We had stored our vehicle at Italian Commercials in Johannesburg. They serviced the car and did a few repairs. All was fine and our overlander rig looked really good when we picked up the car on a Friday at noon. We paid and left the premises with a friendly „see you sometime later this year“!
On the side of the road just in front of the garage we parked the car and wanted to check whether everything was fine in our cabin as well and we wanted to empty the water tank into the drainage. But - surprise, surprise - the stairs did not move, not one millimeter. They are supposed to fold out driven by an electric motor. All possible causes immediately popped up in my mind: the battery might be flat, the cable damaged after some work at the underbody, or simply the fuse? I climbed into the cabin, 1.10 m off the ground, and with a big relief I found the battery in good shape and also all the other electrical appliances were working properly. While I was searching for the right fuse Marco, the workshop manager, came by asking what was wrong. A minute later one mechanic specialized in electric stuff was with me. Together we tried to isolate the cause in a systematic way: fuse okay, cable, connectors, motor? He realized that the motor got power but could not move against resistance. A second mechanic came to support us. They demounted the motor and the transmission for further analysis in the workshop. We tried to find out how the whole thing is supposed to work. Reverse engineering seems to be one of the distinct strengths of the experts in Africa. Within minutes the mystery of the whole mechanical system was disclosed and from there everything went really fast: they made it work smoothly, eliminated the root cause, cleaned and lubricated the transmission, mounted the motor again, test run - and all was fine again! Smart guys, clever and eager to help!
Many thanks again from Peter and Heike for your excellent support!