Allow me to introduce the greatest mechanic in the world - Pete, from Swanage Tyres and Tuning.

Do forgive me for the clunky masking around the smoke - my fingers are far too chunky for the editing I quickly did on my iPhone using Lens Distortions. I merely wanted to portray him as a superhero. Get over it.

Anyway, Kofifernweh has had an intermittent issue with the turbocharger which turned on an irritating light on my dash and offered the code P2263 to my OBD thingy. The thing is, I knew it wasn’t going to be as bad as Mercedes had made it out to be with their diagnostic wizardry because although the light came on and there was a slight drop in performance, the van was not in limp mode and I could hear the turbo spooling up. My theoretical knowledge far surpasses my practical knowledge however, so I needed an expert. And here he is:

Easily identifiable as a British mechanic by the tea in his hand, clutched amongst a variety of tools, Pete had performed an exploratory diagnosis on the van to solve the predicament I found myself in. What Mercedes would have done for c.£2k by having me replace the entire turbo was in fact a problem with a faulty solenoid recording an incorrect vacuum reading and therefore only cost £35 to replace the solenoid in question.

If you look carefully you still can’t see it! It’s tucked behind the engine block, well out of view and out of reach, but my hero got it swapped out with ease.

Oops, wrong photo. I meant to add this one:

Once that pesky solenoid was out of the equation I was able to get to work under the van myself, contorting my face into a very serious expression in an attempt to demonstrate that I know what I’m doing as well.

What you’re actually seeing here is me cleaning some slightly corroded brake lines with a wire brush…. As I said, the theory vs the practice are somewhat different.

Kofifernweh was suspended throughout and I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to capture my 3.5-ton tiny-home in the rafters.

But then came a separate matter to be dealt with. I bid farewell to my knight in shining armour (or tin-foil… whatever) and it was time for my appointment with Autoglass for a new windscreen.

All-in-all, Kofifernweh has endured a high-stress afternoon and is due a rest (as am I) so for now, with the countdown to departure from the UK currently at T-minus 65 days, I will leave you with one final image of what the new windscreen looks like. Because I know you’re dying to see it.

Much love

Dave