Not exactly what we had planned!

We got up and drove right away at 6:30am Thursday morning, and when I fired up Max a warning light came on that said the pressure was low in the left front tire.

I thought "that's odd", because I had only checked and topped up the pressure in all tires two days before. 

I stopped a bit further down the road and got out to have a look, and it did look a little low. But we carried on to a nearby scenic drive at Mullaghmore.

Fantastic mural.

This is Benbulbin Mountain.

We had wanted to hike it, but the weather just isn't good enough.

Another fantastic mural.

Classiebawn Castle

Privately owned, and being lived in by the owner.

I pulled over here.

A decent spot by the sea where we could stop and have breakfast. I got out and had a closer look at that left front tire. Sure enough, it had a screw jammed in between the treads!

A few months back, I had bought a cheap tire plug kit in case we were in the middle of nowhere. We have a compressor, so I figured I would plug the leak, and fill it back up. 

Well, the key word here is "cheap". I had bought that plug kit on a whim, and bought it because it was cheap. Well it was junk! And yes, sometimes we are too cheap for our own good, and it comes back to haunt us. This was one of those times.

I removed the screw, which of course makes the leak worse. But then I couldn't get the plug into the tire. I even reamed out the hole a bit, which of course makes the leak worse. It takes a fair amount of effort to begin with, but with a garbage tool to do the job it just wouldn't go in. I actually bent the tool. 

View from where we were parked.

I went back in Max to take a break and think about what I was going to do with this tire. 

We're on a scenic drive, so of course there were quite a few people stopping at the pulloff where we were. A couple of young people on motorcycles stopped in. She tapped on the window and pointed down at the tire. 

"Do you know you have a flat tire?"

Yes.. I know.

I went outside to talk to them. The girl says "Maybe we can help you."

I explained the problem with the cheap tools I had, and they happened to have a plug kit as well. Despite using his better quality tools and his strength, he couldn't get the plug to go in either. I was going to get out the jack and take the tire off so we could get better leverage pushing in the plug, but he took the plug, and the screw, and pushed the plug in with the screw.

I honestly didn't think that would work, and either did his girlfriend. It was a Mickey Mouse way to do it, and it wouldn't last. But I got out the compressor and filled the tire enough to hopefully be able to limp it to a tire shop 20 kms (13 miles) away. 

Meanwhile, Ruth went for a walk to a nearby memorial overlooking the sea.

Blog reader Nora had told us about the tragedy of her 23 year old son Adrian who was swept out to sea by a rogue wave way back in 1996. Two friends were also hit by the wave, but they survived. There is a memorial nearby, and Ruth walked over to take a photo.

We drove to Rooney Tyre Centre in Bundoran where I showed the guy the laughable repair we had done to get us that far. He cleaned it out and removed the screw and put in a professional plug.

Then he said "I won't charge you for the repair, because it's not going to last".

We could have taken our chances, but Max's front tires only had maybe 4,000 kms left on them. The rear tires are still in good shape, but I had been watching the fronts wear faster than the rears and I knew that by the time we went to sell Max he was going to need new front tires anyhow. This seemed like a good time, and the tire shop had them in stock.

€220 ($317 CAD, $239 USD) later we were back on the road with two brand new front tires.

Not exactly what we had planned, but it was the best decision.

We parked up at a pier overlooking the sea. Didn't get a photo!

Woke up to pouring rain this morning, and it looks like that's going to continue all day. We're going to head into the town of Donegal and visit the castle. That seems like a good indoor activity!

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