Today we’re taking the car and caravan on the road to see if the replacement turbo shut-off valve has resolved the issue with the engine going into ‘Restricted Performance’ mode.

Taking to the Hills

Our campsite at Belair National Park in the Adelaide Hills is, not surprisingly, surrounded by some considerable climbs on narrow, twisting roads. Just the sort of thing we need to put some load on the engine and then onto the freeway to accelerate from low revs. It appears the acceleration is key to triggering the fault and occurs at the point the second turbocharger kicks-in, or is supposed to, to provide more ‘oomph’. So, time to hit the road.

The climb out of Belair is quite daunting with a very steep drop into the valley on the left, overhanging trees and drivers in the opposite direction who seem completely incapable of staying on their side of the solid, double white centre line around even the most gradual bend. With such a steep climb, though, it’s good to see that a number of slow vehicle pull-overs have been provided to ease the frustration of following vehicles – something we readily made use of.

On to the Freeway

Reaching the top of the climb and all good so far, now for the freeway, which is a mix of long descents and equally long climbs. The car had no problem keeping speed and seemed to pull better uphill than it had previously even happy under fairly high revs. I tried dropping the speed and then accelerating to force a change of gear and kick the second turbo into action and all behaved as it should. Promising.

Returning back to our base we were pleased the issue hadn’t reappeared but the real test will be when we get back on the road tomorrow and head south to continue on with our trip. It was a long time before failures last time so, as the saying goes, time will tell.

Next stop Keith

Tomorrow, hopefully, we’ll be passing through the location where the car faulted with a brief stop for coffee at the Silo Cafe in Coonalpyn and on to our next overnight at Keith where we have been advised of a great cafe called the Henry and Rose. And our next destination – the town of Naracoorte to visit the World Heritage Listed limestone caves.

Many Thanks

We’re very grateful for all the time and effort of Land Rover Australia, JLR Customer Relationship Centre and especially Solitaire Land Rover’s Service Manager and his team in Adelaide for going over and above in getting us back on the road. Thank you!