From NH to Argentina in a Defender 110 - Norte A Sur Aventura

[ExploringNH]

Now in Laguna de Apoyo, Nicaragua. This place is highly recommended to any other travelers.

We explored around a bit. My advice would be not to explore if you don't know the language. You need to be able to ask where things go and, more importantly, make sure you aren't on someones private property.

 

[ExploringNH]

Truck is supposed to be done today! If everything checks out we will pick it up tonight and hit the border tomorrow morning. We are hoping to make it most of the way through Costa Rica in one day. We want to at least get close to the border so that we can cross into Panama in the morning. We will see how fast we can make it. I really wanted to stop some places in Costa Rica, but we ended up doing a bunch of sight seeing in Nicaragua instead.

Lots of people out and about today for the anniversary of FSLN ousting the Somoza dictatorship.

 

[Streakerfreak]

Awesome guys! See you in the next few days then.

 

[Streakerfreak]

They have arrived at Panama Passage. They may only have 4th and no reverse, but they are at least on the road.

 

[achampagne]

Oh holy crap, it just got rebuilt days ago! I haven been watching for an update, now I know why there hadn't been one.

 

[n_maher]

Oh holy crap, it just got rebuilt days ago! I haven been watching for an update, now I know why there hadn't been one.

They do seem to be having a bit of a run of bad luck with transmission and xfer case parts. Here's to hoping it's something that can be sorted in short order and the last of their troubles.

 

[Ruined Adventures]

Sounds like they're managing just fine...Ryan, hopefully you guys take a well deserved break while you're in good company @ Panama Passage

 

[ExploringNH]

They do seem to be having a bit of a run of bad luck with transmission and xfer case parts. Here's to hoping it's something that can be sorted in short order and the last of their troubles.

Hey now. The transfer case is just fine.:elkgrin: The last shop took it upon themselves to rebuild it. That wasn't our decision. It worked just fine before the rebuild. :sombrero:

Seriously. I have no idea why they thought it was a good idea to rebuild it. Oh well.


Yes, the transmission is busted again. For the last 5 or so hours of our drive we have been stuck with 4th gear, and that is it. It was actually sort of like driving an automatic. No messing with the shifter at all. The only difference was that I had to stay between 40 and 90km/h or risk a blown engine or be out of the power curve. In town we were able to toss it into 4-lo which worked well, except for a top speed of 25mph. Getting up steep hills involved a lot of clutch slipping. If we wanted to go into 4-hi, we just got to the top of a hill, put the truck in Hi range, and then rolled down until about 30mph. Easy as pie. :snorkel:

We are hoping to get on the phone with the mechanic that rebuilt it and attempt to get some money back.

What kills me about all of this is that I have a perfectly good R380 transmission at a friend's house back in NH. We are researching shipping options to get it down here, but it seems like it will be very costly.

Oh well. We are safe and sound at Panama Passage and are enjoying the company StreakerFreak and all of the guests. Shawn and I are both looking forward to some sleep after driving straight from Managua, Nicaragua to Panama City, Panama. I think we cleared Costa Rica in about 14 hours. I have to check the SPOT tracker to be sure. Too bad it was night time. The scenery looked very impressive. I will have to add Costa Rica to my list of countries to go back and explore.

 

[n_maher]

I hope my post wasn't taken as being critical, it certainly wasn't intended to be. I'm thoroughly enjoying following your adventure. I'm sure you have plenty of help back in NH but if there's anything you do need help with please feel free to shoot me a PM.

 

[Christian P.]

Sorry to hear that but I am glad to see you made it to our place - you are in good hand now.

I just sent you an email with the name of an excellent contact for Land Rover assistance in Panama City.
We also have a mechanic if you need one, he can come to the house or you can get to his garage.

Good luck and keep you posted!

 

[ExploringNH]

Thanks Christian. I emailed the Land Rover guy this morning. Hopefully he has a transmission hanging around. If not, it appears that there is an abandoned 80 series here. I bet I could salvage some parts off of that. :sombrero:

Panama Passage! This isn't where you are supposed to park but with the lack of reverse, we needed to park on a hill to get things going in the morning. We are not looking forward to the drive to a mechanic is 4-lo through the city.

We are looking forward to getting out and seeing some things today. We met up with a group of 4wd guys at the border of Nica/Costa and are awaiting a phone call. We might go meet up with them this weekend. Too bad our truck is broken, but it is always fun to get out and mingle with the locals.

I hope my post wasn't taken as being critical, it certainly wasn't intended to be. I'm thoroughly enjoying following your adventure. I'm sure you have plenty of help back in NH but if there's anything you do need help with please feel free to shoot me a PM.

I didn't take it that way at all. It was late, I hadn't had much sleep, and I failed to word my response properly.

 

[ExploringNH]

We are hanging out at Panama Passage for the next week or so while we get the truck fixed and get shipping taken care of. Today a small group of us all went into town to pick up some supplies at the mall and then to get some food at the local market.

We took one of the scary buses into town. It wasn't all that scary. We also bought a lot of fruit for just under $9USD.

 

[ExploringNH]

Today we visited Panama Viejo. It was a fascinating place to see.

And then we took a taxi.

 

[CRJeepin]

Great trip guys, just sent you a message through your website too. I'm in York, PA and would love to have a beer with ya on your return trip, and/or wheel at Rausch if you're up for it! Also suggested ya may want to fix the exhaust, as it could be throwing heat places you don't want it (control arm bushings, fuel or evap lines, etc)...maybe even contributing to the trans problems from too much heat.

Good luck and safe travels!
Chris R

 

[ExploringNH]

Great trip guys, just sent you a message through your website too. I'm in York, PA and would love to have a beer with ya on your return trip, and/or wheel at Rausch if you're up for it! Also suggested ya may want to fix the exhaust, as it could be throwing heat places you don't want it (control arm bushings, fuel or evap lines, etc)...maybe even contributing to the trans problems from too much heat.

Good luck and safe travels!
Chris R

Thanks for the message! If we drive back through we will definitely take you up on your offer.

We actually fixed the exhaust a while ago but I guess I never updated about it. We had it re-sleeved and it is working well. They welded it on this time instead of clamps. We also fixed the pinion seal leak which was weighing heavy in our thoughts as we racked up the miles.

We are working on pulling the transmission now and are hoping that it is a shift fork issue instead of other bad things. We will see.