the honeymoon hotel in Kandy, the car was an N16. We noticed a somewhat funny behaviour in the fuel guage, it would go up and down occasionally. Attributing it to a funny sensor we continued the journey. While we were climbing Kadugannawa ( Near thorombal kada :) ) the car showed some hesitation to move and came to a stop. It couldn't be started again. Time was around 8pm and there was no one around. We tried to inspect the issue and noticed that one of the fuel lines coming from the fuel tank has been broken (under back seat) . With the help of a tuktuk malli we were able to find an old time mechanic ( I guess he was in Sylvi's age ). His solution was to stick an empty carbon pen's small tube to the broken area and create a path for fuel to flow. Luckily wifey had a pen. For some weird reason it had run out of ink too.

The mechanic used a mix of some superglue and wheat flour ( IIRC) and voila! car is back in shape to continue the journey. Though it took 2 hours from our precious time :smilie_liebe9:

Edited by NRX
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Places like Arpico actually pretty decent tool kits to keep in cars. Only issue is, mostly chinese, and the steel can be ... questionable. I've warped a screwdriver from those sets without budging the nut I was trying to remove. But if you find a good one, they have a decent set of tools, the better ones have jumper cables and work gloves too.

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Places like Arpico actually pretty decent tool kits to keep in cars. Only issue is, mostly chinese, and the steel can be ... questionable. I've warped a screwdriver from those sets without budging the nut I was trying to remove. But if you find a good one, they have a decent set of tools, the better ones have jumper cables and work gloves too.

Peri, forget about Arpico. I recently went to buy a new Shifter and was happy to see the good old Diamond brand being sold in hardware shops. But when I actually got the item in hand I noticed how much the quality of the product has deteriorated. I owned 3 of them in 3 sizes (2 stolen by various workmen who did stuff at home) and the replacement just wasn't the same quality. I cannot understand how the quality of a Chinese tool can go down!!!!

Also when you buy tools you need to invest and get the good stuff. Else you end up warping screw heads, nuts and generally not getting stuff done! A friend even managed to break his ratchet trying to undo a wheel nut!

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Also when you buy tools you need to invest and get the good stuff. Else you end up warping screw heads, nuts and generally not getting stuff done! A friend even managed to break his ratchet trying to undo a wheel nut!

Yup, yup, agreed. Hard learned lesson.

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Since we are on the subject of Super glue I think I should contribute with my story :)

It was my wedding day and we were flying off to the honeymoon hotel in Kandy, the car was an N16. We noticed a somewhat funny behaviour in the fuel guage, it would go up and down occasionally. Attributing it to a funny sensor we continued the journey. While we were climbing Kadugannawa ( Near thorombal kada :) ) the car showed some hesitation to move and came to a stop. It couldn't be started again. Time was around 8pm and there was no one around. We tried to inspect the issue and noticed that one of the fuel lines coming from the fuel tank has been broken (under back seat) . With the help of a tuktuk malli we were able to find an old time mechanic ( I guess he was in Sylvi's age ). His solution was to stick an empty carbon pen's small tube to the broken area and create a path for fuel to flow. Luckily wifey had a pen. For some weird reason it had run out of ink too.

The mechanic used a mix of some superglue and wheat flour ( IIRC) and voila! car is back in shape to continue the journey. Though it took 2 hours from our precious time :smilie_liebe9:

NRX,

Very interesting post. You have mentioned my A/L log in name also, Good.

I remembered my honeymoon trip in 1970 what happened in Bandarawela,. We stayed 4 nights in ELLA rest house one evening we went for a drive near Bandarawela there was a earth slip.

There was earth all over the road any how buses had gone over the muddy road.

I took a chance drove on that muddy stretch of the road. On the center of the muddy stretch car started to slip the rear tires. Stopped the car did not want to go down the precipice.

Fortunately had a toe rope managed tie same to my car and the tractor drivers who was clearing the earth slip, on the road helped me to toe the car back to the good road.

There was few posts on tools.

Good old days we had in Ceylon Eclipse Lucas tools from UK.At present all Chinese stuff.

India manufacture very good engineering tools. I have few which I bought 40 years ago in India.

When the tools are concerned, have to buy correct tools what is available in S L today best is ELORA.

I have a lot of USA Snap-on tools but after 30 years of being in repair industry. they are still good

At present I buy cheap Chinese tools, they do work just as well, have to change every year.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

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Since we are on the subject of Super glue I think I should contribute with my story

The mechanic used a mix of some superglue and wheat flour ( IIRC) and voila! car is back in shape to continue the journey.

Mix Superglue with talcum powder of any cosmetic brand. The mixture takes a few minutes to harden but the resulting bonding strength is amazing. Another use of Superglue BTW is to fix minor cuts! Particularly on your palm where the skin is thick and a wound might take little longer to heal. I read this in a medical journal which described use of superglue as a substitute for sutures in an emergency. Done it a few times with excellent results and no side effects.. You can do it only on a clean cut but not on a bruise. Clean the cut, hold the skin together and apply a thin layer of superglue over it while slightly opening and closing the wound so that glue catches the outer skin (epidermis). You can use your hand almost immediately afterwards to do whatever you were doing. I know, now those white coats, if any reading this post, will begin to throw their gauntlets at me.

Edited by Rumesh88
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