Hal, I have been to Victor, but not for "Music on Main". I love music and would enjoy attending.
I will wrap up my description of our trip by letting you know the outcome of our motorhome issues.
We had the engine rebuilt toward the end of 2021. We picked it up at the end of January 2022. We subsequently made several trips that have helped identify a few problems resulting from the rebuild. It is my opinion that those kinds of problems are to be expected after such extensive work as an in frame engine rebuild. Some of those problems had been addressed before we embarked on our fall trip to Yellowstone this year, but not all.
By the time we left for Yellowstone at the beginning of September, we knew that we had an oil leak and a coolant leak. By the time we finished that trip, we also knew that we had lost our engine exhaust brake (Jake brake), that there was a turbo boost error, that a check engine light was on, and that we were spewing raw diesel out as we drove.
We had an appointment to deliver the motorhome back to the shop that did the engine rebuild. They were and have been great. They are expensive, but I think they have knowledgeable, caring mechanics.
They dove into the issues and were able to resolve all except the oil leak before we picked the motorhome up to do our November trip to the Grand Canyon.
The coolant leak was due to a small hole in a coolant hose. They replaced that coolant hose.
There was a loose connection to the high pressure fuel pump that was the source of raw diesel spraying everywhere. Diesel was spewing out at about 5000 Pounds per Square Inch (PSI).
The turbo boost issue was caused by a bad sensor and bad wiring going to the sensor. They replaced the sensor and repaired the wiring.
The check engine light was associated with the diesel leak and the turbo boost issue.
They absence of an engine exhaust brake was resolved when the fixed the diesel leak and turbo boost issues and then reset everything.
They diagnosed the oil leak as a failure of the seal between the jake brake riser and the engine head. They were not able to resolve this before our trip to the Grand Canyon, so that work was deferred.
The best part is that all of that work was covered under warranty.
When we picked the motorhome up for our trip to the Grand Canyon, it behaved the best we have ever experienced. We are so happy to be getting it really roadworthy.
I will start a separate thread to describe our trip to the Grand Canyon and provide a few details there.
After the Grand Canyon trip, we dropped the motorhome back at the shop and they repaired the oil leak (under warranty).
It was when we went to pick it up and put it in storage that we discovered that while the motorhome was parked in their lot, it was apparently hit by another vehicle. The preliminary indication is that it did more than $10,000 worth of damage, which our insurance will pay for. It appears that a temporary repair can be made early in the new year to make the motorhome driveable again, but it will take two to three months to get permanent repairs made (and could be longer, depending on the availability of parts).
So, our adventure with the motorhome continues. We hope to get it back on the road as soon as possible so that we can continue taking trips while I am still able to.
These trips have been very hard on me, while at the same time being very good for me. They wear me down, but lift my spirits. My wife and I can hardly wait for the next trip!
Steve
