Help for repairing a Ford Transit in UB
 

Hi,
I am in UB and need any possible help/advice/suggestions for fixing my van that has been involved in a car accident 2 days ago in northern Mongolia.
The full story is quite incredible, because the van was crashed by a mechanic that was testing the vehicle while correcting the toe-in (that was affected by Siberian roads).

I had a lot of troubles with the police for the fact that they discovered that the mechanic was drunk, and I had to pay the damages of the other car order to avoid to go to a court. My mongolian insurance did not pay because I was not the driver... A very bad story.

Now my van has the front right part damaged. No serious mechanical problems but the right light is destroyed. I could not find a spare light in Darkhan, so yesterday I drove to UB where I plan to look for assistance.
So far I found on Internet that Wagner Asia Automotive LLC in Narnii Road provides Ford cars/parts/service, but today it is closed. Tomorrow I will start from there for finding a solution.

In the meanwhile, I would really appreciate any recommendation about how to get out from this sad situation. My mongolian number is 94143426.

Thanks a lot!

Head for the second hand vehicle part market that's next to the "black market". It's not far from the Oasis Guest House.

Good luck sorting your car. Hope the police put the drunk mechanic in jail.

Transit Repairs
 

Sorry to hear of your troubles...
Wagner Asia is the Ford agent but they seldom carry any spares for Transits as it's not a popular van here.
As already mentioned there is a car spares area close to Narantuul Market, it's on the east side of the market, there is also another area you can try,
Auto Plaza on ikh Toiruu or "Их Тоируу" see attached map for the area.
There are many vendors in this street with used spares.
You can try this guy as he can speak English. 99294040
J

Thank you! I am heading to the second hand market to try to find a compatible headlight or a similar one.

Yes, the drunk mechanic was put in jail because he had an alcohol level of 0.86 which is much higher than Mongolian limit.

Thanks!
Today I went to Wagner Asia and they were very kind with me. The sales manager speaks perfectly English and has tried to find the spare light. Wagner has several Ford Transit in the garage for repair, but they are quite recent, while mine is an Mk3 (1986~1991). Unfortunately the spare is only available in China, and there could be shipping issues and I need it in few days.

The van is now in a private workshop in Northern UB recommended by Wagner. The body worker will fix the body by hand in 3 days, and I will try to find the spare headlight in the black market.

Wagner sales manager has done an inquiry and discovered that only 5 Transits like mine have been officially registered in UB, so it will be difficult to find the exact spare even in the black market.
My hope is the amount of ambulances that have been imported from England in the past years with the Mongol Rally. Maybe some Mk3 Ford Transit has been dismantled, and some spare is now somewhere in UB...

Headlight
 

Did you try Auto Plaza ?
If it's been dismantled then the only way to find a spare part is in one of these places... suggest taking your item there and having a wander around.. ask someone may know of one ...
You could even ask the repair place doing body work to help you run around as they will have contacts.
Failing that get one dhl from UK...

Hi! Yes I went to Auto Plaza and asked to each single shop inside, also showing the picture of the van. Unfortunately nobody could help, although someone called friends/colleagues to get news about possible spares for a Transit MK3 in UB.
I also tried in other shops, including those specialized in German cars, but nothing.
In addition, I went to the Mongol Rally finish line and spoke with local organizers to figure out if anyone knew about old Transit imported e.g. from England and dismantled in UB. The could not help because a register of such vehicles does not exist, and mostly all the vehicles were sold.

Anyway the headlight is not a problem anymore as I went to a very big second hand market somewere in UB together with the body worker who is fixing my van... We have found out the light of a old car which is quite similar to the Ford one. The body worker is attaching it to the chassis in some way, and in a couple of days I should be able to continue my Mongolian tour. I will replace the light with the correct one once back to Italy.
Cheers

Good you found a way to continue your trip.

I'm at Oasis right now and I will leave tomorrow: if you want to join for a beer...

Hi, I am already in Irkutsk, on the way back to Italy. I am not running this time, because I am visiting some cities here in Russia and the vehicle is not 100% efficient.

Hi all.
At first I want to thank who answered to my help request in August and provided indications. That was of great psychological help when I was stuck with a damaged vehicle at about 9.000 km from home.

Here the story and pictures of the repair.

The van just after the accident in Darkhan:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3854/...78d184_z_d.jpg


https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3881/...b49156_z_d.jpg


Nobody could really help me in Darkhan to fix the vehicle, thus I temporarily fixed the radiator and drove to UB... Wagner Asia (official Ford dealer in UB) recommended a good local body worker in North UB.

Here the body worker is pulling out the stuff:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3916/...8b5dee_z_d.jpg


Fixing the front grill and preparing the headlight holder:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3858/...798023_z_d.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5572/...cae47f_z_d.jpg


The result:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3876/...079640_z_d.jpg

Ok, it's not perfect. The bonnet is still a bit deformed. But I drove back home safely.
Also, when I replaced the headlight in Italy with an original one I didn't have to adjust anything because the holding support was already perfectly aligned.
Considering the limited time and the lack of original parts, I think the local workshop did a good job!

Wait... there was an alcohol limit? :oops2:

After being given Chinese Baijao after being released from a few days detention (for violating a travel ban I had no idea about) by the police at a checkpoint on the road I figured that there was no such rule in Mongolia... I guess maybe only on blacktop?

I have different information.

My wife and my stepson are Mongolian.
And the tell me, if you have done speeding or anything else, you can pay a bribe, but if you get catched for drinking, no chance to pay a bribe, they take you to the police station and maybe you even go to jail.
This is a serious crime.....