Motoring Discussion > 6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3.	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: henry k	Replies: 26

New Sat 17 Dec 11 09:47   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - henry k

This event was mentioned recently so here are a few more details, tinyurl.com/87kaqo9 - www.surreycomet.co.uk/ I wonder what caused the delay re the recovery? Not a good advert for RR on such a major commuter route from the stockbroker belt. IIRC In the old days it would have been very quickly wisked away under a cover. Coincientally, yesterday, a 5 series BMW was being recovered from a residential street near me. It too appeared to have the rear wheels locked as when I passed by the recovery guy was pulling out a couple of four wheeled trolleys from their rack on the underside of his flat back About twenty minutes later I again passed the scene and the BMW was lashed down on the flat bed. Was there something special re the RR. Too big, heavy, needs soft lashings or what? Very strange that so many attended the scene which may support suggestions that it was not a "normal" owner or passenger involved. Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 17 Dec 11 at 16:15 Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 09:59   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - Clk Sec

Did it have winter tyres? Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 10:01   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - R.P.

Wonder what shoes the driver was wearing...? Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 10:09   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - Iffy

I once went to a broken down Silver Spirit. The battery was dead flat, and the owner had left it in "P". It had conked out across a pavement, so the first thought was to push it a few yards to allow pedestrians to pass. Because the gear selector was an electrically operated column stalk, moving the stalk did nothing. The car was jammed in park until electricity was restored. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 10:11   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - R.P.

Maybe it was an electrical failure - they wouldn't be able to tow it in those circumstances if it was in any sort of gear would they ? Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 10:25   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - Iffy

It's possible to tow an ordinary slushbox auto for a short distance if it's in neutral or drive. The risk is the oil is not being pumped around the box, so it will overheat and seize eventually. I don't know what type of box is fitted to a Phantom, and given the cost of the thing, you can see why a recovery driver wouldn't want to take any chances. It's also possible to tow start an ordinary auto - stick it in drive and kick down hard. Best to use a long rope, or better still push it, because when the car fires it will take off quickly and it's very easy to ram the back of the towing vehicle. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 10:27   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - Clk Sec

>>or better still push it, :-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 11:03   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - PeterS

It's not much more than an hour to the RR factory at Goodwood from there - you'd have thought someone could have given them a call! They certainly used to have a Landrover + trailer combo for recovering cars that had 'failed to proceed', though I think it was probably meant for their own development cars. Sure they'd have been happy to help though! Failing that, BMW in Bracknell is not that far away either :-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 11:15   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - Duncan

>> It's not much more than an hour to the RR factory at Goodwood from there >> >> Failing that, BMW in Bracknell is not >> that far away either :-) >> Mercedes-Benz at Brooklands would have been happy to help Shirley?....... Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 11:24   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - Clk Sec

>>'failed to proceed' That'll be the chap with the shoes and the MB. The mere mortals amongst us 'break down'. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 12:06   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - Bagpuss

Years ago I had a Merc E-Class rental car which refused to start. The gearbox was in the P position, so not possible to tow it. The breakdown company was there within 20 minutes with a flatbed recovery vehicle fitted with a crane. The Merc was simply lifted onto the back and taken away. By coincidence, the breakdown happened outside an Audi dealership. So, much excitement and taking of photos by the employees ensued. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 12:24   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - Mike Hannon

Both my '98 Honda and '95 Jaguar have devices to release the transmission selector if the battery goes flat while it's in 'park'. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 12:29   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - R.P.

I would imagine a Roller would have such a device as well. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 13:13   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - ....

>> I would imagine a Roller would have such a device as well. >> It probably does and answers to the name Jeeves. Does a RR have a bonnet release or is that hidden away in the domain of the man who does ? Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 12:58   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - henry k

>> Both my '98 Honda and '95 Jaguar have devices to release the transmission selector if >> the battery goes flat while it's in 'park'. >> My 98 Mondeo requires a small screwdriver or similar to be poked in a small hole (on the passenger side) of the central console to relaese the selector. I guess there are many drivers out there who would not have a clue about these sort of things and have never RTFM or else "My man does that sort of fing". :-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 13:01   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - Bagpuss

>> Both my '98 Honda and '95 Jaguar have devices to release the transmission selector if >> the battery goes flat while it's in 'park'. In the case of the Merc, you're right. There is a device to mechanically release the transmission selector. The real reason for not being able to tow the car away was because I'd parked it forwards in a dead end, next to a kerb, with the steering on full lock (steering lock wouldn't release). Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 14:58   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - Iffy

Many years ago I was coming to rest in an auto Jaguar XJ6 and managed to put it in Park while it was still rolling forward. The box made a ratcheting noise, but there was no harm done. A friend at the time was employed by Jaguar as a dealer technical representative. He told me the gearbox was designed to do that. Thus I don't believe any harm would be done if you dragged the car in Park onto the back of a recovery truck. But I wouldn't expect the owner to like the sound of you doing it. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 15:52   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - bathtub tom

You may well find the gearbox is designed to prevent 'park' operating whilst the car's still rolling (I know of a Chrysler 180 that wasn't - it self-selected park at about 60MPH and was written off). Once stationary the detent should lock the transmission. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 17:27   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - Zero

>> Many years ago I was coming to rest in an auto Jaguar XJ6 and managed >> to put it in Park while it was still rolling forward. >> >> The box made a ratcheting noise, but there was no harm done. >> >> A friend at the time was employed by Jaguar as a dealer technical representative. >> >> He told me the gearbox was designed to do that. Thats probably the sound of the pawl failing to lock while its moving as you say designed not to do that. >> >> Thus I don't believe any harm would be done if you dragged the car in >> Park onto the back of a recovery truck. Once its stopped the pawl is engaged, a whole new ball game and damage can be done. >> But I wouldn't expect the owner to like the sound of you doing it. >> >> >> Reply to this message | Report message

New Sat 17 Dec 11 21:49   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - Dave_

I once had to recover an early Mercedes V-class auto with a dash-mounted selector lever, which had suffered a failure of the solenoid which blocks gear selector movement unless the brake pedal is depressed. It was parked in one of many long rows of similar cars at a fleet refurb centre and it took about ten fellows pushing and pulling to extricate it. The whole time I had to hang on the gear selector with my full body weight to force it far enough towards "R" to release the Park ratchet. Last edited by: Dave_TDCi on Sat 17 Dec 11 at 21:51 Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 18 Dec 11 10:32   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - Harleyman

There used to be a story going round that in days gone by, Rolls-Royce would send a covered vehicle to a breakdown if the car could not be repaired in situ, since it was unthinkable that one of their cars should be seen on the back of a breakdown truck. Be interesting to know if there was any truth in this? Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 18 Dec 11 10:47   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - swiss tony

>> There used to be a story going round that in days gone by, Rolls-Royce would >> send a covered vehicle to a breakdown if the car could not be repaired in >> situ, since it was unthinkable that one of their cars should be seen on the >> back of a breakdown truck. >> >> Be interesting to know if there was any truth in this? >> That was my understanding also. I know when I worked for a Rolls Royce dealer that is exactly the way the few cars that had 'failed to proceed' arrived. Of course, that was back in the days when a Rolls WAS a Rolls....... Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 18 Dec 11 17:52   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - Shiny

There is a release cable under the humidor. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 18 Dec 11 18:09   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - MD

A377 about 12 miles from Barnstaple. A Bentley of some sorts (new) had collected a puncture and was 'removed' in a covered lorry. Only recently I will add. Gis a Mondeo, or better still a Sierra 4x4 Ghia any day. Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 18 Dec 11 18:16   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - henry k

>>Be interesting to know if there was any truth in this? >> Snopes items on RR www.snopes.com/autos/dream/rolls.asp LOL Reply to this message | Report message

New Sun 18 Dec 11 20:49   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - henry k

Failed to proceed www.bmwcca.org/node/3242 webblogdaily.com/facts-2/rolls-royce-facts-and-some-history Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 20 Dec 11 10:26   6 hours to recover a Rolls on the A3. - Boxsterboy

Thanks for posting the details, henry. As one of those caught in the delay. It is somehow quite cathartic knowing the details. It was indeed a 61-plate lwb Rolls Royce with fluid on the ground near the rear. I suspect a failed seal on the rear axle was to blame, causing the axle to seize? (but what do I know?) Reply to this message | Report message