110969 The car is dead, 500km from Irkutsk

Hi all

Unfortunately the car has died.
I left Moscow on the evening of the 19th and made really good progress, getting to Omck on Friday the 23rd, from there i headed east and encountered a few problems on the Sunday evening when the car started overheating, i noticed that the water pump was spitting out antifreeze.

Being fortunate enough to find a garage somewhere near Kemepobo and spending until 03:00 on Monday morning fixing the fault by plugging the holes in the water pump which i can only assume must have been for some pressure release but obviously the seal had become faulty.

After getting back on the road and some very slow driving i got as far as НИЖНЕУДИНСК, arriving late on the 27th, I stopped at the ATM to get some money and then when starting the car hear the tragic noise of the engine failing, after closer observation at the garage i found that the crank shaft had given up the ghost.

After making several enquiry's as to obtaining parts or even an engine that would fit it became obvious that it would not be possible to fix the car before my visa runs out, The spare part would need to be ordered into the country then travel via Moscow and Irkutsk before any attempt could be made to start the repairs.
As the car is french the are no suitable parts or means to fix it without ordering via renault dealers and the part would take one week minimum to arrive and would cost more than the car was worth.

I have therefore left the car in НИЖНЕУДИНСК and am hoping that i should be able to cross the boarder without the car and hopefully not encounter any problems at the boarder when going into Mongolia by train.

The only upside is that whilst we waited to hear back about parts, the person who owned the garage put me up at his home with his family for the past few days, this was really kind and has made my time in Russia so much more enjoyable.
I was intoduced friends and family who all think im crazy, got to sample the delights of home cooking and Russian foods along with Russian Vodka so despite the car not making it to Mongolia I'm still having a great time. I jsut hope i dont encounter any problembs at the boarder.