Today a mechanic called Wayne started work on our van. He didn’t believe the new alternator was faulty so he went about troubleshooting our electrics.

It turned out our computer was at fault. He wired a workaround to bypass the computer and the battery is now charging as it should.

When we drove away, there was a whirring sound which I thought sounded weird. I told Mike to take it back for them to check.

Wayne took it for a drive and said the whirring was normal for a new alternator, but he heard another sound of concern. A clacking coming from the front wheel.

They took the wheel off and the brake pad was clattering around in there. When they changed our pads in Alaska, they hadn’t knocked a tab in to keep it in place. So Wayne fixed that, it was a simple fix. But he also noticed a lot of play in wheel. The steering idler arm was worn. So he ordered one in, and said he’d do it first thing in the morning.

Looks like we’re staying another night. But we are parked off the road tonight, and he also gave us a power lead so we could plug in our van.