Hello all fellow Honduras dwellers. Today I want to share my experiences with a mechanic who worked on our Land Cruiser.
In early 2020, the turbo on our diesel engine shattered throwing a blade into one of the cylinders. As a result, the engine had to be almost completely rebuilt. We were fortunate in that the owner of a local auto repair shop in the town of Tocoa (near our town of Trujillo), could recommended a good diesel mechanic – Denis. You can see his contact info on the www.trujillopicks.com website. The repair shop recommended him since they didn’t do engine work.
He rebuilt the engine with a new turbocharger and many other new or refurbished parts, and it was working perfectly when he returned it. Then COVID hit and we went back to Canada for what we thought would be a few months.
15 months later we have returned for a short visit. And the Land Cruiser wouldn’t start! I called Denis and he came out that night, knowing how important it was to us to have a vehicle in order to do some shopping since we had just arrived. He even offered to lend us his vehicle so we could go while he worked on ours. Or if wanted, he would drive out the following morning with a car we could use. (Tocoa is a 1 hour drive from our house)
After working on it for 2+ hours, removing and reinstalling the starter, it was determined that the starter needed work as it had been sitting for 15 months so became frozen. He removed it again and took it and the battery back to Tocoa, saying he’d be back the following day.
Sure enough, the following night he showed up with the repaired starter,a fully charged battery plus some new cable material and lugs. In addition to installing the starter and battery he spent another hour replacing the battery cables, as the ones we had weren’t up to his standards. (I had bought a new battery just before the turbo blew, and the battery shop had installed it)
With a repaired starter and improved cables, it started with the first turn of the ignition key!
Watching him work, I was impressed by how knowledgeable and competent he was. I will definitely go back to him with any future problems. He charged about one-fifth what similar work would cost in US or Canada and remember, he made two trips from Tocoa which is about 1 hour from our house, for which he only asked we reimburse him for fuel.
So here in Honduras there are definitely competent mechanics in Honduras; you just need to find them. And if you’re reading this and need some work done around here, he’s your person!
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