5C's Que Pasa

The RV was in the shop from 7:30 AM till 3;30PM.  They ‘think’ they know what the problem is, based on the codes from the computer. Once we got it back it took us 2.5 hours to clean the extra dirt brought in by the mechanics. In the end we dusted, vacuumed and just made the RV ours again.

Parts have been ordered but not until late today so the expedited overnight shipping that we are paying for won’t get here until Thursday. Had they told us we would have driven the two hours to Phoenix to pick up the parts.

All I can post now. Not pulling out the generator tonight. Running out of electricity and low on posting GB’s tonight. Not sure if that is the correct term. Taco Bell for lunch and Subway for dinner 😯

Details and a post with a few photos tomorrow.  We need to take a few hours off tonight. I will probably be in bed by nine!

What can I say?  We are still broken down. It all started at 10:00AM Sunday and ended Sunday at 7:45PM when the tow truck driver, Gary, left us. We set up our home on wheels once again, fed and walked the girls.  They have been so good through all of this. They deserve more.

A mechanic came out at 7AM to check out the engine. He cleaned off the area to check where the leak  came from. Asked us to run the engine for 30 minutes.  No leak appeared. The yellow light was still on and the engine kept losing its revs. Something was wrong and this shop couldn’t help us.  Why did we end up here?

It took 90 minutes to connect the RV so it could be safely towed.

Spent at least 90 minutes or longer this morning making calls and looking at options. We needed to go to a different truck shop. Make sure that wherever they tow you to has a diagnostic computer. Fortunately we were able to get Gary, the same tow truck driver. He is so very careful and a wonderful human being. We chose a 6 mile tow rather than the $3,000.00 or more tow to Phoenix. Pros and cons to the various shops. Too much detail to go into.  Went with a shop that Cummins recommended. Fortunately Good Sam paid for the $1500.00 tow on Sunday but we had to pay for the tow today.

On our way Sunday evening, only a 25 mile tow.

Not far from where we were dropped, a camp of folks in old worn out RVs.

Getting ready for our second two, here we are pulled to a water spigot so we could put some water into our tank. No one does bulk water delivery in the area and we had less than a quarter tank.

Where we were dropped. Pretty close to an off ramp from I10 and the actual road.

We were still being dropped when our black and grey tank pump out arrived.

Where we ended up.

We are beyond tired but have no choice  but to keep pushing ahead.  Once set up here we had to start calling around to cancel reservations, try and change medical appointments and umpteen more things. I am too tired to go into detail. It is 10:30PM and we have to be ready for 7AM for the RV to go into the shop. We will have to stay in the car as we are not allowed in the RV on the truck shop property. Usually we have always been allowed to be inside the RV. Tomorrow will be a challenge.  Hopefully we won’t have to go to a hotel for the next few days.

Very shortly after this sunset we had a surprise storm ( talk of flooding in the San Diego area ), we had strong winds and the RVwas rocking. Heavy rain off and on for serval hours. Now a cool 62F.

Stay tuned. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

**no proofing tonight, please excuse the errors.

We have a breakdown. Thank goodness for the portable generator.

The problem started the day we left the Isla about 4:45PM ( Wednesday the 23rd ).  We had already dealt with the tire issue.

We lost air in one tire about 2:30pm. Got that dealt with and also checked that there was no nail nor screw in the tire.

We only had one hour to go to reach our first overnight stop ( KM 75 ). Suddenly the RV lost power and Colin was able to glide to the edge of the road. He called Freightliner in Kelowna and went thru a few scenarios.  The fellow gave us a few suggestions said we were good to go till we got to the US ( turns out that was not the problem).

Eventually we had to open the window awnings on the other side as well.

Next day the RV lost power a few more times. Colin kept an eye on his gauges and the temperature and after a few minutes we were good to keep driving. Over the next few days the RV lost power more often each day. We were told by someone in Ajo who looked at the engine that it appeared to be a loose fuel line to the injector – whatever that means. He thought we would make it to Vegas. We also spoke with Cummins.

We put the pen out for the girls but it is much too hot for them even in the shade.

Tried a few places on Saturday and no one would look at the problem. We spent the night in Quartzsite. This morning we left the RV park at 9:45AM and  drove exactly 12.1 miles before we lost power. This time the engine did not want to restart. Colin went back to look and he could see fuel dripping. Not safe to drive with diesel fumes.

So the girls rested inside. We also had a fan pointing up at them to keep them cool.

First thing we did was call Good Sam. It took literally two hours to come up with a plan. They had no idea where we were or what to do. Basically we were just a few miles north on Arizona 95 – just out of Quartzite. My Mexican SIM card was still working and so we had two iPhones to work with. Colin dealt with Good Sam. I called around looking for a mobile mechanic.  It is a Sunday and we really are in the middle in nowhere in a hot dessert.

About 3PM I made cheese quesadillas on the gas stove top and sat with some wine and began to work on the post.

One mobile mechanic was 3 hours out.  We eventually sent him photos and he said it could not be fixed roadside. It would have to be towed in. He was there till 5PM.  Good Sam would only tow us 25 miles. Then it took at least another dozen phone calls to discover that there was only one tow truck in the entire area ( including nearby California ) that was capable of towing us.  He was supposed to be here before 4:30PM. It is that time right now as I am typing. The mechanic leaves at 5PM so we will be towed to a truck shop and spend the night. Thank goodness that we have the generator, it is 92F outside in the shade and 83F inside the RV with the slides in and the back half of the RV closed off.

Engine photo that we sent to the mechanic.

It took over two hours to come up with a plan and get Good Sam to approve the tow.  We would have had to pay over $1200.00 USD to be towed to Lake Havasu where they might have been able to fix us today.  But we never got into the type of tow vehicles available on a Sunday. Plus it was way too much money for something that might not work. It was extremely frustrating to not be able to count on Good Sam. Fortunately we were able to come up with a solution on our own. I of course had to cancel the carpet cleaning I had scheduled for tomorrow as well as the mobile mechanic we had coming and the Las Vegas Resort RV park.

The huge  tow truck just arrived. Still hooking up at 5:20PM.  No idea what lies ahead. Hope to know more tomorrow morning. Turns out the this tow truck driver has never dealt with an RV like ours – independent front suspension. Fingers crossed. Hope we get to the truck stop before dark.

However we are fine, drove 312 miles today and are spending the night in a Fletcha gas station near San Carlos.  Dry camping and 90F out so Colin hauled out the generator and soon we were cool.  Girls are doing well but are missing space to run and chase each other. We are being ever so careful to not mention the beach word.

I spent over two hours trying to sort out the computer issues. I am using the laptop now via the iPhone as a hotspot.  However that some iPhone won’t let me use my desktop which is where the photos are. In the past we have used both computers vis the iPhone hotspot. Two hours trying to sort it out and failing was two hours out of my life. It would have taken close to another two hours to write the post. Hopefully when we get into the US tomorrow things will sort themselves out. Most important is that we are doing just fine despite a few RVglitches . Very bumpy/rough roads.  Hopefully I will get caught up in the days ahead.

…but we only drove 194 miles today. Internet has been a huge problem tonight. The girls have been wonderful in dealing with being confined in the RV rather than running on the beach.

Sorry but I have to stop, can’t upload any photos and after 90 minutes I give up. We need our sleep.  All is well. Hope to catch up in the days ahead.