Well, we have had an eventful two days with the truck.
First, we were headed to the capital city of Paraguay, Asuncion, which is two hours from where we are currently living to begin the process to get our documentation so that we can stay beyond our visas. When I looked at my gauges and my battery light was on. Almost instantly I also noticed that I had no power steering or power brakes. I pretty much knew that I had thrown a belt and I wish that had been the extent of our troubles.
I opened the hood and the beltime was off but still intact. The water pump however was not. So, I wheeled it into the next mechanic shop on the road to see what the could do. They were able to get a water pump, but in order to take the water pump off they needed to take off another pulley. I guess the guy did not have the right size tool because he used a hammer and a screwdriver to take the bolts out.
About three hours and we were on our way. When I pulled into the parking spot where we were headed the truck overheated and turned off. So, I let it sit while we took care of some things and put some more water in it. It was leaking water from somewhere.
One of our friends recommended another mechanic so we took it to him and he flushed the radiatior and basically checked to make sure there were no leaks. Oh, by the way, it was about 95 degrees all day too. By this time it was too late to drive home and drive back, so we got a hotel.
We took care of a few more of our documents the next day and then began to head home. All the while I watching the temperature gauge like a hawk. It started to go up a little so I drove into the next service station and opened the hood. Antifreeze was coming out if the reservoir like crazy. My first thought was that the cap for the radiator must be faulty. But since I did not have one we waited for the engine to cool off, added more coolant and went on our way to a mechanic friends' shop. There, he confirmed that the cap was bad. We purchased a new one, had some tereré and went home.
It is times like these when I miss the good old USA!