August 21, 204

Travel day from Wilmore, KY to NOWHERE!

We had a target time to depart of 10AM.  We were ready to leave by 9:30 because we had less preparation not being hooked up to water or sewer.  After hugs and kisses to Bob and Jill we were ready to drive the 220 miles to just north of Indianapolis. 

Even the cat came to say goodbye.  Bob said to be careful or we might have a stowaway.

Yes, Annie—it’s moving day.

 

 

 

Ten miles down the road, Monte radioed to me that he thought the hose we had repaired on Tuesday might have come loose again because he was hearing a whooshing sound and he couldn’t get the truck to go over 45 miles an hour.

The posted speed limit was 65 so I stayed behind the rig and put on my emergency flashers and we limped to the next exit and were lucky enough to find a large enough parking lot for a easy in/out.

Sure enough, the hose had popped out of the clamp.  Monte had to remove the air cleaner to get access to the clamp. 

He realized he didn’t have the correct ratcheting wrench size needed.  I checked my GPS and saw there was an AutoZone nearby. 

I stayed with the rig while Monte went to the store.  He was gone over 40 minutes.  AutoZone didn’t have the size wrench he needed so he ended up having to go to Home Depot.

When he was able to get the clamp repositioned Monte discovered the problem with the clamp was that it was too big. 

 He called the dealer where we had had the clamp replaced.  For the next hour, Monte went back and forth with the service rep over how we were going to get the truck back into the shop. 

To add to his frustration, the call kept getting dropped.  The service rep wanted us to unhitch so they could send a tow truck.  I said that was out of the question because I was not going to leave my “home” in a parking lot some ten miles away from the service center.

Finally, Monte came up with a solution-he would use electrical tape on the hose so the clamp would fit better.

We slowly made our way to the dealership-about half way there, the hose came loose again.
When we arrived, the guy Monte had been talking to came out to take a look at the clamp.  Yep-not the right clamp-but to be fair the mechanic had used the clamp that Dodge had listed so it wasn’t his fault.

The dealership owns a large parking lot, used mostly for employees, across the road so we were instructed to park there and unhitch. 

Once the truck was in a service bay, Monte pointed out that the turbo was spitting oil.  After checking it out, the mechanic determined that the turbo needed to be replaced. 

They were going to be able to put the repair on the same ticket as the hose so we wouldn’t have to pay a second deductable saving us $200.  (So as aggravating as this entire ordeal was, it was a blessing in disguise because the turbo would have gone eventually. And it would have cost us the deductable and may not have happened so near to a service station.)

When the service rep called the warranty company, he was told they would cover the part and labor with the exception of the one hour of labor it would take to remove the exhaust brake to get at the turbo because the exhaust brake was installed after market.
When the rep told Monte it was going to cost us $100 for the labor he suggested that, since we had been inconvenienced and are losing one to two days of travel time, they compromise and spilt the cost of the labor.  The rep got the okay from his manager.

The dealer didn’t have the part—It had to be ordered from another dealer in St. Louis which meant that we weren’t going anywhere today and, possibly depending on when the part arrives and the repair is complete, we might not be going anywhere tomorrow either.

We went home and set up. 

It was very hot inside so we sat outside where there was a nice breeze. 

After picking up dinner at Taco Bell, we returned home where luckily we had a full charge and were able to watch a few hours of TV.
I had been a little bummed earlier in the day but when I had time to reflect on and accept the situation I was okay.  It is all part of the journey.