ARCTIC Winter VANLIFE: When Things Go Wrong

With the mission complete, the frozen north of Norway and Nordkapp reached on this winter adventure in my self built camper van with friends. We start to overland south to the Finnish wilderness and Inari, Ivalo & Saariselkä, but it’s doesn’t always go to plan. Breakdowns, issues and problems with Both Ford Transits and I lost my AirTag on top a winter mountain.
The Green 4x4 Mercedes sprinter is a channel called @wheelsadventures3436
Filmed January to March 2023
#livingthevanlife #wintervanlife #chinesedieselheater
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[@leemillington7164]

Brilliant video pal 👍

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Thank you very much!

[@J5388T]

Fascinating video and thanks for posting!

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Thank you for watching!

[@stevehomer3676]

Olderfjord Turistsenter has that wonderful scandi-noir feel. The bus signs that squeak in the wind, in late October I was the only guest for 2 days as I used it as my NordKapp base camp. Went down to Inari from olderfjord wonderful drive. Thanks for the video, brought back some great memories and shared experiencs

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Definitely feels very Nordic up in those regions! Glad it brought back good memories for your own trip to Nordkapp

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Rescue the Apple AirTag! The battery might last to next winter. Round 3 to the Arctic might be a rescue mission. The AirTag is set to lost mode currently, so other phones might be able to find it if near by!

[@ajisroadtrippin5505]

Great video even with the set backs and shenanigans. 🫡🚚

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

The outcome of adventures is never certain if it was it wouldn’t be an adventure. issues and problems occur on trips and you just have to deal with it

[@NorwegianXplorer]

When it snows in higher temperatures,, wet snow, the snow sometimes sticks to sensors and covers them, making my car show error messages and safety systems not working etc, mostly to do with sensors that use light and movement, like adaptive cruise, collision early warning, parking stuff, etc etc. Could be related to such things🙂Just clear the snow if it is such things causing your errors.

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Aye, sticky wet snow is all we get in the uk. It’s never cold enough for real dry snow here. But I agree with you. Things like the ABS module have multiple sensors and looks after multiple vehicle systems. If one sensor causes an issue you, then suddenly lose a lot of features. With the error going so quickly, I suspect it was snow or ice related.

[@WiLLiAMOnline]

Another great video! Just worth a mention after my car doing it only last month - my abs/traction all went off due to an error - I initially thought a loose connector on a wheel sensor - anyway.. it turned out to be a worn wheel bearing (that must alter the readings of correct rotation so engine management shuts down the abs and electronic stuff) Worth a mention I thought for future troubleshooting :)

[@wrzlygummidge]

Another great vid Alex, nice one! atb

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Thank you!

[@borntraveller007]

Cracking trip mate, really enjoyed this adventure 👍❤

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Thank you very much at least one more episode to come!

[@neal5626]

Please make a video on how you drive on snow and ice with only your RWD van and KO2 (not snow) tires and (almost) never get stuck. I have a RWD Transit and wouldn't begin to go where you do. Why don't you need chains on all-the-time? Basically, what have you learned?

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

I would be hesitant to make a video about driving instruction, just as I not a fan of the liability. But my advice for anyone going up to these conditions to start in Sweden where the roads are flat & straight, and you can get an understanding of how your vehicle feels in these conditions on your tyres, countries, like Norway have a lot of steeper roads and Winding, which is better to be more experienced before driving one . But overall I found the driving relatively easy.

[@bettyourcampervan]

Another fab one sir 🎩

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Glad you enjoyed

[@asaandthemarchharepart2903]

Great video Alex. An amazing experience thats for sure. That place keeps drawing you back. I can definitely see why. Jesus I'd be scared to start an engine below -20 let alone -27 with no heater. Bag of bolts rattling. Fabulous as always Alex Take care bud

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

His engine sounded like a dying 40-year-old tractor 😂. Mine sounded the same last year when the coolant froze! Had to keep his foot slightly on the accelerator to stop the engine from stalling at idle

[@richbowie76]

Great trip ! Would like to see a post trip review of the van and its systems and how they performed. As well as any changes you would make for next winter. Cheers and Thank you for the videos ! LOL Drive the van over to Chicago and ill put you up for a few days.

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Sounds like a good idea to me. I’ve done a how the van & I keep warm and what I learnt from the last 2 winter. But a post trip review could be good. I’d love to get my van over to North America! But not the cheapest!

[@wheelsadventures3436]

Awesome video Alex 💯 It was a great privilege to share that lifetime adventure with you,safe travels mate 🚐

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

That’s a pleasure to share the adventure with you guys! Even with Ryan, laughing at me, getting stuck on the radio in traffic 😂😂😂

[@wheelsadventures3436]

@@MispronouncedAdventures 😅😂

[@PlatisTobbe]

As usual, very nice video and that you are in my favorite environments. I'm just going to venture into a little more winter driving there too. The reason for the late viewing is that I have had a KZbin timeout since May after illnesses in the family. 😎

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Hope you enjoy your own little winter adventures this coming winter! I’m sorry to hear about your family illness

[@tonystrange7224]

Brilliant video as always Alex. And not that you’d need a reason to go back next year, but that air tag is clearly calling 😉😁

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Cheers! Definitely need to collect my AirTag next winter!

[@MAV_ist]

Let's come to Turkiye

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

I’d like too one day

[@downtoearth1950]

Pity there was no airtag with your passport 😊

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

I 100% agree with that

[@TufanSevincel]

Great videos thank you very much for your work. I have one question; How you cope with the cold for the Adblue? Do you use some additives? And when I visit North Norway I saw many cars are using Engine Block Immersion Heater, do you have one? Thank you very much.

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Glad you enjoyed it. Adblue normally have two reductant heater. One in the adblue tank and one in the line leaving the tank to the exhaust system. So generally the vehicle takes care of it. I don’t use an immersion block heater which are the “plug-in” in to mains variety as it’s not really suitable for my needs / off-grid . I use a diesel powered hydronic one instead which allows me to start it off grid.

[@E33Tpro]

7:40 and that's why you use studded tires.

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Nope, not in this case. Studded tyres are great on ice, but Studded tyres would have done nothing to help here. That road is steep from a stationary start waiting at the lights on wet falling snow on wet compressed snowly roads with temperature around zero or above. No ice.

[@E33Tpro]

@@MispronouncedAdventures it would still have helped in those conditions, it's a common misconception that there needs to be ice for studded tires to help, that's wrong. There's a reason behind why most of us living up here use them, they work better than non studded tires in our area, by area I mean pretty much anywhere north of Stockholm. It's difficult to explain life long experience so I hope I don't come across as a ass by being concise, that's not my intention, just sharing knowledge and experience from living in these conditions for almost 50 years and driving more than 30 of those, also professionally.

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Don’t worry, you weren’t coming across as an ass, some people do, not in your case. Nor, I dismiss advice from people who live up there. ironically the studded tyre discussion is a hot topic. I have Nordic friends who insist on them whilst others who drive similarly large vans who don’t, and say stick to your all-terrain since you’re there during the middle of the winter, if I was earlier or later than I would definitely be using studs. The intention for my first winter up, was to leave my tyres at a tyre hotel and swap the studded if required when I felt I needed them. but I never had performance issues in the first year. Second winter ( the one in the video ) I had two examples of less traction. I had slip this one in the video and the video before both of them, which were in the extreme north of Norway during a thaw.

[@E33Tpro]

@@MispronouncedAdventures I do agree with not needing them on proper winter roads and in your case I'd agree as well, friction is good when it's cold apart from when there's black ice, it's when temperatures gets closer to 0 degrees the problems start with warm tires melting the surface ice and so on, a set of snow chains could be good if you get stuck somewhere though. I've been enjoying your build series here on KZbin, a lot of good information and interesting solutions you shared. By the way, are you planing on going north this winter as well?

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

@E33Tpro oh yeah, and I don’t disagree that there are a few occasions where studs would’ve helped me on my trips. But I specifically choose January to February to go up so normally it’s very cold, obviously getting to the coast where it’s mild can black ice is more likely. I also leave before the winter spring transition starts Yes I’ll be back up from January to March. This win

[@15bit62]

Be happy they only wanted to charge you to go in the building at north cape. Until a couple of years ago they (quite controversially ) charged you to drive anywhere near the place and park. Eventually the authorities ordered them to stop, and won several court cases to make sure the decision stuck

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

From my understanding is costs still €30 to get into the car park in the summer and then another €30 in the building! It’s ridiculous prices I’m glad they’ve been told they can’t do it

[@15bit62]

@@MispronouncedAdventures That's actually incorrect, but an understandable confusion. What they've done is put people in the old ticket booths at the car park entrance who sell tickets to get in the building. That causes confusion and a sort of social pressure on visitors to pay, even though the car park is free. They might be going to be heading back to court about that, cos the municipality is not impressed.

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

@@15bit62 definitely confused me well at least in my case in the winter no one was manning them

[@finnishmtb]

small fire or preferable just smoulders under the oil pan works great btw ! Had to do it a few times before i got my 5kw webasto preheater :)

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Definitely, the older way to still work great, sometimes can be a bit more risking on new vans as they have so much plastic in the engine bay. But keeping it small should stop that being an issue

[@toastiesvanbuild4644]

👍

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Cheers

[@demil3618]

So what happened to your _power_ steering pump? Thought it was gone and you had to replace it. I really wish I could go and retrieve your airtag now, would love that trip!

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

That’s the next video and literally that was fixed today as the drive belt snapped yesterday

[@demil3618]

Ah sorry, was too quick then. But I did have that thought: „Hopefully it won’t damage the belt if it seizes“. Ah well…

[@NexusTracks]

Curious about you friends roof boxes, do they have any socials? Thanks

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

The green sprinter is wheelsadventures ( on KZbin and instagram), the White transit doesn’t have any

[@rob20452]

Enjoy watching your stuff, also prefer winter ventures, like to ask what is your cab divider made of and what insulation is in it please, I'm in England and not going to be the proper cold like you,.😊

[@rob20452]

Also at the end you have the insulation under the bonnet outside, does it help with draft through the cab from the vents as well as keeping the engine from freezing?

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

The sliding door was added for privacy and heat loss from the cab but for uk winter, the originally long before I thought of the Arctic. But it’s works very well, can be 21c+ in the back and -21c in the cab in the morning. The doors itself is 25mm baton wood frame and 25mm PIR insulation board on just a normal sliding door rail

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Only “insulation” for the front was the grille cover. But that’s for stopping cold air hitting the radiator when driving

[@rob20452]

@@MispronouncedAdventures thanks for replying. I would find it hard being around people after these travels you do if you get me.

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

No problem. Everyone is different I guess. I spent a lot of these trips alone but I’ve learnt for me personally I need other people from time to time. Jumping into other people adventures leads to things I normally wouldn’t do!

[@asaandthemarchharepart2903]

Have you found your old passport. You know they normally show up at some point. Hidden away in back of a draw 😅

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Nope, still never found it

[@milanmicka2580]

Filmed January to March 2033? 😁

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Oops! Good spot on the typo

[@garysollis5949]

There is a border control between Norway .. to sweden finland they are both in EU ...there are limits on booze and cigarettes . Animals have to have passports and injections . Safe trip . Maybe see ya again next winter 👍

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Aye, I got stopped last winter between Finland and Norway. Pretty much searching the van from a customs point of view. I don’t remember them checking my passport.

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

See you next winter!

[@Luredreier]

15:22 Please don't do that. Not exactly healthy. Wet hair + cold can potentially cause damage.

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Normally I don’t stay on campsites, so I just use a shower by van so a few minute walk back to the van and then thawed out which was already warm

[@Albert_206]

What a third world country in all that white-ish gloom, no tram, bus nor train seen, I was tempted to mention “justdiggit” but how? Broken starter motors, floors minus 10 or more, oil thicker than syrup, grease like limestone, what a terrible adventure Alex 🙈🤤

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Best adventure. But Joel did have a run a bad luck. The bastard engine preheater pump failing and the starter motor they ordered one earlier on, but for some reason it just kept getting lost in transit or not making delivery point. The transit oil in the 2 L and 2.2 L is actually quite thin already so quite suited for these environment without change. Ryan in the green sprinter did change his oil for this trip.

[@peterd.thomas6869]

How do you loose a starter motor in a Transit😂

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

I believe they were told the delivery driver became ill. Another time, the delivery driver crashed, just a variety of other things, if it does not arriving.

[@peterd.thomas6869]

My warped sense of humour - Lost in transit - Thought they were in a Transit! 😀

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

🤣

[@ianwoodzy638]

How unsafe is it to drive a UK vehicle on the right when driving on a single track road by yourself without a passenger for your eyes when driving around a blind corner like a mountain or a blind rocky side? as there are miles of these blind spots in Switzerland or especially Norway, or even a cliff top edge , is this is a really dangerous concern? or am i worrying to much? I have bought a dash cam for the left side of the front window screen and a very dodgy tiny mirror to clip to my left wind shield , I need a fixed one but I fear that is not enough!

[@MispronouncedAdventures]

Really it’s very easy, i’ve now done more miles in this van on the wrong side of the road ( British vehicle in Europe ) and then I have on the UK side of the road. It’s really a non-issue for me. You adapt